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St. Joseph, husband of Mary All of the factual knowledge we have of Joseph is from the first chapter of the Gospel of Matthew and the 2nd chapter of Luke. Joseph was descended from the royal line of King David of the Old Testament. He was betrothed to Mary and was hesitant to continue the engagement when he learned of Mary's pregnancy. However, in a dream, he learned of the Divine mystery of her virginal conception and accepted the angel's encouragement, "do not be afraid to take Mary to be your wife..." (Matthew 1:20). Because of a Roman census, Joseph had to take Mary four days journey to Bethlehem, and while there Mary gave birth to "Jesus, the Christ". (Luke 2:1-7) While in Bethlehem, Joseph and Mary took Jesus to be presented to God in the temple, as was required by Jewish law (Luke 2:22-38). Later, after the visit of the Magi, Joseph was warned of Herod's intention to kill Jesus, so he took Mary and Jesus to Egypt for safety (Matthew 2:13-15) and verse 19-23 tells of his returning and making his home in Nazareth after the death of Herod. It is in Luke 2:41-51 that we learn of Jesus, at the age of twelve, accompanying his parents to Jerusalem and staying behind listening and talking with the teachers. Joseph and Mary are very concerned when they at last locate him in the temple. They express their concern, but do not understand Jesus’ response that He must be about His Father's business, so Jesus returns to Nazareth with them. Matthew 13:55, tells us that Joseph was a "craftsman," which tradition has understood as a carpenter. We know from scripture that Joseph was recognized as the legal father of Jesus (Matthew 1:1-16, Luke 3:23-28). While he did not share in the generation of Jesus, he must have taken on the responsibility of accepting Jesus as his son, and he protected and supported Him. He provided, with Mary, his wife, the earthly home in which Jesus was raised. He would have naturally developed a very strong paternal bond with Jesus, since he cared for Him right from his birth in Bethlehem. He would have seen it as his responsibility to teach his foster son the moral tenets of his Jewish faith. It seems only natural that he would have taught Jesus carpentry, as it was the common tradition that the son always took over the father's work. As to Joseph's death, we can only speculate. He doesn't appear after the infancy narratives of Matthew and Luke and he was certainly dead when Jesus gave Mary into the care of John at the crucifixion (John 19:27). It seems he lived long enough for Jesus to grow to an age and ability to care for Mary after Joseph's death. Perhaps what is most important for this feast day is to recognize the tremendous love God must have had for Joseph in making him responsible for the care of His "Beloved Son" (Mark 1:11.). Joseph is the Patron of the universal Church, which is the "Mystical Body" of His Son. We can be confident that we too can have that same trust in Joseph and know that he will intercede for us that we may come to the holiness of eternal life.
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