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St. Joseph's place in the third millennium
By Stanley Smolenski
Will the coming millennium-2000 A.D. -be focused on St. Joseph just as the first millennium centered on Christ and as the second millennium brought out the role of Mary in God's plan for mankind? There seems to be much pointing in that direction.
The ecumenical councils of the first millennium clarified the questions concerning Christ's divinity and humanity. The second millennium began with the great surge of cathedral building-many named after Our Lady, such as Notre Dame of Paris. Then there were her apparitions and gifts, and finally the dogmatic definitions.
As the third millennium begins, not only does our "fatherless" society need to rediscover the family in God's natural and supernatural plan, but also, and especially, our individual call to holiness as emphasized by Vatican II.
Sanctity in the first centuries was seen in the martyrs' witness to Christ. After the persecutions, the monks, nuns, and hermits became the evangelical heroes. With the rise of heresies, doctors of the faith were the Christian champions, followed by the missionaries, such as St. Boniface, St. Patrick, St. Ansgar, SS. Cyril and Methodius as evangelizers of the pagans. Then came the founders of religious orders to Christianize the poor by nursing and education.
Today the laity stand with the clergy and religious in the shared responsibility of the Church for evangelization and sanctification of the entire world. This requires a universal spirituality to direct to that goal. Because this call to holiness is universal, the foundation of this spirituality must be universal: the universality of Jesus, Mary and Joseph.
We already have a profound appreciation of Jesus and Mary. What is necessary is a similar appreciation of the third member of the terrestrial trinity: St. Joseph-who presently is no longer portrayed according to the apocryphal image of an old man, more of a caretaker than a vital member of the Holy Family, but now more realistically according to biblical and historical studies. Much points to the fact that the Holy Spirit will direct our attention to him. Therefore sanctity in the future will be very much influenced by and modeled on his union with Jesus through Mary.
Examination of newspapers, magazines and books shows constant interest in the subject of families and especially the need for a restoration of the father image. In 1996 HPR had at least three articles related to this subject: the May issue had Jane Anderson's "The Case of the Missing Fathers"; then in June "The Fatherhood of God in a Gender-Neutral Society" by Sister Mary Anastasia, OSF; October presented Fr. Brian Mullady's "Fatherless Parishes." A former anti-Catholic minister now convert and theology professor at the Franciscan University of Steubenville, Scott Hahn constantly emphasizes in his speaking engagements that one of the basic concepts of our faith is the family in the Trinitarian dimension, and that much of Catholic sexual morality is to preserve fatherhood.
In answer to those publicly acknowledged needs, spiritual movements and organizations centered on the identity and responsibility of the husband and father in family life are mushrooming-with the hope-filled presentation of St. Joseph as the role model of sanctity for each individual. The Men of St. Joseph in Manchester, N.H. has a membership of several hundred men devoted to their vocations as are the St. Joseph Covenant Keepers of Port Charlotte, Fla. The Apostolate for Family Consecration features St. Joseph in its many activities, as shown on EWTN. By its booklet "In the Spirit of St. Joseph-Taking the Spirit of the Holy Man of Nazareth to Heart," St. Joseph's Place in Enfield, Conn. promotes St. Joseph as the model of consecration to Jesus through Mary. St. Joseph Communications in West Covina, Calif. has sponsored many successful Catholic Family Conferences in various parts of the USA, to name a few.
Besides these grassroot interests in St. Joseph, there are as well providential signs from the magisterium of the Church to assure us of the divine will in this regard. In 1870 Pope Pius IX declared St. Joseph the Universal Patron of the Church. Pius XII instituted the feast of St. Joseph the Worker. Most significantly Pope John XXIII invoked St. Joseph as the Patron of the Second Vatican Council-which means that St. Joseph was not only the protector of the proceedings of the sessions, but more importantly, the promulgation of the decrees for the renewal of the Church in our times.
Pope John Paul II added to the papal writings on St. Joseph with his encyclical "The Guardian of the Redeemer." In it (2, 3 18) the pontiff affirms the marital state of Mary and Joseph at the time of the Annunciation-whereby it would be erroneous to claim that Mary was ever an unwed mother. Most importantly he also declares (7) quoting St. Augustine, "The Son of Mary is also Joseph's Son by virtue of the marriage bond that unites them: 'By reason of their faithful marriage both of them deserve to be called Christ's parents, not only his mother, but also his father, who was a parent in the same way that he was the mother's spouse: in mind, not in the flesh.'"
Shrines in his honor, such as the unique Oratory of St. Joseph in Montreal, Canada, testify through the multiple healings of body and soul to the powerful intercession of St. Joseph-indicating to us: "Go to Joseph!" (Gen. 41:55) The founder of the Oratory, Blessed Brother André, was given an extraordinary charism to lead us in that direction. As the patriarch Joseph achieved the title "Savior of the World" in Hebrew history (Gen. 41:45), should there be any doubt that Joseph of Nazareth has a similar saving mission in our times as he did in the life of the Holy Family? Pope Leo XIII explained it so in his encyclical Quamquam Pluries: "It is thus fitting and most worthy of Joseph's dignity that in the same way that he once kept unceasing holy watch over the family of Nazareth, so now does he protect and defend with his heavenly patronage the Church of Christ."
There is even the claim of a private revelation, reputedly by St. Joseph to an American nun in 1958, the text of which received episcopal authorization for publication. It states: "All fatherhood is blest in me, whom the Eternal Father chose as his representative on earth, the Virgin-Father of his own divine Son. Through me the heavenly Father has blessed all fatherhood, and through me he continues and will continue to do so till the end of time."
