St. Joseph – Spiritual Strength

In our parish everyone can view on the sanctuary of the church a beautiful statue of Saint Joseph holding the Christ Child. This was loaned to us by a generous parishioner, after we were talking together of the Year of Saint Joseph.  As evocative as it is, I still prefer another statue, one that was there in the Christmas crib or manger.  That Saint Joseph for me is a real hero.  Joseph has become, there in the crib the patron and defender of the Holy Family. St Matthew in the gospel speaks of his deep perplexity in regard to Mary being with child.  By God’s word in a dream he accepts his new mission.  This is the power of Saint Joseph for us today. He is the defender of all our families.  Yes, our families are not often called ‘holy’ families.  They might be so called on the day of one of the children’s baptism, or first Holy Communion.  Then we are emotionally moved by the power of the presence of the Holy Spirit among the family members. However, on ordinary days?  well, the family just feels ordinary.  

With Saint Joseph helping us, though, no family should feel ordinary.  A little prayer to this great Saint will bit by bit convince us of his protection.  How much protection do we need?  Well, reflecting a little on our experience of life will convince us.  How much does mom need strength and protection to carry out all the chores, so many duties which she undertakes, and today so many mothers hold down a professional job as well.  In Covid times the mother is often the chief teacher when the children are engaged in trying to cope with home schooling.  Dad is hopefully at work engaging with the world among his colleagues.  How does he deal with the secular jokes and the attitude that we ourselves are fully in charge of our lives, so that the person of God never gets mentioned all day long.  Our language is secular,  if things go well, we thank ‘good luck’ we do not speak of receiving a blessing.  Too often, our easy going attitude to bad language around us is what we learn from others who have little respect for our divine creator.  Perhaps there is a hostile attitude of criticism at work, of hostile blame of the bosses, of a growing sense of unease and unhappiness.  Such a place of work can get a person down. Saint Joseph does not dispel all this like a super hero, but he is a super hero when he does calm us down. If he can reassure us of our Catholic values which, though not shared by all, remain precious to us and keep us calm and pleasant even in a hostile environment. 

 I know of a young man finding all these obstacles to peace in his place of work.  He did not have the seniority to easily change his job, so he took himself to prayer each morning for fifteen or even thirty minutes, and was then conscious of Saint Joseph’s presence during the day.  What it did for him was to retain his peace of mind. What it did for his work companions was to amaze them,  and quietly ask him why he did not get riled and easily angered as all the others?  So his quiet answer was a moment for him to mention God’s presence in his life, so at work, he became an evangelizer.

The children need a family father and also a spiritual father. Just think how Saint Joseph meets the thoughts of children, for he is the one, along with our Blessed Mother, who taught Jesus to pray and how to behave.  Saint Joseph is the example of the man whom Jesus looked up to.  What a thought to have, that Jesus himself as a youngster looked up to Saint Joseph who was given the sacred duty of bringing up Jesus as St Luke tells us – Jesus increased in knowledge, and in favour with God and man.

I personally look to Saint Joseph for spiritual strength. Of course we know that to live out our faith is costly for all of us. To be a champion of protecting life, being pro-life in what we say and practice, is part of our Catholic response to the faith we have been given.  Here I rely on Saint Joseph to give me the spiritual strength to say and do those things. When they are counter cultural, it is so easy to ignore or play down these truths. Saint Joseph protects the family also in the call to chastity.  It was his special calling in marriage to our Blessed Mother and he only wants us to call on him to help us receive that grace in our lives too. Yes, Saint Joseph is a hero. Let us all permit him to be our spiritual hero.

Fr Chris Fuse
St Peter’s Parish
Cardiff, UK