2 Samuel 7:4-16/Romans 4:13-18/St Matthew 2:13-15, 19-23
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
The Scriptures tell us that St Joseph was a righteous man. This means that he shared the faith of father Abraham and the faith of his father David. He believed that by the Seed of Abraham the Lord would bless the sons of Israel and all nations. He believed that God the Lord would raise up the Seed of David to reign upon His throne forever, even though David’s royal line had been replaced by the Herodian dynasty.
St Joseph hoped against hope that the same Lord God who raises the dead, who calls things into being out of nothing, who gave a promised son to Abraham and Sarah in their old age, was in truth the God and Father of St Mary’s Son. And that this little One conceived in her womb by the Holy Spirit was the Savior of His people, Immanuel. St Joseph believed this because he believed what God had spoken to him.
And by this righteousness of faith, St Joseph was humble and obedient, faithful and just. In the few recorded situations of St Joseph in Holy Scripture, whatever God told him to do, he immediately set about doing exactly that. No arguments, no balking, no excuses or questions. Not a single word from St Joseph is recorded. He simply does what God calls him to do; he rises up in faith to serve his family in love.
Now his particular circumstances and calling is certainly unique and extraordinary. But are St Joseph’s calling and circumstances so different from any other husband and father? What does he have to go by but the self-same Word of God given to you? True, he did receive some special revelation by an angel of the Lord. But are you not also given guidance and counsel by the messengers of the Lord within your own office and station in life? The particulars may be different, but the underlying basics for you and for St Joseph are the same; and they are not easy nor painless.
St Joseph was called to be a husband and father, to care for his wife and her Child, who was legally his own. The challenges confronting him were daunting, at times overwhelming. What man’s obligations are not? But the Lord told St Joseph, the son of David, not to be afraid. Not to be afraid to take St Mary as his wife, and therefore, not to be afraid of everything else that would go along with being a husband to her and a father to her Son.
For even more glorious than the impressive Temple constructed by King Solomon, is this son of David, St Joseph, who is given the privilege and responsibility of making a house and a home for the Lord. It is a fitting task for a carpenter, if one thinks only of the wood and the nails. Is this not a father’s task? Of all the sons of David, it is only St Joseph to becomes a dad to the Son of God. Not by his own flesh and blood of course, but by the Word and will of God the Father in heaven and the incarnation of the Holy Spirit. Still, he takes the pregnant Blessed Virgin Mary to be his wife, and by so doing, takes legal responsibility for her Son.
Think about what that means for St Joseph to be a father to Jesus on earth! To care for Him, provide for Him, protect Him, as every dad ought with his children. It means for St Joseph to teach Jesus the Word of God, how to pray, to take Him to the synagogue and to the Temple, to worship the Lord. Are these not the things Holy Scripture requires of a father for his sons and daughters?
For though He is the almighty and eternal Son of God by whom all things are made, He is also now a truly human Infant, humbling Himself not only to be born of a Virgin, but humbling Himself to submit in accordance to the Fourth Commandment to His earthly and legal father.
From His Mother’s womb, to His crucifixion, death, and burial, the Lord Jesus is the Son of David after His Father’s heart. He is certainly the Man after God’s own heart, for He is the Son of God from all eternity, of one Substance with the Father, and His human heart, mind, soul, and spirit, are always in complete and utter harmony with the divine will. So too does the Lord Jesus walk in the way of His father David; great David’s greater Son, surpassing him in all thins.
But Jesus is also a Man after the faithful heart of His foster father, St Joseph. And in view of the Incarnation, this is not to be overlooked. Dare we say that as true Man, growing up, the heavenly Bridegroom of the Church first saw and began to learn what it means to be a husband in the faithful care of St Joseph for St Mary? As today in the Church and to all fathers, St Joseph is set before you as an example in faith and love, within your own calling and stations as husbands and fathers, so was he an example to the little Lord Jesus as He grow from infancy to manhood, in wisdom and stature. Did He not learn from St Joseph’s catechesis at home and that righteous man’s holy faith and works of love?
