st joseph, pray for us

St Joseph outside the Church of St Joseph in Nazareth

St Joseph is someone we know in the church, but he gets lost and overshadowed. My gut sense is that he does not mind. He says nothing in the Gospels but is a silent witness to the mysteries that are unfolding. He is a strong man in body and character. Faced with his wife being stoned, he tries to send her away until God lets him know what the plan is. He accepts the plan, takes Mary into his home, treats the child as his own, and knew people were talking about them both and not in a kind way.

He was a man of prayer who knew God in a way that was not full of great signs and wonders, but in a gentle dream and in the face of a newborn boy. He taught this child the history of His people and the amazing God who led the people from Egypt and Babylon to freedom. Did he know that Jesus would lead the human race from the exile of death and sin into the Promised Land of heaven? Did he knew the Cross awaited this child when this son became a man? Maybe or maybe not but he knew the child would do something great.

He was a hard worker and took care of his family. Not just at Bethlehem, in Egypt, or when Jesus was lost, but in the everyday stuff of life. He loved Mary, played with the child, taught him to pray, to build and to be a good man. He took care of his wife and provided her with his love until the end.

We do not know when he died, from what, or how old he was, but we do not need to. He was the faithful son of God, and I am sure was met by the angels he dreamt of when he went home. What a blessed way to die knowing Jesus was right by him at that moment. He shows us that no Christian dies alone, Jesus is there with open arms and gentle smile.

On this feast day, may St Joseph pray for us, the people who follow the Son of God and his foster son. May the Jesus who loved Joseph as a father, love us too.