Hidden & Holy Life of St. Joseph

"Children, listen to me, your father; act accordingly, that you may be safe. For the Lord sets a father in honor over his children and confirms a mother’s authority over her sons. Those who honor their father atone for sins; they store up riches who respect their mother. Those who honor their father will have joy in their own children, and when they pray they are heard. Those who respect their father will live a long life; those who obey the Lord honor their mother. Those who fear the Lord honor their father, and serve their parents as masters. In word and deed honor your father, that all blessings may come to you. A father’s blessing gives a person firm roots." - Sirach 3:1-9

Prayer: Lord, thank You for the gift of St. Joseph as an example of virtue and intercessor for us. Help us through his intercession to grow in virtue and lead holy lives according to Your will and teaching. Amen.

Hidden & Holy Life of St. Joseph

St. Joseph is a model and example to us of accepting the gifts that God gives us. That whatever it is that God calls us to, He will give us the graces that we need to carry out the mission God entrusts us with. In the lives that we live we are not to live them on our own, but with God. St. Joseph teaches us to live our lives for and with God through all trials, sorrows, and joys. God is our strength. God does not desire our ills, but God wants us to learn to trust in Him when all things come our way, whether good or ill.

The life of St. Joseph, his words, his day-to-day life, are all hidden in God. These details are not known to us, but the life of St. Joseph was known completely to God. And for St. Joseph, he gave his first and his best to God. Living all his days for God. Scripture tells us that St. Joseph was a righteous man. Tradition calls him just. To be a righteous man, means that St. Joseph was virtuous and that he lived his life rightly ordered toward God. The life St. Joseph lived was not to gain his own glory or notoriety, rather for God's good and glory. For us, our motives are often mixed, we want people to know our work, our involvement, our success. We want people to praise us.

For St. Joseph he lived as a carpenter, he embraced poverty, because he embraced generosity. He worked and provided for his family's needs. St. Joseph was a husband and father. By living these for the glory of God, St. Joseph gave his first and best to God.

Lastly, I want to note a beautiful aspect of St. Joseph's fatherhood. In his relationship to his son, Jesus, St. Joseph lived his life in reverence, a reverence amplified by the fact that his son was also a divine person. He was able to look at his son and ponder the question, who will You become? He was able to savor the moments, to see Jesus's growth and development, but new that it was all toward some greater purpose. St. Joseph could thank God for the growth, and be humbled by the fact that he had a role in the growth and development of Jesus. And that is something for all parents to consider. We want our children to grow up to be righteous to be rightly ordered toward God, so that they become who God created them to be. We want to have reverence for the work that God is doing in them. To celebrate the moments, but not cling to them and loose this moment we have today, here now at this time. (We still may have to correct them and help them understand from time to time). A good question for us parents to ponder is, who are they becoming? What is the good that God is producing and how am I called to help it along?

Today, I hope that you look to St. Joseph, see his example of righteous living, that you resolve to give your first and best to God, and as such embrace the call and gifts that God has given you. Seeking to live them hidden in Him, for God's glory.

May God richly bless you!

-Fr. Jeremy

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