Everything known about Saint Joseph the husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary comes from Scripture, and it is not a lot. The Gospels from Luke and Matthew both say Joseph was a descendant of David, the greatest king of Israel. The angel that first tells Joseph about Jesus greets him as “son of David”, a royal title. But despite such family lineage, we know he was a working man, a carpenter, because the skeptical Nazarenes when asking about Jesus said: “Is this not the carpenter’s son?” We know Joseph was not rich because when he took Jesus to the Temple to be circumcised and Mary to be purified, the sacrifice offered was two turtledoves which was only allowed for those who could not afford a lamb. We know Joseph was a compassionate and caring man. When he discovered that Mary was pregnant, and he knew the child was not his, he planned to quietly send her away so not to expose her shame and be accused of adultery and possibly stoned to death. When the angel came to him in a dream and explained that the Holy Spirt was conceived in Mary, and she would give birth to a son, and Joseph was to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins. Joseph did as the angel said and took Mary as his wife. We know Joseph loved Jesus and treated him as his son. Directed by the angel, Joseph without question fled to a strange country – Egypt with his wife and baby to protect them from King Herod’s massacre of the children of Bethlehem. When it was safe he brought them back and settled in the obscure town of Nazareth to protect Jesus. When Jesus stayed in the Temple, Joseph and Mary searched with great anxiety for him for three days. We know Joseph respected God and followed his commands. He took his family to Jerusalem every year for Passover, which was probably difficult for a working man. Joseph does not appear in the Scripture in Jesus’ public life, nor at Jesus’ death or resurrection, so it is believed that Joseph probably had died before Jesus entered public ministry. Joseph is the patron saint of the dying because, assuming he died with Jesus and Mary close to him, it is the way we all would like to leave this earth. Joseph is also the patron saint of the Universal Church, families, fathers, expectant mothers, travelers, immigrants, house sellers and buyers, craftsmen,
engineers, and working people in general. We celebrate two feast days for Joseph, March 19 for Joseph the Husband of Mary and May 1 for Joseph the Worker. With Pope Francis’ new Apostolic Letter, Joseph is remembered on the 150th anniversary of the declaration of Saint Joseph as Patron of the Universal Church. To mark that occasion, Francis proclaimed a “Year of Saint Joseph” beginning December 8, 2020, and ending December 8, 2021
