Joseph her husband…was a righteous man… — Mt. 1:19
The Prayer to St. Joseph
Joseph is the patron saint for, as is the case for most saints, many things: the dying, the universal church, travelers, immigrants, and for our purposes, fathers.
Today is his feast day and my birthday. I didn’t want St. Joseph as my patron, but as they say in the Catholic Church, “It’s not you who pick the saint, but the saint that picks you.” But that’s a story for another time. If you want to hear about that, let me know in the comments.
Today, I want to talk about a question my son asked during our morning devotions. After we prayed our Rosary, my son inquired about this passage from a prayer to St. Joseph.
O our most mighty protector, be kind to us
and from heaven assist us in our struggle
with the power of darkness…
Amen
This is paragraph from the “Prayer to St. Joseph” on the United States Council of Bishops’ (USCCB) website. Given that it was St. Joseph’s feast day, I decided that we should include this prayer at the end of our family Rosary. This prompted my son to ask his question: “Dad, why does the Church call Joseph the protector?” The answer that came to me encouraged me as a father, and I thought that it might encourage you as well.
St. Joseph, The Protector?
If you want the answer I gave to my son, skip this section. But for some, they may feel that prayer to the saints is irrational or a sin. I don’t intend to do a deep dive on intercession to the saints, but I think that some may find what follows helpful in their understanding of why modern Christians may find the practice praying to the saints offensive.
In the book, General Principles of Sacramental Theology, Roger W. Nutt summarizes our tendency to look at God through our hypothetical conceptions of His omnipotence (fancy word for All-Powerful), rather than His revelation. The God of the Philosophers is merely the word recognized by reason, but the God of the Bible is the Word made flesh. It’s not that these descriptions contradict each other, but if they are divorced from each other, they leave our understanding of God wanting.
“‘Why go to Church on Sunday — God is everywhere, right?’ ‘Why go to confession — at all! — let alone to a priest? God hears me when I ask for forgiveness, right?’ Such questions, while quite understandable, do not proceed from a docility to the promptings of God’s wisdom. The real question for all Christians ought to be, not what, hypothetically, the omnipotent God can do, but rather, what is the actual path that he calls his disciples to follow?
— Nutt, R. W. (2017). General Principles of Sacramental Theology. The Catholic University Of America Press. 17.
(This is a quote for the book we will be reading for April’s bookclub. I hope you’ll join us!)
While the topic he is exploring is the role of the Sacraments, Nutt’s observation on why we struggle with doctrines is succinct and relevant to other teachings of the Church, like the intercession of saints.
God does not, logically speaking, need Joseph or any other saint for anything in his plan. God is omnipotent, say the philosophers, and the Bible reveals in several places that there is nothing that God needs.
The God who made the world and all that is in it, the Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in sanctuaries made by human hands, 25 nor is he served by human hands because he needs anything. Rather it is he who gives to everyone life and breath and everything. — Acts 17:24-25.
Just as God had no need for creation, meaning He did not create out of a desire for something He lacked, so also He has no dependency on human agency. Yet, God uses us anyway. God entrusted His one and only Son to a carpenter named Joseph. Did God have to do that? No. But did God do this? Yes.
When we think to ourselves, “Why do that silly religious practice?” it is often due to an implicit presumption we have about God’s omnipotence as hypothetical, rather than as revealed. If God uses saints even if he doesn’t have to, we must contend and ask what that means for us in our Christian walk and our churches. So, we turn to St. Joseph as the example of God’s wisdom and power working out all things together for our good and the good of His Church.
St. Joseph Encourages Fathers
The hiddenness of Joseph’s life is odd. How can a man, who we know was crucial to the protection and guidance of the Christ child and His mother, be so pivotal and yet so obscured? For a moment as I answered my son’s question, a bit of the veil on Joseph’s life began to part and the teaching of the Church began to shine through: “Joseph is the protector, because he protected Jesus. Isn’t that amazing, that the King of the Universe, God [the Father’s] only Son was entrusted to a humble carpenter.”
Children are a gift from God, just as Christ was a gift to the World, entrusted to Joseph and Mary for his protection and nurturing. In the same way Christ grew up and was the Gospel himself, so our children will one day, Lord willing, grow up to carry that Gospel and teachings to the world as Christ’s disciples.
For many of us, our toil does not yield the fruits like that of other men. This can be frustrating, tiresome, and disheartening. It can also lead to sins of envy and anger. At times we will find ourselves exhausted, tired, and hidden from the world in our struggle to provide for our kids and love our wives.
For many of us fathers, we know that spiritually the harvest is plenty, but physically we find it is lacking. Yet, how did St. Joseph respond? The text does not tell us he complained, that he lost faith, or that he thought of abandoning the Son of God and the Blessed Mother. The textual silence leads us to presume, that he remained faithful, humble, and obedient to God. He did as God commanded him, despite the odds.
When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him... — Mt. 1:24
We know little about Joseph, yet any father can feel a connection to him as they read the life of Jesus. Fathers who have to move their families because of their work can relate to Joseph’s constant travel in the early days of Christ’s birth. Those who work a toilsome job that yields little fruit and minimal recognition can find solace in the fact that Joseph’s life is a hidden life with significant purpose.
When St. Joseph carried Mary and Jesus to Egypt, did he recall the Psalm, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me”? On that road to Egypt, who is doing the comforting? Is it Joseph or is it the Son of God? Could it be both?
The paradox that Emmanuel, “God with Us”, is now being guided by a righteous yet fallible man is not some theological puzzle for Joseph to solve. It is reality that can only be understood by him faithfully taking the next step. It is the same with our families as well.
We may see our children primarily as something to care for, but we must also remember that they represent God’s blessing on our lives. As we guide them through this world, we must remember that God is also guiding our families, especially when we can’t see the road ahead.
St. Joseph and the cloud of witnesses eagerly and gracefully await our arrival. They pray for us and, with God’s grace, participate in God’s providential plan in our lives. When we go to Heaven, sin will no longer taint our work or callous our hands, break our backs or exhaust our bodies. St. Joseph’s life on earth is a reminder that God still uses broken, yet righteous vessels to do great things in the salvation of the world and the lives of sinners. He is also a reminder that “to whom much is given, much is expected.” As fathers, we can look to St. Joseph’s life, hidden but not unknown, and recognize that while our lives are not known God is still using us and directing us according to his purpose.
St. Joseph is a reminder that despite our poverty and our weakness, God will still entrust us with treasures from heaven to steward here on earth for the salvation of many people, even if we never meet any them.
If you’re a dad, tired and beat down by the world, the flesh, and the devil, I would encourage you to seek the intercession of St. Joseph, our protector and assistance in the struggle against the darkness.
St. Joseph, pray for us!
Keep Thinking!
— DR