By Most. Rev. Dr. Prasad Gallela, Bishop of Cuddapah –
As we keep the solemnity of St. Joseph in the month of March, let us reflect and meditate on the life and mission of St. Joseph, the Patron Saint of our diocese.
Whenever the divine favour chooses someone to receive a special grace, or to accept a great vocation, God adorns and blesses that person chosen with all the gifts of the Holy Spirit needed to fulfill the task at hand. This general rule is especially verified in the case of Saint Joseph, the foster-father of our Lord and the husband of the Queen of our world, enthroned above the angels. He was chosen by the eternal Father as the trustworthy guardian and protector of his greatest treasures, namely, his divine Son and Blessed Mary.
He carried out this vocation with complete fidelity until at last God called him to be with Him. St. Joseph was an ordinary sort of man on whom God relied to do great things. He did exactly what the Lord wanted him to do, in each and every event that went to make up his life. He was a skilled carpenter.
He was a man of Great Spirit. He is great in faith, not because he speaks his own words, but above all by listening to the words of the Living God. He listens in silence, and his heart ceaselessly perseveres in the readiness to accept the Truth contained in the word of the Living God. Sacred Scripture says little about him (in Mt.1:19) that he is a just man.
It does not record even one word spoken by St. Joseph. And yet even without words he shows the depth of his faith, his greatness. By this he teaches us that the contemplative and active life must be blended and harmonized but it must be enfleshed in a life of self-sacrifice and service to others. Holy Church in its entirety is indebted to the Virgin Mother because through her it was judged worthy to receive Christ. But after her we undoubtedly owe special gratitude and reverence to St. Joseph.
St. Joseph is a saint whom we can take as a model and patron for his sanctity was achieved (under God’s grace) in the ordinary circumstances of life. It is through those daily circumstances that one’s faith and trust is put to test.
There are times in the lives of all of us when God seems to work in a hidden manner, when our limited intelligence cannot comprehend His ways. It is then that we need a deep faith in the guiding hand of divine Providence, that God’s wisdom and love is allowing this to happen.
We need a firm confidence that He can bring good out of every situation, that “to them that love God, all things work unto good.” (Rom. 8:28) The fact that St. Joseph was a carpenter in the village of Nazareth has made him a model and patron for working people.
The belief that he ended his life on earth in the intimate and consoling presence of Jesus and Mary has inspired devotion to him as patron of a happy death. Because he was head, protector and provider of the Holy Family, he has been declared the patron of the universal family of God which is the Church. Because of his justice and prudence, his faith, obedience and patience, he is a special inspiration and patron for fathers of families. Because of his life of silent prayer and reflection, he is a special patron for those seeking a deeper interior life. Papal documents and the Litany of St. Joseph hail him also as patron of the poor, of those in authority, of travelers, of those in exile, of virgins, etc.
In the sixth chapter of her autobiography, St. Teresa of Avila wrote: “It seems to me that God grants to other saints the grace to help in certain needs. But I know from experience that St. Joseph helps us in everything, as if Our Lord wanted to make us understand that, as he had submitted on earth to the man who took the place of His Father and bore the name of father, so in heaven He will refuse him nothing.”
We can find no better words with which to end these reflections than those of St. Teresa of Avila who did so much to spread devotion to St. Joseph, “That he gives greater and prompter help that we can dare to step in anything that appears dangerous”. He is considered the model of the pious believer who receives grace at the moment of death, and prays especially for families, fathers, expectant mothers (pregnant women), travelers, immigrants, craftsmen, engineers, and working people in general”. So, let us ask St. Joseph our Patron Saint to pray for us and inspire us to do the Mission of Mercy, justice and peace.
Happy Feast to All