St. Joseph: A Character Sketch

Among all men who have ever lived, who has surpassed St. Joseph, save only our Lord himself? And yet I propose to, in a few minutes time, give you a sketch of his character. I am afraid that I am insufficient to this purpose, but fortunately there are others who are more sufficient for it, especially St. Matthew, St. Luke, St. John Chrysostom, and our beloved late Holy Father, Pope John Paul II. For, as the Golden-Tongued Chrysostom tells us, St. Joseph was “a soul truly wakened, and in all things incorruptible.” (St. Chrysostom, Hom 5 on Matthew).

When we see Joseph’s reactions to the promptings of Divine Providence, we are amazed at his receptiveness to the Angel’s words. Above all, St. Joseph is noted for obedience to the divine commands. His obedience was not without difficulty. In the first place, he was faced with the pregnancy of Mary. Now this in itself seemed an impossibility to him, for although he could not imagine that his Spouse was unchaste, yet he was presented with seemingly incontrovertible evidence to the contrary. In fact, in this situation most husbands would overflow with jealousy, but not so with Joseph, “a man under self-restraint, and freed from the most tyrannical of passions.” (St. Chrysostom, Hom 4 on Matthew). So, in his extreme delicacy, not only did he not try to have Mary put to death, but he did not even wish to have her put to shame. What an example of forgiveness is St. Joseph! Yet, he also is so desirous of keeping God’s laws that he will not keep a wife in his house who he thinks to be an adulteress. St. Chrysostom tells us that the justice of St. Joseph is itself a sign of the coming of Jesus Christ, the Sun of Justice. St. Joseph "conducts himself now by a higher rule than the law. For grace being come, there must needs henceforth be many tokens of that exalted citizenship. For as the sun, though as yet he show not his beams, doth from afar by his light illumine more than half the world; so likewise Christ, when about to rise from that womb, even before He came forth, shone over all the world.” (ibid.)

Now, when the Angel has informed Joseph that Mary is indeed a virgin, and that the babe within her womb has been conceived of the Holy Spirit, Joseph does not doubt, but believes. He believes and obeys. In this, he shows that his decision to put Mary away quietly was not done from egotism, but rather out of a sincere love for God. For, if he had merely been obeying God out of egotism and pride, he might well have hardened his heart and not believed the message of the Angel. But, since he was concerned with doing the will of God, he was quick to take Mary into his house.

But what about sex? How can we say that Mary and Joseph were married if they did not have sexual relations, as did every other married couple on earth? Here, too, we gain an insight into the singular greatness of St. Joseph. As John Paul II explains,

Through his complete self-sacrifice, Joseph expressed his generous love for the Mother of God, and gave her a husband's "gift of self." Even though he decided to draw back so as not to interfere in the plan of God which was coming to pass in Mary, Joseph obeyed the explicit command of the angel and look Mary into his home, while respecting the fact that she belonged exclusively to God. (Redemptoris Custos, 20)

The total sacrifice, whereby Joseph surrendered his whole existence to the demands of the Messiah's coming into his home, becomes understandable only in the light of his profound interior life. It was from this interior life that "very singular commands and consolations came, bringing him also the logic and strength that belong to simple and clear souls, and giving him the power of making great decisions-such as the decision to put his liberty immediately at the disposition of the divine designs, to make over to them also his legitimate human calling, his conjugal happiness, to accept the conditions, the responsibility and the burden of a family, but, through an incomparable virginal love, to renounce that natural conjugal love that is the foundation and nourishment of the family. This submission to God, this readiness of will to dedicate oneself to all that serves him, is really nothing less than that exercise of devotion which constitutes one expression of the virtue of religion.
(Redemptoris Custos, 26)

And, quoting St. Augustine, John Paul writes

“By reason of their faithful marriage both of them deserve to be called Christ's parents, not only his mother, but also his father, who was a parent in the same way that he was the mother's spouse: in mind, not in the flesh." In this marriage none of the requisites of marriage were lacking: "In Christ's parents all the goods of marriage were realized-offspring, fidelity, the sacrament: the offspring being the Lord Jesus himself; fidelity, since there was no adultery: the sacrament, since there was no divorce." (Redemptoris Custos, 7)

See how Mary and Joseph give hope to all married couples, even those who are unable to bear children! For all married couples, no matter their age or situation, can and should participate in the fullness of the sacrament of marriage. And, at the same time, that Holy Couple gives to all married couples an example of how to life together in mutual love and self-giving.

So, we have seen that St. Joseph was obedient, that he was chaste, that he was full of faith, and that he was a true father. From where does his great faith and virtue come? For, St. Chrysostom says “By ‘a just man’ in this place he means him that is virtuous in all things.” Here, too, we turn to the reflections of Pope John Paul II. He notes that the gospels record not one word of St. Joseph. Yet, he continues, this very silence allows us to discover in St. Joseph a deep interior life. For St. Joseph “was in daily contact with the mystery ‘hidden from ages past,’ and which ‘dwelt’ under his roof.” He had a close and abiding relationship with his foster-son, who he raised as a father and trained in the ways of his trade. Every day, Jesus and Joseph were together in the carpenter’s shop, as is indicated when St. Matthew tells us that Jesus went up and was obedient to his parents. Jesus, indeed, learned from St. Joseph, but more than that, St. Joseph learned from Jesus. In fact, it is only just and right that the man who took care of Jesus as an infant should be one of the first and greatest recipients of his heavenly grace. Yet, he certainly would not have been ready for this deep and intimate contact with the Word made flesh, unless he had already prepared himself in prayer, a prayer life which is evident by his holy actions in the stories of tonight’s texts. Thus, we learn the importance of preparing ourselves for grace. St. Joseph was obvisouly a man of prayer, who centered his life on doing God's will, long before the birth of Christ. And, after Christ was born, he was given a gift of intimacy with Christ which has been unsurpassed by any except for the very Mother of God. But, here is a mystery, how can we prepare ourselves for grace? St. Augustine gives us the key,

Indeed we also work, but we are only collaborating with God who works, for his mercy has gone before us. It has gone before us so that we may be healed, and follows us so that once healed, we may be given life; it goes before us so that we may be called, and follows us so that we may be glorified; it goes before us so that we may live devoutly, and follows us so that we may always live with God: for without him we can do nothing. (St. Augustine, De natura et gratia, 31:PL 44,264., cited in CCC 2001).

In other words, God gives us grace, we freely respond to his grace by obiedience, and as a reward for this he pours out yet more grace. This pattern was the very heart of St. Joseph's spiritual life.

And so, let us always imitage that holy and exalted man, "a soul truly wakened, and in all things incorruptible," St. Joseph.

St. Joseph, Patron of the Universal Church, Pray for Us!