On Christian Manhood: St. Jospeh

The 1ST SUNDAY AFTER CHRISTMAS

"THE birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his Mother Mary was espoused to Joseph before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily. But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou Son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife; for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost: and she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS; for he shall save his people from their sins." (Mt. 1:18)

This Sunday after Christmas is a good time to reflect on Saint Joseph, who was the legal and foster father of Jesus. He played a fatherly role in Jesus' childhood and youth, and that's why he has been declared the Patron or Protector of the Church. The Church continues Christ's mission and image in the world and reflects them in history.

Upon first glance, there may seem to be little to meditate on regarding Joseph. After all, what do we truly know about him, apart from his name and a few events that took place in Our Lord's childhood? The Gospel does not record a single word he spoke, as his language was one of silence. Joseph's silence was demonstrated through his attentiveness to the angelic voices that spoke to him in his sleep. His response to those voices was always prompt and generous obedience.

Joseph's day-to-day language was that of manual labor, which was often the most modest and fatiguing type of work. It was through this work that Jesus was known as "the son of the carpenter" (Mt. 13:55). There is nothing else that is known of Joseph, and it could be said that he lived an unknown life - that of a simple artisan, with no sign of personal greatness, wealth, or notoriety. And yet, his life spoke quite verbosely, presenting an exemplary standard for biblical manhood and a great example of fidelity to Christ.

Let me begin with this: St. Joseph was a just or "righteous" man, a holy man, like anyone living in a right relationship with God. He trusted and never once neglected God's word. His righteousness was evidenced by a willingness to adjust his life, needs, and pursuits to that of the Father. While contemplating divorcing his espoused and beautiful Mary (whom he had yet known for their marriage was not yet consummated), the Lord spoke to him through an angel saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which in her is from the Holy Spirit" (Mt 1:20). Joseph dropped his plan, subjected his will and life according to the revealed word of God, and did all things aligned with the Divine will, not his own. You see, a Christian man lives first for God and cares for his wife according to Christ's law, not according to the ways of this world nor out of fleshly desire or selfish ambition. Joseph shows each and every one of us how to attune our lives fully to God's will.

Next, Joseph was an obedient man. He was "righteous" precisely because he was docile in that he was willing to submit to the greater good in obedience to God. Joseph was "faithful" because he did by faith what the Lord asked of him. His prompt obedience is evident in his response to the angel of God's interventions in his dreams. When visited by an angel in a dream, telling him not to be afraid to receive Mary into his home because the child was conceived by the Holy Spirit, Joseph awoke and "did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him." He didn't ask any questions and immediately followed the command. After Jesus was born, an angel appeared to Joseph again and told him to take the child and his Mother and escape to Egypt, staying there until the angel gave him further instructions. Joseph immediately rose, woke them up without questioning or debating, and started their journey that night.

Several years later, an angel appeared to him in Egypt and instructed him to return to Israel. Then, during their journey, the angel appeared for the fourth time and commanded him to relocate to Nazareth, which he promptly obeyed without any hesitation or argument. This reveals that he was not only obedient but also a courageous man. In this day and age, a lot of men lack the virtue of courage that obedience often requires. How greatly the Church, even this world, needs brave men to live among us, sons of courage from the youngest to the oldest.

Consider for a moment the weight of Joseph's decisions in response to his dreams. These were not minor choices but life-altering ones. He had to risk personal scandal by taking Mary as his wife, accepting the role of being the chaste spouse of the Virgin Mary and the foster father of the Son of God, and leaving his job and family behind to journey through the desert to an unknown land. Then, he had to pick up and return right when their lives had begun to settle. Yet in each of these circumstances, Joseph acted immediately and with faith because a Christian man obeys God even when the path isn't clear or makes any worldly sense. He hears, he trusts, and he obeys.

My third point about Joseph is that he had a sacrificial love. Obeying Christ always means making sacrifices. St. Joseph sacrificed his own plans repeatedly to fulfill God's plans. He embraced his role as a husband to help Jesus and Mary complete their missions. To obey — ob-audire in Latin — means to listen intensively, to hang on every word. In Hebrew, there's no distinction between the words to listen and to obey because if we're really listening to God with faith, then we are listening to do what he speaks. There was no distinction between those words in St. Joseph's life, nor should this distinction exist in ours. A Christian man listens intently to God's word because he knows his voice and puts what he hears into righteous action.

Next, Joseph was humble, as it takes humility to wholly dedicate ourselves to serving someone else. And we would do well to look to St. Joseph, a model of humility, in how he cared for Jesus and Mary. His humility is shown through his fatherhood of our Lord by teaching Jesus to pray as he led Mary, his Mother. It would have been Joseph, as the father and husband, who took Jesus to the Synagogue to observe the Sabbath's rites and to Jerusalem for the great feasts of Israel, for it is customary for men and women to be separated for temple worship. Joseph would have led the prayers at home by Jewish tradition every day - in the morning, evening, at meals - and on the main religious feasts.

