Go to Joseph

by John O’Connell

Especially now, at the approach of the third millennium, Christians should heed the advice to go to Joseph. For in many ways, St. Joseph is the saint for our times.

1. He is a good father. In a fatherless age, when the intelligentsia deride the notion of fatherhood and dismiss fathers as irrelevant, and when many have abandoned or neglected their mission as a father, Joseph is providentially positioned to be a spiritual father to all and a role model for every father. In an age that perverts authentic masculinity, Joseph’s life serves as a model of noble virility.

2. He is a man of virtue. Joseph faithfully surrendered to the will of God in his prompt obedience to the Divine communications that he received. He peacefully accepted the humiliation of being unable to find a room for Mary and the unborn Savior in Bethlehem.

3. He is the Patron of a happy death. In our time when many people are mesmerized by death and dying, Joseph, who according to tradition died in the arms of Jesus and Mary, helps Christians to focus on the meaning of death and the hope of eternal salvation that awaits those faithful to Christ.

4. He is accessible to all. Joseph surmounted the greatest heights of sanctity, but his life, hidden and humble, can be not only admired but imitated by everyone. Priests, religious, laity—married or single—can identify with Joseph and take him as their patron and as a model of sanctity to imitate.

Keeping all this in mind, let us go to Joseph and to Mary, his Immaculate spouse, asking them for all the graces we need to fulfill God’s will for us.