The place of St. Joseph in the sanctification of the Church is becoming clearer. His relationship to Jesus is a paternal one. He is the virginal father of Jesus. But just as Mary is the Mother not only of Jesus, but of his mystical body, the Church, as well, so Joseph is, in a relative way, the spiritual Father of the mystical body, the Church, as well.
In 1 Cor. 4:15 St. Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, insists on a special relationship to that community: "You might have thousands of guardians in Christ, but not more than one father and it was I who begot you in Christ Jesus by preaching the gospel." If that Apostle can make such a claim, how much more should we see the paternity by grace of St. Joseph over the entire mystical body of Christ. For St. Joseph was not a preacher of the word of God, but truly the Holy Spouse of the Mother of the Incarnate Word, the Mother of God and the Mother of the Church, by which he was given his unique paternal relationship to Jesus, the God-man. Again, Pope Leo XIII in the same encyclical emphasizes that "he (God) also gave Joseph to Mary in order that he might share, through the marriage pact, in her own sublime greatness."
As members of the mystical body of Christ, the baptized are all members of the Holy Family of Nazareth-with Mary as mother, Joseph as father, and Jesus as firstborn brother-and we as brothers and sisters in the Lord-a universal family in God.
Thus we are reborn, not as orphans, but into the Holy Family, becoming like children, following Jesus, growing in wisdom and grace before God and men, guided by Joseph and Mary (see: John 3:3; 14:18; 12:26; Matt. 18:3; Luke 2:52). In this way we enter into and participate in that part of our Lord's life, as promulgated in the Catechism of the Catholic Church 519-521. In 1698 the Catechism quotes St. John Eudes of the French School of Spirituality, "I ask you to consider that our Lord Jesus Christ is our true head, and that you are one of his members. He belongs to you as the head belongs to its members; all that is his is yours. . . . You must make use of all these as of your own, to serve, praise, love, and glorify God." Would not "all that is his" include his holy parents?
How apropos is Proverbs 6:20,22 in regard to our relationship with Joseph and Mary: "My son, keep your father's commandment, and forsake not your mother's teaching. When you walk they will lead you; when you lie down, they will watch over you; and when you wake, they will talk with you."
True devotion to St. Joseph perfects our devotion to Mary which, in turn, unites us to Jesus most perfectly. St. Joseph's virginal spousal relationship to Mary Immaculate was the way he was brought to Jesus. In a similar way, the unique spirituality of St. Joseph can further our union with the Hearts of Jesus and Mary.
Exteriorly St. Joseph resembled so many others in the ordinariness of his daily life. He had his family, his work, his religion and political situation. His was the holiest of families, with an extraordinary mission, which depended on his guidance. Thus he required a supreme domestic prudence to organize his family life according to the will of God. His work was creative of goodness. His religious life was faithful to the revelation given his Hebrew ancestors. His life was dramatically affected by Herodian political intrigue. Yet he lived an extraordinary interior life in great exterior simplicity.
His interior life was based on his singular union with Jesus through Mary. He was consecrated to Jesus through Mary by his espousal to her. To espouse means to take to heart, to become one with, to identify with completely. Joseph gave his heart undividedly to Mary and took her heart as his own. As Mary's heart is one with Christ's, so Joseph's heart became one with the Sacred Heart through Mary. Thus Joseph's consecration is the epitome of all consecrations to Jesus through Mary. By espousing the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Joseph was perfectly united to all that which the heart of Mary contains. She was Joseph's way to Christ exteriorly and interiorly. That is why we can call them the terrestrial trinity: three in one love.
This harmony of hearts within the Holy Family is the basis for sound communal life. The Acts of the Apostles 4:32 describes the early Church in Jerusalem-in which Mary was present-in those terms: "Now the company of those who believed were of one heart and soul." St. Paul expected something similar of his communities, as recorded in 2 Corinthians 12:18: "Did we not walk in the same spirit? And in the same steps?"
Pope John Paul II in his 1996 address to the United Nations challenged them to become a Family of Nations. Can not that observation be applied to parish spirituality? To make a parish a Family of Families-with the Nazareth Family as the singular model for each. An analysis of the roles of Jesus, Mary and Joseph would develop an appreciation of the prophetic, priestly and royal vocation of each Christian.
Pope John Paul II brought this out succinctly in his talk on 20 March 1996: "St. Joseph is presented to us as an incomparable witness of that contemplative silence, full of listening to the Word of God, which emanates from the Gospels as the characteristic atmosphere of the House of Nazareth. Joseph's silence was an active silence, which accompanied his daily work at the service of the Holy Family. Following St. Joseph's example, may all believers achieve in their own life a deep harmony between prayer and work, between meditation on the Word of God and their daily occupations. May an intimate and vital relationship with Jesus, the Incarnate Word and his holy Mother, always be at the heart of everything."
In summary then, we may quote Pope John Paul II in his encyclical "The Guardian of the Redeemer" (7): "Whereas Adam and Eve were the source of evil which was unleashed on the world, Joseph and Mary are the summit from which holiness spreads all over the earth." Society based on family bonds deteriorated because of Adam and Eve's original infidelity to God. The Holy Family is meant to reverse that calamitous condition. Just as certain bone cancers are treated by the insertion of a donated healthy bone marrow that reverses the process of degeneration, so the Holy Family of Nazareth is the divinely inserted, perfectly holy domestic cell for the regeneration of communal life.
May our contemplation of Jesus through Mary in the spirit of St. Joseph bring us to the imitation of their wisdom, love and fidelity for the renewal of all things, especially basic social life, in Christ. n