Psalm89.26-36│2 Samuel 7.4-16│Romans 4.13-18│Matthew 1.18-25
Psaumes 89.26-36|2 Samuel 7.4-16|Romains 4.13-18|Matthieu 1.18-25
Saint Joseph
'La mort de Saint Joseph" by Jacques Stella, 1596-1657, Museum of Grenoble
The 19th of March is the Feast of Saint Joseph, the adoptive father of the son of God. He is remembered as a righteous man, Joseph the just. Yet he lived a humble and obscure life. And perhaps he struggled with his conscience too…
Saint Joseph did not preach to multitudes, nor
teach disciples, nor heal the sick or raise the dead. Although he was the heir
of David’s throne, he was poor rather than rich. He lived a humble, hidden
life, pursuing his daily labour to rear his family in the fear of the Lord.
Therefore he was chosen by divine lot to be the protector and provider of the
infant Saviour of the world. And the sons of his first marriage—James, Jude,
Joses, and Simon—became leaders of the early church.
Saint Joseph’s lot was humble and obscure. But
his task of saving Jesus from Herod’s hand, and raising him to manhood, was as
vital to the salvation of the world as the work of Paul or Peter. In the same
way, though our lot may be humble, we should do it as best we can, remembering
that big doors turn on small hinges.
There’s a story I like about Joseph. It is told
in an old text of the eastern church, The History of Joseph the
Carpenter, which purports to be narrated by Jesus. (Scholars date it to the
sixth century. But it could be earlier or later, for there is very little
evidence of its date at all.) This History describes Joseph
the Carpenter as a good and righteous man. But then comes the hour of his
death, and this most righteous man cries out in desperate anguish over his
sins:
Woe to my tongue and my
lips, which have brought forth and spoken vanity, detraction, falsehood,
ignorance, derision, idle tales, craft, and hypocrisy! Woe to my eyes, which
have looked upon scandalous things! Woe to mine ears, which have delighted in
the words of slanderers! Woe to my hands, which have seized what did not of
right belong to them! Woe to my belly and my bowels, which have lusted after
food unlawful to be eaten! Woe to my feet, which have too often walked in ways
displeasing to God! Woe to my body; and woe to my miserable soul, which has
already turned aside from God its Maker! What shall I do when I arrive at that
place where I must stand before the most righteous Judge, and when He shall
call me to account for the works which I have heaped up in my youth?
The History of Joseph the Carpenter, 16.
Then Joseph looks up and sees Death and Gehenna
and their demons coming to take him away. But he cries out to Jesus, who enters
and comforts him, and holds him, and calls upon Michael and Gabriel to come for
his soul. And so his soul is borne from the bosom of Jesus to the Paradise of
God.
I suppose none of us is as righteous as we
appear. We have all fallen short of the glory of the God. But, like good
Joseph, we may cry in our distress to Jesus—crushed for our iniquities—and he
will save us.
Click here to read about Messiah ben Joseph.
Here is the The
History of Joseph the Carpenter.
David Mitchell
Collect for Joseph of Nazareth
God our Father, who from the family of your servant David raised up Joseph the carpenter to be the guardian of your incarnate Son and husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary: give us grace to follow him n faithful obedience to your commands; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen
Editor’s
note:
For the original version see https://brightmorningstar.org/saint-joseph/
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