St. Joseph is not someone I often think to in depth
about. We all know he played a role in
Jesus’ life, but he doesn't get much mention in, we only hear of him three
times in the Bible: after the conception, the birth, and the finding in the temple. However, we know he was the adoptive father
of Jesus, a pretty important role, so we shouldn't be so quick to pass over who
he is and his life.
Tuesday was the feast day of St. Joseph and we were told
about a shrine to him about five minutes from where we were in St. Louis. We figured we would check it out, expecting
it to be a statue in the middle of a park, but much to our surprise, it was a
gorgeous church. Looking up to a statue of St. Joseph, it really hit me how
amazing of a man he was and the example that he set.
First, let’s look at his ability to give up his own
dreams for God’s plans. I am sure he was
expecting to be like any other good Jewish boy and have lots of children to
pass down his name to and raise them to be good Jewish men. But he knew God had a greater plan, even if
he didn't understand it, and went with that.
He trusted the angel that God sent to him and a dream and from that day
on strove to do his best in this new role God called him to.
What impresses me more about him is his humility and
ability to not seek praise. I mean his
son was going around preaching as a child and of course being sinless and just
a great all around kid, but he wasn’t acting like most parents and taking
credit for everything his child did. It
would have been easy for Joseph to take all the praise for the holiness of
Jesus, since it would appear to most people that Jesus was his son and that
Joseph raised him to be such an inspiring and behaved young child. However, Joseph knew none if it was his own
doing and that it all came from God. He took no credit for the amazing son he
raised. What an example for us all, we
often do great works and claim them as our own, even though we could do nothing
on our own and it is all God working through us.
Leastly, think of his faith. He only knew the child Jesus. He never saw any of the miracles worked or
heard any of Jesus’ preaching and teachings; but yet he still put all his faith
in God and knew that God would fulfill his promises and good would
proceed. What a lesson to us all;
trusting so much in God to change our life plans, continuing to believe and
have faith even when there are no mighty signs, and knowing that God deserves
the glory behind all that we do.