As a father, Joseph, the greater served his child and wife, the lesser. He humbly raised his Son Jesus in the way that he should go, in the faith of God's people, making sure the boy (even the whole family) faithfully fulfilled their covenant obligations of worship, offering sacrifice, and serving the Living God. A Christian man humbly submits himself first to God and then to fulfilling the responsibility of fatherhood and priest to his family within the sacred vocation of the domestic Church. By this, a man serves the lesser in submission to the greater, Christ the Lord.

Joseph was hardworking; he was a tekton (τέκτων), a construction worker, and a builder. Everyone knew him as such, asking about Jesus, "Is this not the carpenter's son?" His spiritual currency was hard work, long days, and calloused hands. Joseph taught Jesus about human work, in which he was an expert. The Divine Child worked beside him, and by listening to and observing him, he also learned to manage the carpenter's tools with the diligence and dedication transmitted to him by his diligent and faithful foster father. And I want the boys and young men to pay attention, for here lies a great lesson: if the Son of God was willing to learn human work from a man, this indicates that there is in work a specific moral value with a precise meaning for man and for his self-fulfillment.

In other words, Jesus shows us that man is dignified by work because Jesus dignified it by embracing his vocation as a carpenter. In the rhythm of the days he spent at Nazareth, in the simple home, and in his workshop, Jesus learned to alternate prayer and work, ora et labora, and to unite the two into one continuous "work of prayer" in which he not only offered to God his labor but earned the bread the family needed. He is perhaps our greatest advocate for consecrating ourselves to God through our work, to sanctify our work, to sanctify others through our work, and to sanctify ourselves through our work. A Christian man works for his food and provides for his family while gladly embracing his God-given vocation (in whatever sphere of industry it might be) with integrity and, to the best of his ability, as his priestly offering to his Lord and for the betterment of his family and personal dignity.

Next, Joseph was chaste: He was Mary's "most chaste spouse." Remembering what St. Paul wrote in his First Letter to the Thessalonians: "This is God's will for you, your sanctification," he immediately says, "Therefore, avoid all porneia," or unchastity. Sexual sins take us in the opposite direction of holiness since lust is the opposite of love. To grow in holiness, we not only have to avoid all unchastity but to be chaste. The Church from the earliest times revered St. Joseph as holy because he was "most chaste" and often depicted with a lily, as a sign of purity. His life reveals that the full gift of self toward another does not necessarily have to involve physical relations.

He loved Mary, which meant that he was willing to dedicate himself to what was best for her and the divine Son she was carrying. He put all his love and his life at the service of their vocations and, in doing so, fulfilled his God-given vocation. Now, in our Anglican tradition, what one believes as to whether or not Mary remained a virgin after Jesus' birth has always remained a secondary issue and never dogmatized into a matter of salvation. Anglicans are free to fall on either side of Mary, having retained her virginity or not. But regardless of where you land, we can't deny that Joseph remained chaste either in living a life of abstinence or by his marital fidelity to his wife.

In either scenario, St. Joseph teaches us that it is possible to love without possessing. Chastity is a virtue that helps a person have self-mastery so that one can give oneself to others in the best way for them. Chastity raises one's love and attraction up to the dignity of the other. Chastity allows one to see purely (to see God in another) and with piety (to reverence the divine image one beholds). That's what Joseph was able to do in the case of his most blessed wife. Holding fast to the virtue of chastity is what allows men to be protectors of women rather than predators. Thus, a Christian man embraces chastity at every stage of manhood to protect his soul from the ravages of sexual sin, to uphold the dignity of all women, to keep the marriage bed pure, and to love his wife as Christ loves the Church.

And this brings me to a concluding thought. Joseph, the just man, was and is a type of Christ, his foster Son and also his Lord and Savior. Like Jesus, Joseph trusted the Father, set his will aside in obedience to the divine will, loved and protected the bride, disciplined a son unto maturity, embraced his vocation, and worked hard while being obedient, faithful, and chaste. It's a delightful thought, that Joseph, the father, modeled in his life the Son who thought he was a Son, is the model of all faithful fathers.

So may we all, as men and women, imitate Josephs righteousness, faith, obedience, chastity, humility, hard work, prayer, charity, and his very way of life so that, growing in holiness, we may, like him, serve Christ with our whole selves and in the end, experience eternal joy with Joseph and Mary and all the saints surrounding Jesus, to whom Joseph's holy life points us to.  Let us pray,

Almighty God, who hast given us thy only-begotten Son to take our nature upon him, and as at this time to be born of a pure Virgin; Grant that we being regenerate, and made thy children by adoption and grace, may daily be renewed by thy Holy Spirit; through our Lord Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the same Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

(The Collect for the 1st Sunday After christmas)