,And
they kept saying, “Is this not Jesus the son of Joseph?” — St. John 6:42
Pope Benedict XVI, Yaoundé, Homily 18 March 2009: There
is but one fatherhood, that of God the Father, the one Creator of the world,
“of all that is seen and unseen”. Yet man, created in the image of God, has
been granted a share in this one paternity of God (cf. Eph 3:15). Saint Joseph is a striking case of this, since he is a
father, without fatherhood according to the flesh. He is not the biological
father of Jesus, whose Father is God alone, and yet he lives his fatherhood
fully and completely. To be a father means above all to be at the service of
life and growth. Saint Joseph, in this sense, gave proof of great devotion. For
the sake of Christ he experienced persecution, exile and the poverty which this
entails. He had to settle far from his native town. His only reward was to be
with Christ. His readiness to do all these things illustrates the words of
Saint Paul: “It is Christ the Lord whom you serve” (Col 3:24).
The Holy
Bible does not give us a full account of the life of the Holy Family except for
a brief mention in the Gospel of St. Luke, when Jesus is already twelve years
of age. These hidden years were no doubt filled with the everyday joys and
sorrows that families experience all the time.
According to
Venerable Maria de Agreda, upon arriving at their home in Nazareth (having
returned from their exile), St. Joseph straightaway set out to re-establish
himself as a carpenter, opening up his shop to earn a living for his family:
The holy
Joseph also ordered his occupations and his work so as most worthily to earn
sustenance for the divine Child and his mother as well as for himself. That, which in other sons
of Adam is considered a punishment and a hardship, was to this holy Patriarch a
great happiness. For while others were condemned to sustain their natural life
by the labour of their hands in the sweat of their brows, Saint Joseph was
blessed and consoled beyond measure to know, that he had been chosen by his
labour and sweat to support God himself and his mother. — Venerable Maria de Agreda
As years
went by, Joseph, having now established his family and his work in Nazareth,
would go on to teach his son in the ways of life. No doubt that he could learn
a lot from his son, but Jesus chooses to respect his intelligence, his hard
work, his human nature. In renaissance art, Joseph is often depicted in the
background, not playing an active part in the life of Christ when the exact
opposite would be true. Who would have spent the most time with Christ besides
the Blessed Mother? It would be Joseph, his father.
For the first
few years of life, the Child Jesus would have been reared mostly
by his mother
while his father went off to work. Once the Child Jesus grew to suitable age, St.
Joseph would take over and instruct him in the ways of life through work and
schooling.
St. Francis de Sales: If princes of this world are most careful in choosing tutors
for their sons, taking pains to secure the best that can be found, do you think
that God did not select the man who was the most perfectly qualified to be the
guardian of his eternal Son, the Lord of heaven and earth?
Joseph would
most certainly have taught Christ how to read, how to pray, and how to work
just like any other father would. This scholastic view of Joseph as teacher is
rarely thought of among the theologians or painted in the arts. However, during
the seventeenth century, many artists began to portray him as somewhat of a
scholar, with an open book in front of him. In some of these paintings, he is
actually pointing to a verse in the book, which we assume is our Holy
Scripture, as he gazes at the Child Jesus. What does this mean to us? What is
Joseph telling us? He was well aware of the prophecies that spoke of a future
Messiah, and the depiction of him with the book while looking at Jesus is
telling us that Jesus is in fact the Promised One and his father is showing
this to us.
Let us not assume that just because he worked with his hands,
he was illiterate and did not take the time to read the words of the prophets.
We are told in Scripture that when Jesus came to this earth, he emptied himself
and did not cling to his divinity, so as to be like one of us (Philippians2:5-9.) Jesus genuinely willed himself to learn from his father on earth and to
grow as any other Jewish boy would. Joseph was a father, guardian, and teacher
to his son. This Joseph of ours is both worker and intellectual, and no doubt
he passed these ideals on to Christ our Lord.
The Holy Father, Pope Francis, gives us words to meditate on
concerning the fatherhood of St. Joseph:
We look at Joseph – as the model of the educator, who
safeguards and accompanies Jesus in his journey of growth "in wisdom,
years and grace", as the Gospel of Luke tells us. "He was not the
father of Jesus, the Father was God, but he was a father to help him grow in
years, wisdom and grace.
Let's start with his age, which is the most natural
dimension, physical and psychological growth. Joseph, together with Mary, took
care of Jesus, first of all from this point of view, he 'raised him',
worrying that he had all he needed for a healthy development. Let us not forget
that the faithful care of the life of
the Child also led to the flight into Egypt, the harsh experience of living as
refugees to escape the threat of Herod. Then, once they returned home and
settled in Nazareth, there is the long period of the hidden life of Jesus
within the Holy Family. During those years, Joseph also taught Jesus his work,
Jesus learned to be a carpenter.
Let's move on to the second dimension of Christ's education,
that of "wisdom". Scripture says that the beginning of wisdom is fear
of the Lord. Joseph was an example and teacher of this wisdom for Jesus, which he nourished by the Word of
God. We can imagine how Joseph taught the child Jesus to listen to the
Holy Scriptures, especially accompanying him on the Sabbath to the synagogue in
Nazareth. Joseph accompanied Jesus so he would listen to the word of God in the
synagogue.
And finally, the dimension of "grace". Again St.
Luke tells us referring to Jesus: "The grace of God was upon him".
Here certainly the part reserved to St Joseph is more limited than in the areas
of age and wisdom. But it would be a grave mistake to think that a father and a
mother do nothing to educate their children to grow in the grace of God.
The
mission of St. Joseph is certainly unique and unrepeatable, because Jesus is
unique. However, in his guarding Jesus, educating him to grow in years,
wisdom and grace, he is a model for all educators, especially for parents. St. Joseph is the model educator and father,
the model for dads.
— Pope Francis, Homily 19 March
2014
Proverbs
4:1-7 – Hear,
O children, a father’s instruction, be attentive, that you may gain
understanding! . . . When I was my father’s child, frail, yet the darling of my
mother, he taught me, and said to me: “Let your heart hold fast my words! Keep
my commands, do not forget; go not astray from the words of my mouth.”
To see Jesus
present in his shop made Joseph’s heart leap for joy … Turning to Jesus, Joseph
said: “Oh my Jesus, my dear Son, you already know that my own desire is to be
entirely at your service, but the Heavenly Father has decreed otherwise. In
obedience to him, I shall command you in regard to those matters in which this
is necessary. Nevertheless, as I have already stated, I shall do so only in
order that I may fulfill the Will of God.” 
