Given the day on which it landed this year, many Catholics are probably not aware that this past Saturday was the Solemnity of St. Joseph.
Unfortunately, St. Joseph tends to be the overlooked member of the Holy Family. Which I think is a shame, as he is an incredible example for the laity. Although I have grown to appreciate and understand the Blessed Mother more over the years, the truth is I have never been that Marian. Personally, I am drawn far more to St. Joseph. I am sure there are many others out there like me. Explore some of the links below for more on St. Joseph, but I would like to expand a bit upon why I think he is such a great example for the laity.
First, St. Joseph is the great example of obeying the will of God. When the angel revealed to him that God's plan included Joseph, he gave his counterpart to Mary's "Yes" through action. When an angel alerted him that the Holy Family was in danger, he immediately takes Mary and Jesus to Egypt.
Second, I take actual comfort in that we do not know much about Joseph's life, yet the Church recognizes St. Joseph as the most esteemed saint after Mary. Most of our lives will be unknown to the rest of the Church. Few, if any, of us will be given the honor of being raised to the altars. We are too ordinary to get noticed by enough people. We don't found religious orders. God doesn't work through us what most people would recognize as miracles. We raise our families. Teach our children. Give of ourselves also through our craft. But, in the example of St. Joseph, we know the Church sees these things as pathways to holiness. And what more can be said about the example of St. Joseph than that he did these things for Jesus who was obedient to him. God obedient to man.
The Oblates of St. Joseph have wonderful resources and prayers related to St. Joseph on their website, as well as through their Guardian of the Redeemer bookstore. Also, Tom of Disputations has this great series of posts (#'s 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5) on titles of St. Joseph.
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