Wake Med Soccer Park in Cary

Listen to the Words of Saint Joseph in the Gospels

That’s a trick headline: there are no words spoken by Saint Joseph in the Gospels! As the saying goes, however, “actions speak louder than words.” His decisive actions were the result of dreams (recounted in Matthew 1 and 2). We revere Mary’s world-changing “yes,” but we remember that Joseph said “yes,” too. He had trust and confidence in God to act when he could not foresee the outcome. His four dreams were to wed Mary though she was pregnant, to flee Bethlehem for Egypt, that it was safe to return to Israel, and to go to Galilee rather than Judea. The Gospels indicate no resistance or question, only obedience for the good of his family. He was not mute. A devout father, he gathered the family to go to Temple, discussed Scriptures and led prayers, spoke as he taught Jesus his trade, prayed with others in the community, and had the mundane conversations typical of daily family life. Jesus listened to his Mother… as he did at the wedding at Cana… Joseph may have instructed him to do so many times, modeling respect of Mary for the young Jesus. Joseph was the first person conceived with original sin whom the newborn Jesus saw, and the first to hold the Holy Child. Today, we can hold Christ in our hearts and in the Eucharist. It is fitting that the Feast of Saint Joseph occurs during Lent. It is a time for reflection and resolution, for contemplation of how we can be more trusting and devoted in our faith, and to assess how we act with our families and others. As we remember Saint Joseph, pray for fathers, living and deceased, those good and those troubled, that they embrace the example of Saint Joseph in their families and with all those wholy on their judgments and actions.

Saint Joseph, Protector of the Holy Family, pray for us.