THE UNIVERSAL PATRON

St Joseph is the patron saint of the universal Church; his name was added to the Roman Canon (now, Eucharistic Prayer #1) before the ending of Vatican II by Pope St John XXIII; it was added to all the other Eucharistic Prayers later, by Pope Francis. Jesuits have a special devotion to St Joseph (witness the chapel on the campus of Spring Hill College, or the Jesuit church, now shuttered, in downtown Mobile). He gets two feast days in our liturgical calendar: this Monday the 20^th (the transferred Solemnity from the 19^th since nothing takes precedence over Sundays in Lent), and St Joseph the Worker on May 1, the Catholic answer to communist May Day celebrations of workers’ rights.

I have seen a book entitled “The Glories of St Joseph,” and I have heard prayers invoking him as “terror of demons.” I admit I have little understanding of either of these. Certainly there is nothing in Scripture (our only source of knowledge about Joseph) that would lead me to think of these as appropriate appellations. But I digress—sort of.

As central a character in the Christian story as there is, he speaks not one word in all the Gospels! He is silent and obedient to the dreams God sends him, about Mary’s pregnancy, about the dangers of Herod’s murderous envy, and of the final safety of bringing the Holy Family back home. When the Magi arrive, it seems that Joseph is not even present. When Jesus is “lost” in the Temple we are told (by Mary) that Joseph, too, was sorrowing, but he never speaks about his grief. When Jesus is referred to as “son of Mary,” two assumptions usually play for attention: that He is (of course) truly the son of Mary and Son of God, but also that Joseph, by this point, has died. Interestingly, if Joseph (or any true brothers) were alive at the time of the Crucifixion, Jesus would not have consigned His Mother to the care of the Beloved Disciple. Tradition tells us that he died in the presence of the Blessed Mother and the Son at the deathbed, and that is why Joseph is also invoked as the patron of a happy death. What a way to go: with the Mother of God holding one hand and the Divine Word holding the other!

What can we glean from the Gospels? He was humble and self-effacing—or he would not have taken Mary into his home. He was hard-working—the craft of carpentry was difficult, and his market was typically in Sepphoris, perhaps a 5-mile walk from Nazareth. How many times a week did he make this 10-mile round trip? He was docile and faith-filled—otherwise, he would not have wanted to “divorce Mary quietly,” nor would he have been open to the angel’s message that all would be well if he accepted her. Humble, diligent, obedient, faith-filled: how many of us would benefit from such an example!

This Sunday is the 10^th anniversary of the installation of Pope Francis as Bishop of Rome. As a Jesuit he was thrilled with this “coincidence.” While the Holy Father’s theology is shaped in large part by the writings of Pope St Paul VI and the Latin American bishops’ conference meeting in Aparecida, and his spirituality (of course) by St Ignatius’ Spiritual Exercises, Francis finds strong inspiration from St Joseph and his spouse, the “un-tier of knots,” the Salus Populi Romani.
We could do so much worse! Happy anniversary, Pope Francis, and happy patronal feast-day to us all, St Joseph—not “terror of demons” but inspiration to humble, diligent, faithful lives for us. -Fr. David