To be sure the righteousness of faith that Jesus saw exemplified in St Joseph is a righteousness that He Himself and no one else has fulfilled and completed to perfect. In His life of humble obedience, by His death upon the Cross, in faith toward God and in love for all mankind, and in His resurrection from the dead as the Firstfruits of the new creation.
St Joseph was given the privilege of giving the Child of St Mary the blessed name “Jesus,” the Name under heaven, given among men, by which anyone is saved. Indeed St Joseph, the guardian of our Lord is an instrument of God as the Mother of our Lord was. For St Joseph, the carpenter, husband and the dad, who made a house and home for the Child with His Mother here on earth, was protector to He who is the promised Seed of David, who has become the true House of God in His own flesh and blood; whose crucifixion and risen Body is the Temple of God among men, in heaven and earth, now and forever.
Whereas St Joseph took care of his home and family as a good husband and father ought, the Lord Jesus is the greater Carpenter from Nazareth who, by His innocent suffering and death, and in His Resurrection from the dead has become the Cornerstone of His Church. And by the washing of water with His Word He has cleansed and sanctified His Church and taken her to be His holy Bride, adorned with His own perfect righteousness. By His Word and Holy Spirit He conceives and gives birth in her to the children of God. He cares for them, feeds and shelters them, and provides for all their needs of body and soul, by the free gifts of the Gospel.
The Lord called St Joseph to care for the Child Jesus with His Mother and through St Joseph God the Father Himself took care of that precious Holy Family. It is truly meet, right, and salutary to give thanks to God for His gift of St Joseph. For that righteous man of faith is a good example for all Christians, and for husbands and fathers in particular; biological, temporal, and spiritual.
Do not be afraid: The Lord whose Father called Him out of Egypt, who called the Light out of the darkness, and who raises the dead - the Lord who tabernacled with St Joseph wherever he went, even cradled in the arms of His Mother - He is no less with you in this place, to save you by His grace, by His forgiveness of all your sins, and to feed you with His Body and Blood. He has called you by His own great and holy Name and has established His House for you, by His Gospel, on earth as in heaven. So as a tender Father, He will provide you with all that you need to support not only this body and life, put all that is necessary for the life of the world to come.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
The Scriptures tell us that St Joseph was a righteous man. This means that he shared the faith of father Abraham and the faith of his father David. He believed that by the Seed of Abraham the Lord would bless the sons of Israel and all nations. He believed that God the Lord would raise up the Seed of David to reign upon His throne forever, even though David’s royal line had been replaced by the Herodian dynasty.
St Joseph hoped against hope that the same Lord God who raises the dead, who calls things into being out of nothing, who gave a promised son to Abraham and Sarah in their old age, was in truth the God and Father of St Mary’s Son. And that this little One conceived in her womb by the Holy Spirit was the Savior of His people, Immanuel. St Joseph believed this because he believed what God had spoken to him.
And by this righteousness of faith, St Joseph was humble and obedient, faithful and just. In the few recorded situations of St Joseph in Holy Scripture, whatever God told him to do, he immediately set about doing exactly that. No arguments, no balking, no excuses or questions. Not a single word from St Joseph is recorded. He simply does what God calls him to do; he rises up in faith to serve his family in love.
Now his particular circumstances and calling is certainly unique and extraordinary. But are St Joseph’s calling and circumstances so different from any other husband and father? What does he have to go by but the self-same Word of God given to you? True, he did receive some special revelation by an angel of the Lord. But are you not also given guidance and counsel by the messengers of the Lord within your own office and station in life? The particulars may be different, but the underlying basics for you and for St Joseph are the same; and they are not easy nor painless.
St Joseph was called to be a husband and father, to care for his wife and her Child, who was legally his own. The challenges confronting him were daunting, at times overwhelming. What man’s obligations are not? But the Lord told St Joseph, the son of David, not to be afraid. Not to be afraid to take St Mary as his wife, and therefore, not to be afraid of everything else that would go along with being a husband to her and a father to her Son.
