Fathers, St. Joseph is Our Model

When St. Joseph held the Baby Jesus in his arms for the first time, what were his thoughts? Did he recall how the angel first told him about Jesus in a dream? Did the angel's words now sound in his heart with deeper meaning?

"Joseph, son of David, have no fear about taking Mary as your wife. It is by the Holy Spirit that she has conceived this child. She is to have a Son and you are to name Him Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins." (Matthew 1:20-21)

Call to Fatherhood

Joseph - a simple carpenter and a son of David - was being called to father the Son of God, the Savior who would deliver the world from its sins!

And God the Father chose well. As a man of faith and prayer, a provider and protector, and a humble servant of the Lord, St. Joseph's example is unparalleled among earthly fathers.

That's why he is so urgently needed as our role model par excellence. Especially in today's world, we fathers need all the help we can get! (I know all too well since I'm the father of three young children.) While St. Joeph's situation was unique, we Christian fathers share the call to form children who have immortal destinies in God.

A Man of Faith and Prayer

Many people speak today of a crisis in spiritual and moral leadership that usually begins at home. Some of its bitter fruit are a high rate of juvenile crime, broken homes, and unchurched young people. Saint Joseph shows us at least part of the solution lies with the call to faith and prayer for fathers.

We glimpse his faith in action in the Gospel of St. Matthew. First we find him agonizing over where to divorce Mary quietly because she is betrothed to him and has conceived a child that is not his. Yet, after the angel of he Lord reveals to him in a dream Jesus' true paternity, Joseph awakes and does "as the angel of the Lord" directs by receiving Mary "into his home as his wife" (Matthew 1:24).

So, too, after the visit of the magi, the angel of he Lord appears to Joseph in a dream. This time, he informs Joseph that King Herod is searching for Jesus to destroy him since he views "the newborn King of the Jews" as a direct threat to his rule. Joseph is instructed to flee into Egypt with Jesus and Mary. And once again, notice how he doesn't hesitate to obey. Joseph gets up after the dream and takes "the child and His mother" and leaves "that night for Egypt" (Matthew 2:14).