19/03/2025
๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ญ๐ต, ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฑ | ๐ฆ๐ข๐๐๐ ๐ก๐๐ง๐ฌ ๐ข๐ ๐ฆ๐ง. ๐๐ข๐ฆ๐๐ฃ๐, ๐ง๐๐ ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐๐๐ก๐ ๐ข๐ ๐ ๐๐ฅ๐ฌ
๐๐๐ฉ๐ง๐ค๐ฃ๐๐ก ๐๐๐๐จ๐ฉ ๐ค๐ ๐๐ฉ. ๐
๐ค๐จ๐๐ฅ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ช๐จ๐๐๐ฃ๐ ๐พ๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ก, ๐ฝ๐ง๐๐ฎ. ๐๐ก๐ ๐พ๐๐ฃ๐ฉ๐ง๐๐ก, ๐๐ช๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ฃ
๐พ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ฑ๐๐๐๐๐?
Joseph was a carpenter, a hardworking man. 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 allowed only for those who could not afford a lamb. 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. Indeed the angel who first tells Joseph about Jesus greets him as "son of David," a royal title used also for Jesus.
By saying Joseph was โjust,โ the Bible means that he was one who was completely open to all that God wanted to do for him. He became holy by opening himself totally to God. Think of the kind of love with which he wooed and won Mary, and the depth of the love they shared during their marriage. It is no contradiction of Josephโs manly holiness that he decided to divorce Mary when she was found to be with child. The important words of the Bible are that he planned to do this โquietlyโ because he was โa righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shameโ (Matthew 1:19).
The just man was simply, joyfully, wholeheartedly obedient to Godโin marrying Mary, in naming Jesus, in shepherding the precious pair to Egypt, in bringing them to Nazareth, in the undetermined number of years of quiet faith and courage
Moreover, Joseph is the patron saint 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 saint of the Universal Church, families, fathers, expectant mothers (pregnant women), travelers, immigrants, house sellers and buyers, craftsmen, engineers, and working people in general.
๐๐ญ. ๐๐จ๐ฌ๐๐ฉ๐ก, ๐ฉ๐ซ๐๐ฒ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐ฎ๐ฌ!
๐๐ค๐ก๐ก๐ค๐ฌ ๐ค๐ช๐ง ๐ฅ๐๐๐ ๐๐ค๐ง ๐ช๐ฅ๐๐๐ฉ๐๐จ.
