Feastday: March 19, May 1
Patron of the Universal Church
Everything we know about the husband of Mary and the foster father of Jesus comes from Scripture and
that has seemed too little for those who made up legends about him.
We know he was a carpenter, a working man, for the skeptical Nazarenes ask about Jesus, "Is this not
the carpenter's son?" (Matthew 13:55). He wasn't rich for when he took Jesus to the Temple to be circumcised and Mary to be
purified he offered the sacrifice of two turtledoves or a pair of pigeons, allowed only for those who could not afford a
lamb (Luke 2:24).
Despite his humble work and means, Joseph came from a royal lineage. Luke and Matthew disagree some
about the details of Joseph's genealogy but they both mark his descent from David, the greatest king of Israel (Matthew
1:1-16 and Luke 3:23-38). Indeed the angel who first tells Joseph about Jesus greets him as "son of David," a royal title
used also for Jesus.
We know Joseph was a compassionate, caring man. When he discovered Mary was pregnant after they had
been betrothed, he knew the child was not his but was as yet unaware that she was carrying the Son of God. He planned to
divorce Mary according to the law but he was concerned for her suffering and safety. He knew that women accused to adultery
could be stoned to death, so he decided to divorce her quietly and not expose her to shame or cruelty (Matthew 1:19-25).
We know Joseph was man of faith, obedient to whatever God asked of him without knowing the outcome.
When the angel came to Joseph in a dream and told him the truth about the child Mary was carrying, Joseph immediately and
without question or concern for gossip, took Mary as his wife. When the angel came again to tell him that his family was in
danger, he immediately left everything he owned, all his family and friends, and fled to a strange country with his young
wife and the baby. He waited in Egypt without question until the angel told him it was safe to go back (Matthew 2:13-23).
We know Joseph loved Jesus. His one concern was for the safety of this child entrusted to him. Not
only did he leave his home to protect Jesus, but upon his return settled in the obscure town of Nazareth out of fear for his
life. When Jesus stayed in the Temple we are told Joseph (along with Mary) searched with great anxiety for three days for
him (Luke 2:48). We also know that Joseph treated Jesus as his own son for over and over the people of Nazareth say of
Jesus, "Is this not the son of Joseph?" (Luke 4:22)
We know Joseph respected God. He followed God's commands in handling the situation with Mary and
going to Jerusalem to have Jesus circumcised and Mary purified after Jesus' birth. We are told that he took his family to
Jerusalem every year for Passover, something that could not have been easy for a working man.
Since Joseph does not appear in Jesus' public life, at his death, or resurrection, many historians
believe Joseph probably had died before Jesus entered public ministry.
Joseph is the patron of the dying because, assuming he died before Jesus' public life, he died with
Jesus and Mary close to him, the way we all would like to leave this earth.
Joseph is also patron of the universal Church, fathers, carpenters, and social justice.
We celebrate two feast days for Joseph: March 19 for Joseph the Husband of Mary and May 1 for Joseph
the Worker.
There is much we wish we could know about Joseph -- where and when he was born, how he spent his
days, when and how he died. But Scripture has left us with the most important knowledge: who he was -- "a righteous man"
(Matthew 1:18).