ST. JOSEPH OR THE FAITH PUT TO TEST.
March 19 2020: Solemnity of Saint Joseph, husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary
An American proverb says, “Good fathers make good sons.” And
another Italian proverb adds, “Any man can be a father, but it takes a special
person to be a dad.”
Faith without trials is absolutely nothing. For, unshakable
and deep-rooted faith comes from faith being shaken and for us to determine how
genuine our faith is we have to put it into a test. The events that happen in
one’s life can constitute the greatest challenges to one’s belief. One grows in
his reliance on God, only when he accepts to surrender his dreams and projects
and take up God’s plan on him. As long as we are not able to submit to God's
will, we are still neophytes in our faith or even non-believers.
The Holy Bible presents many examples of people with great
faith, many schools or lessons on faith. Among those academies of faith, we can
list the “St. Joseph University for genuine belief in God.” For, Joseph is one
of the great pedagogues of what faith can be. Through his life’s choices and
events, he teaches us what it means to surrender to God. He is one who accepted
to completely disappear to leave only God lives in him and through him.
We are celebrating today, the solemnity of St. Joseph,
husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This feast presents us with the evangelical
values that this man incarnates through his life and his personality. Besides
the value of paternity, that is, to be a father as God wishes, St. Joseph is
described as a man of great faith, a chaste man, and a humble and simple man.
St. Joseph is a man of a disinterest solicitude. One who knows how to give
preeminence to God and to set God before all else, even before his own will.
With him, we are urged to come closer to God our Father as his children,
members of his family.
In the first reading, the Prophet Nathan is sent to announce
to King David that God will make everlasting his kingdom. This prophecy will
find its fulfillment in the childbearing of the Virgin, betrothed to Joseph,
from the house of David. In Jesus, adopted Son of Joseph, the line of David
will have no end, for his kingdom will last beyond ages and generations. It is
the messianic kingship.
Nevertheless, it is only moved by faith, that one can get to
accept this truth. Thus, St. Paul, in the second reading gives us a beautiful
treaty and magistral teaching on faith. Paul speaks of the faith of Abraham;
how it grew to make of him, from the childless man, into the “father of many
nations.” Through this narration about Abraham, we get to learn that the
fulfillment of God’s promises is not made possible through obedience to the
Law, but rather, through faith. Thus, Paul affirms, “It was not through the law
that the promise was made to Abraham and his descendants that he would inherit
the world, but through the righteousness that comes from faith.” Faith is what
it asks from man to see God at work in his life. Without faith, one hardly
disposes himself to search for God’s will and give it the primacy.
The Gospels, either the extract of St. Matthew, or the one
of St. Luke, plunge us to reflect on the personality of St. Joseph and some of
his specific virtues. While St. Matthew describes him as the obedient man to
the will of God expressed to him by the angel, the humble and faithful man, St.
Luke leads us to see in him the great father who cares a lot for his family and
is restless for his lost son. To St. Joseph fits very perfectly the entrance antiphon
of this liturgy, “Behold a faithful and prudent steward, whom the Lord set over
his household.” He is the steward of God; one who knows that his life gets all
its meaning only through obedience to God’s will. And so, he set his whole
trust in God and surrender unto him.
By accepting to welcome the news of God’s Son to be born of
his wife to be, Joseph accepted that God intruding into his life becomes the
master of that life and directs it according to his good pleasure.
The life of St. Joseph is a challenge to all of us
Christians, and mostly to the fathers. You are called to be stewards of God. To
you, he entrusted what is to be your family. How do you lead those families?
How faithful are you to your responsibilities?
It would be sad to say, but many families face trials and
difficulties today, simply because fathers are not so faithful to their task.
Many fathers are irresponsible or deserters, to not say fugitives. Countless
households are left at the care of the solo mothers who play as well the chore
of fathers and mothers. The education of children seems, in some places, to be
the responsibility of the mothers alone. Men, under some skies, are busy doing
nothing, while women are dying doing everything. St. Joseph becomes an
interpellation to all.
I once said, looking at the configuration of our churches
and the attendances to masses, that it seems, women are more faithful or
religious than men and that the Church and devotions are for women and children
only. Where are you, dear Josephs of our time? Where do you stand dear fathers,
in your faith?
Comments
Post a Comment