Hail, Holy Joseph, Hail!

I acknowledge that the title I have today has been “borrowed” from the prayers of the Oblates of St. Joseph Holy Spouses Province. We know that with the Apostolic letter Patris corde (translates “With a Father’s Heart”), Pope Francis proclaimed a Year of Saint Joseph to be celebrated from 8^th December 2020 to 8^th December 2021.

There are about three months before the proclaimed Year of St. Joseph draws to a close and I am not sure that I have done enough to grow in my relationship with St. Joseph.  Have you? I may even almost be going into panic mode or something. Somehow, I feel like not enough has been done for us, the laypeople, to get a better understanding of the role that St. Joseph plays in our journey of faith. I am therefore searching far and wide for what is readily available about this invisible but very present Saint. I pray that one day I, too, will share my personal experiences of the love of St. Joseph. As St. Thomas Aquinas so aptly put it,

Some Saints are privileged to extend to us their patronage with particular efficacy in certain needs, but not in others; but our holy patron St. Joseph has the power to assist us in all cases, in every necessity, in every undertaking ( St. Thomas Aquinas).

You can thus see why I have reason to daily hail Holy Joseph. In this case, we will use the word hail (noun) as an exclamation of greeting or acclamation and a calling to attract attention (see Merriam Webster Dictionary definition). Although he tends to remain under the radar with his quiet demeanour, St. Joseph’s discreet and hidden nature has so much to teach us about growing in holiness. My search has revealed various prayers of devotion to St. Joseph that can help in meditating and/or contemplating the life of St. Joseph as guardian of the Son of God. One of these has proved the easiest for me to pray anytime, anywhere. It is rather easy to remember like (and sometimes mix-up with) the more common Hail Mary. But it is one of those that help me to invoke him with the various titles by which we esteem him.

Hail, Joseph, full of grace,
The Lord is with you.
Blessed are you among all men,
And blessed is your foster Son, Jesus.
Holy Joseph, guardian of the Son of God,
Pray for us sinners,
Now, and at the hour of our death.
Amen.

Holy Joseph, Model of Fatherhood

Somehow, when I hail St. Joseph, I can’t help but see how he truly represents God the Father in the earthly life of the Lord Jesus. To carry this out, he most certainly has to be full of God’s grace. For the Lord God chooses St. Joseph from all men to be the foster-father of Jesus thereby speaking volumes about his character. It is such a great honour that the Lord God entrusts St. Joseph to lead, to provide for and to protect the Son of God and the Holy Mother of God! In the eyes of the Child Jesus, St. Joseph is the perfect reflection of the Heavenly Father. When he hears him speak, watches him work, witnesses his chaste love for the Blessed Mary, the Child Jesus experiences the love of God the Father.

As Saint Paul VI points out, St. Joseph certainly expresses his fatherhood by making his life a sacrificial service to the mystery of the incarnation and its redemptive purpose. He devotes himself completely to them in his life and work. He places his heart and abilities in love at the service of the Messiah who is growing to maturity in his home. St. Joseph is commissioned to faithfully serve the Holy Family and to protect them from danger so that they get to fulfil God’s mission. He is charged with being a fine, masculine example for the Lord Jesus, to teach Him in His humanity how to be a man. Thus, he teaches his Creator how to be a faithful Jew and how to earn a living by engaging in the trade of carpentry (artistry). He goes further to model for us how fathers should be the spiritual leaders of our families and how they should show the love of God the Father to their wives and children. He is truly the glory of home life.

Holy Joseph, Patron Saint of Workers

Our humanity necessitates that work comprises a large portion of our lives. Time and again we struggle to work in a way that truly honours God. St. Joseph is one person who can teach us how to work well. All we need to do is to ask him. One way to do this is to start your workday with a Hail Joseph. He is also one to petition if you are having difficulty finding a job. You just need to remember that He was commissioned to provide for the Son of God. He therefore fully understands what sort of pressure men (and women) face to provide for their families.

There is more. If you are in a job and you want to work conscientiously, this is the man to teach you how. Can you picture literally putting on the shoes of God and working to provide for the Holy Family? Better still, teaching the Son of God how to earn an honest living as a human being? And to do that as a carpenter (cf. Matthew 13:55 & Mark 6:3)! Imagine the eye that you need to design a masterpiece of furniture; the calculations you must make to give it balance; the patience you need to carve it perfectly; the touch you need to finish it majestically…. (Hands up, no pressure; I am just saying)…. There is really no room here for trying to do; he just has to be the model of artisans!

