Dads and Husbands, Emulate Joseph

During Advent and Christmas seasons, Catholics’ attention focus mainly on “baby” Jesus and secondly contemplate the Virgin Mary. But there is a third member of the Holy Family who should garner some attention from all in December and on his two designated feast days in March and May. And Catholic dads and husbands should give attention to this man all year long, as a wonderful example to emulate.

No man was closer to both Jesus and Mary than Joseph. Someone that important in their lives  deserves our honor and praise. Catholics have always said that the better we know Mary, the better we know her Son. Similarly, when we intensely consider the part Joseph played, we more deeply understand the greatness of Mary.

There is no more intimate union than that of being married, which is why Pope Leo XIII said about Joseph, “There can be no doubt that, more than any other person, he approached that supereminent dignity by which the Mother of God was raised far above all created natures.” 

Then over 100 years later, Pope Benedict XV wrote, “Through Joseph we go directly to Mary, and through Mary to the origin of all holiness, who is Jesus.”

Joseph is the “head” of the Holy Family by way of being the husband and foster-father. Yet, his story has always been overshadowed by Our Lady and Our Lord. He is one of the only major holy people in the Bible who has no spoken words attributed to him. The early Church rarely gave Saint Joseph much attention. He was figuratively and literally seen as that masculine figure standing dimly in the background. 

The Church Gradually Increased Attention to Joseph

It was less than a century ago that the Church started to increase giving Joseph his due. They  declared him the “Patron of the Universal Church” and instituted a feast in his honor in 1847.

Later in 1889, Pope Leo XIII wrote in one of his encyclicals, “In those lands where the 19th of March – the Feast of St. Joseph – is not a Festival of Obligation, we exhort the faithful to sanctify it as far as possible by private pious practices, in honor of their heavenly patron, as though it were a day of Obligation.”

In 1955, Pope Pius XII added a second feast day to honor Saint Joseph. He declared May 1 as the feast of St. Joseph the Worker. The Pope purposely chose this date as it coincided with International Workers Day (aka May Day), which began as a secular celebration of workers’ rights, especially in the communist Soviet Union. Pope Pius XII wanted to ensure that workers retained the Christian understanding of work. No saint could help exemplify this more than Jesus’s foster-father who was known for his industriousness and hard work as a carpenter, job skills and qualities he most likely passed on to his young son. 

About 10 years later, Pope John XXIII added Joseph’s name to the Canon of the Mass (Eucharistic Prayer 1). Finally, in more recent years, the Church made sure all four main Eucharistic Prayers now include naming Joseph. By doing so, the entire Holy Family is now recalled at every liturgy of the Mass.

Pray the Litany of Saint Joseph

The Litany of Saint Joseph is a prayer which appeals to the intercession of Joseph to pray for us, while emphasizing his virtues and various roles as a member of the Holy Family. Officially recognized by the Church in 1909, the litany is composed of twenty-one invocations expressing the merits and dignity of Joseph.

Obviously, the litany is both a way to pray and to recall the history and wonderfulness of the Holy Family. But it also provides a unique inspiration especially to husbands and fathers. In this prayer they see Joseph as a model for the heads of families fulfilling their duties.

Some of the virtues and roles of Saint Joseph stated in the prayer can be translated in the following ways to what a 21st century Catholic male should emulate:

• “Joseph, Most Chaste” – Chastity is often confused with how we tell our unmarried teenagers to refrain from sexual activity. The Catechism actually describes a chaste man as one who “governs his passions and finds peace, or he lets himself be dominated by them and becomes unhappy.” Chastity and the virtue of self-control are fundamentally linked. But to be chaste is not meant solely to be in self-control of sexual urges. A chaste man loves properly and orients his desires appropriately so that the sexual union with his wife actually brings about communion rather than destroys it. A chaste husband develops the moral habit that allows him to see and treat his spouse as a sacred subject instead of a sexual object. 

• “Joseph, Lover of Poverty” – Joseph had to abandon his livelihood and home on his family’s pilgrimages to Bethlehem, Egypt, and Nazareth. Today’s husband/dad would do well to understand that God will provide and “No one can serve two masters…You cannot serve God and mammon” (Matthew 6:24). The term “mammon” was a reference to wealth and material possessions. If we prioritize these above God and focus too heavily on materialism and worldly matters, we will strain our relationship with our Lord.

• “Joseph, Most Faithful” – Faithfulness connotes making a commitment. In the busyness of modern life, it is easy for husbands/dads to push aside belief in and worship of God for belief in and worship of “more important things,” such as sports, recreation, and leisure. Getting oneself and one’s family to Mass every weekend needs to be a commitment that every Catholic husband/dad keeps. 

• “Joseph, Pillar of Families” – Joseph’s vocation was to guard the baby Jesus and the Mother of God. Husbands/dads today should see this holy Saint as not just the head of the Holy Family 2,000 years ago but the model today for showing them the importance of becoming one’s family the strong foundation that provides unconditional love, humble reliability, and charitable loyalty. 

Joseph Deserves Our Tribute

As the Church demonstrates, all Catholics should honor Saint Joseph for all that he did and does. He was the most chaste spouse and protector of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the foster-father and guardian of Jesus, and is now the patron saint of the Universal Church. While we do not worship Joseph, we should pray for his heavenly intercession before God. Moreover, husbands and fathers should consistently strive to imitate him and honor him as the “just and righteous man” he was (Matthew 1:19).