For even more glorious than the impressive Temple constructed by King Solomon, is this son of David, St Joseph, who is given the privilege and responsibility of making a house and a home for the Lord. It is a fitting task for a carpenter, if one thinks only of the wood and the nails. Is this not a father’s task? Of all the sons of David, it is only St Joseph to becomes a dad to the Son of God. Not by his own flesh and blood of course, but by the Word and will of God the Father in heaven and the incarnation of the Holy Spirit. Still, he takes the pregnant Blessed Virgin Mary to be his wife, and by so doing, takes legal responsibility for her Son.
Think about what that means for St Joseph to be a father to Jesus on earth! To care for Him, provide for Him, protect Him, as every dad ought with his children. It means for St Joseph to teach Jesus the Word of God, how to pray, to take Him to the synagogue and to the Temple, to worship the Lord. Are these not the things Holy Scripture requires of a father for his sons and daughters?
For though He is the almighty and eternal Son of God by whom all things are made, He is also now a truly human Infant, humbling Himself not only to be born of a Virgin, but humbling Himself to submit in accordance to the Fourth Commandment to His earthly and legal father.
From His Mother’s womb, to His crucifixion, death, and burial, the Lord Jesus is the Son of David after His Father’s heart. He is certainly the Man after God’s own heart, for He is the Son of God from all eternity, of one Substance with the Father, and His human heart, mind, soul, and spirit, are always in complete and utter harmony with the divine will. So too does the Lord Jesus walk in the way of His father David; great David’s greater Son, surpassing him in all thins.
But Jesus is also a Man after the faithful heart of His foster father, St Joseph. And in view of the Incarnation, this is not to be overlooked. Dare we say that as true Man, growing up, the heavenly Bridegroom of the Church first saw and began to learn what it means to be a husband in the faithful care of St Joseph for St Mary? As today in the Church and to all fathers, St Joseph is set before you as an example in faith and love, within your own calling and stations as husbands and fathers, so was he an example to the little Lord Jesus as He grow from infancy to manhood, in wisdom and stature. Did He not learn from St Joseph’s catechesis at home and that righteous man’s holy faith and works of love?
To be sure the righteousness of faith that Jesus saw exemplified in St Joseph is a righteousness that He Himself and no one else has fulfilled and completed to perfect. In His life of humble obedience, by His death upon the Cross, in faith toward God and in love for all mankind, and in His resurrection from the dead as the Firstfruits of the new creation.
St Joseph was given the privilege of giving the Child of St Mary the blessed name “Jesus,” the Name under heaven, given among men, by which anyone is saved. Indeed St Joseph, the guardian of our Lord is an instrument of God as the Mother of our Lord was. For St Joseph, the carpenter, husband and the dad, who made a house and home for the Child with His Mother here on earth, was protector to He who is the promised Seed of David, who has become the true House of God in His own flesh and blood; whose crucifixion and risen Body is the Temple of God among men, in heaven and earth, now and forever.
Whereas St Joseph took care of his home and family as a good husband and father ought, the Lord Jesus is the greater Carpenter from Nazareth who, by His innocent suffering and death, and in His Resurrection from the dead has become the Cornerstone of His Church. And by the washing of water with His Word He has cleansed and sanctified His Church and taken her to be His holy Bride, adorned with His own perfect righteousness. By His Word and Holy Spirit He conceives and gives birth in her to the children of God. He cares for them, feeds and shelters them, and provides for all their needs of body and soul, by the free gifts of the Gospel.
The Lord called St Joseph to care for the Child Jesus with His Mother and through St Joseph God the Father Himself took care of that precious Holy Family. It is truly meet, right, and salutary to give thanks to God for His gift of St Joseph. For that righteous man of faith is a good example for all Christians, and for husbands and fathers in particular; biological, temporal, and spiritual.
Do not be afraid: The Lord whose Father called Him out of Egypt, who called the Light out of the darkness, and who raises the dead - the Lord who tabernacled with St Joseph wherever he went, even cradled in the arms of His Mother - He is no less with you in this place, to save you by His grace, by His forgiveness of all your sins, and to feed you with His Body and Blood. He has called you by His own great and holy Name and has established His House for you, by His Gospel, on earth as in heaven. So as a tender Father, He will provide you with all that you need to support not only this body and life, put all that is necessary for the life of the world to come.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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