Holy Joseph, the Powerful Intercessor

St. Luke teaches us that the Lord Jesus went down with them and came to Nazareth, and He was submissive to them (cf. Luke 2: 51). It is logical to expect that at this point, the Lord Jesus, being the Son of God, is most likely already more competent in the faith than his parents. We are told that He is not only filled with wisdom (cf. Luke 2:40) but He is also without sin  (cf. Hebrews 4:15). He sits with the nation’s teachers and formulates appropriate questions, and all who hear Him are amazed at His understanding and His answers (cf. Luke 2:47). Although He evidently eclipses His parents in spiritual and theological competency, He doesn’t (at least not yet!) put Himself in charge. His emerging understanding is to not overlook Moses’ commandment to “Honour your father and your mother”  (cf. Exodus 20:12). In other words, the Lord Jesus is showing us how St. Joseph is truly a powerful intercessor. The Lord Jesus honoured His earthly father in being submissive to him. He listened to St. Joseph. We know that the Lord Jesus is the same yesterday, and today and forever (cf. Hebrews 13:8). He honoured St. Joseph then; He honours him today! The autobiography of St. Teresa of Avila gives us some insight into St. Joseph’s so powerful intercession:

To other saints, the Lord seems to have given the grace to succour us in some of our necessities, but of this glorious saint, my experience is that he succours us in them all; and that the Lord wishes to teach us that, as He was Himself subject to him on earth, (for, being His guardian and being called His father, he could command Him) just so in Heaven He still does all that he asks.

Holy Joseph, Most Obedient

In the scriptures, we learn that St. Joseph’s love for the Blessed Virgin Mary is outdone only by the love he has for the Father (cf. Matthew 1:19). It is only his obedience and belief in the sanctity of the law that can lead him to divorce Mary. However, his love for her does not allow for harm to come to her. This even though he can be disgraced in the process. This is so much like the character of the love of God the Father. He made a vow to the Covenant which could not allow Him to just dismiss our sin. Therefore, even though He be disgraced in the process (cf. Philippians 2:8), His great love does not allow for Him to dismiss us. Instead, He endures such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you do not grow weary and lose heart (cf. Hebrews 12:3).

And just what does this have to do with St. Joseph? Every time the Lord God asks him to do something, he is eager to say yes. When he is told to not fear taking Mary as his wife (cf. Matthew 1:20) or to pack up his family and leave for Bethlehem under difficult conditions to attend the census (cf. Luke 2:1-7) or to flee to Egypt with the young family (cf. Matthew 2:13–23), St. Joseph chooses to follow the Lord God’s will. And that St. Joseph does immediately. He is so courageously and firmly proactive. How so? Because with the gift of fortitude and being full of hope, he is able to accept life as it is. Thus, even despite all its contradictions, frustrations and disappointments, St. Joseph is the bravest, most prudent, most loyal and most obedient to the call of God.

Holy Joseph, the Silent

The Bible shows no record of a single word that St. Joseph spoke; for he is a man of great silence. This silence enables him to clearly hear the voice of the Lord God and to discern His will for the Holy Family. Are you looking to hear God’s voice? Do you desire to quiet down your heart and enter into the great Silence? Hail Holy Joseph. He knows the secret of how to achieve that. If there is one person you can consult about how to readily accepted variables that throw you off original plans, it is St. Joseph.

Imagine being in love, happily making a new home in anticipation of your betrothed coming back from visiting her cousin, making furniture (and thinking) how this is the best thing that you have ever done (i.e. preparing a home for your bride), only for you to realize well, she is pregnant. In his prudence, St. Joseph decides to adjust the plan. Rather than expose her to face the community’s wrath, he resolves to quietly divorce Mary. Then the angel appears to change this plan (again!). Does he question? No. He accepts it, adjusts the plan (again!) and grows even deeper in the love of God and the love for his spouse.

In silence, he makes adjustments suitable for the provision and protection of the Holy Family. He listens to the Lord God and completely trusts in God’s providence. He always listens, and he always obeys…yes, without reasoning out, arguing, or justifying. He keeps his views to himself and seeks God’s vision in all things, at all times. In all the strange situations that the Lord God places him, St. Joseph remains calm and silent. He knows that the Father has confided a secret in trust to him. He does not want to jeopardise God’s Plan. In fidelity and humility, he silently maintains the simplicity of a workman trying hard to earn his daily bread and care for his family.

Take-Home

There is a lot more that we can say about St. Joseph. There is so much that will get revealed the more we invoke him. There is a lot of good that comes from knowing St. Joseph. When all is said and done, St. Joseph perfectly lived the universal vocation to know, to love and to serve God; and as the CCC teaches, to be happy with Him in heaven forever. Therefore, we should learn to often go to St. Joseph. And like the Lord Jesus and Holy Mary, we do all that he says to us; we obey him as They obeyed him; we speak to him as They spoke to him; we consult him as They consulted him; we honour him as They honoured him; we be grateful to him as They were grateful to him; and we love him, as They love him still.

Hail, Holy Joseph, Hail!