Solemnity of St. Joseph
Matthew 1: 16, 18-21, 24
Introduction
I want to extend a word of deep gratitude to the Daughter of
Charity and the wonderful staff here at the National Shrine of Elizabeth Ann
Seton.
We are here not only to honor the patron of the Universal
Church on his feast day but also to remember our predecessors. In the great
fire of March 20, 1885 on the campus of St. Joseph College, Mount faculty,
seminarians, and college seniors acted with the courage of St. Joseph and came
running the 2 miles from the Mount to fight back the flames of destruction. Since
that time, seminarians have come to celebrate the feast day of St. Joseph with
the Daughters of Charity to solidify our spiritual bonds, to remember our
predecessors’ courage and commitment, and to ask St. Joseph to help us live in
the same way.
St.
Joseph is the earthly father of Jesus.
The instructions from the angel to Joseph in today’s Gospel
could not be clearer: “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your
wife into your home. For it is through the holy Spirit that this child has been
conceived in her. She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he
will save his people from their sins.”
In ancient times the name of the person was a compendium of
a person’s identity and mission. “Yeshua” means “one who delivers, one who
rescues, one who saves.”
Giving a name to someone was the role of the father. It was
a way in which the father bestows identity on the child and publicly professes
his fatherhood, promising to fulfill his responsibility to care for that child.
In Joseph’s case, he names the child Jesus, not a name originating
from Joseph but a name given to Him by the child’s true Father – God. In doing
so, Joseph recognizes that God is the true father and yet he, Joseph, has the
responsibility on earth to be the child’s earthly father in caring for him.
So, what does St. Joseph tell us about being a good father?
Crisis
in Fatherhood
There is a crisis in fatherhood today. Many are left
physically, emotionally, and even spiritually orphan. The 2020 US census says
that 1 in 4 children, live without a biological, step, or adoptive father in
the home. Research shows that a child raised in father-absent home has
significant higher risk of many societal problems.
On the other hand, a Swiss study (1994) showed that when a
dad attended church regularly along with his wife, 33% of the children ended up
attending church regularly as adults. When the dad was non-practicing, but the
mother went to church regularly, only 2% of the children ended up going to Church.
Such a huge change with only one difference – dad was going to Church.
What
kind of a father is needed today?
Our world needs fathers like St. Joseph. I would like to
briefly point out three ways a man, especially a future priest, can be a good
father in the line of St. Joseph.
We need fathers today who are present NOT absent.
Sometimes people say, “Father is always busy. Don’t bother
him.” Or “When I’m with him, he’s always looking at his watch or smart phone.”
Or, “I never see him around except when he is required to be somewhere.”
Priests have many responsibilities and duties. A pastor may
be caring for more than one parish. His time is limited, that’s for sure. But
he needs to cut back on his busyness and be present for his spiritual children.
His availability for confession, his presence before and
after Mass, his attendance at social events, visiting the sick and homebound,
all assure his flock that God is present. It is impossible to be present for
everything and for everyone. But children need to know that their father will
be present, especially in time of need.
In a real way we could call the priest the “presence of the fatherhood
of God.”
Secondly, we need fathers of mercy NOT of severity.
When a father is too demanding and never satisfied with his
children, the situation tends to crush and discourage them. As Jesus tells us
in the Gospel of Matthew, “They tie up heavy burden [hard to carry] and lay
them on people’s shoulders, but they will not lift a finger to move them”
(23:4).
In preaching and teaching, a priest’s words need to reflect
the truth but avoid making the good news a heavy burden. Our words should ultimately
encourage, not discourage. Preaching the Gospel should no doubt challenge its
hearers but also provide hope.
In the confessional a spiritual father acts as an agent of
Divine Mercy not as a blunt instrument of condemnation. Good fathers know the
proper balance of teaching a lesson without demoralizing the soul.
St. Joseph imposes the name of “savior” on his adopted son,
for “he will save his people from their sins.” A priest’s fatherhood is about
salvation not condemnation. It is about mercy not severity.
Finally, fatherhood should be exercised with humility NOT
with power.
What do I mean?
Power is the exercise of the imposition of one’s will that
is raw and forceful. It is not service but domination. For a priest to exercise
his fatherhood with this kind of power, he falls into the sin of clericalism. He
feels superior and even distant from his people. It is no way to be a father.
Fr. Jacques Philippe observes that sometimes the drive for
recognition seeks satisfaction through ambition and “an expansion of me.”[1]
This ambitious drive for power is polar opposite to the humble
life of St. Joseph. He was a “righteous” man willing to be accused of
abandoning his betrothed rather than expose her to the punishment of the Law.
He quickly and quietly obeys the instruction of the angel.
A priest is father not in how he can lord over others but in
how he can serve others. He looks for the needs of others and tries to fulfill
them without pomp or drama. He visits the sick in the hospital, finds time to
speak to a worried grandmother, organizes a special holy hour for young adults,
and is not disturbed when someone asks him to hear a confession after Mass.
He is humble.
How
to become a spiritual father
How can someone become a good father? Be a son first.
St. Joseph was first a child of God, receptive to his
vocation and obedient to God’s command.
Sonship means spending time with Our Father in heaven,
recognizing that we receive everything from the Father, our identity and our
whole life. This, of course, means spending time in prayer to live and deepen
one’s sonship. A good father always prays because a good father knows he is a
son who depends completely on his heavenly father.
Pope Emeritus Benedict puts it this way: “A fundamental
priority of priestly life is being with the Lord, and thus having time for
prayer. St. Charles Borromeo always said: ‘I couldn’t care for the souls of
others if I let my own waste away.”[2]
How can someone become a good father? Be a groom
On the natural level, a man needs a woman to be a father.
God’s plan for marriage is that man and woman enter into a covenant for life
and then have children, thus making them a father and a mother.
For a priest, he too cannot become a father without the
grace of a spouse, and that spouse is the Church.
Too often “being a churchman” is looked upon disparagingly.
Yet, the Church is our bride and, as the Mount Mission Statement says, we ought
to love with the heart of the Church and think with the mind of the Church.
We must love our bride as a groom does. We must be willing
to sacrifice our life for the portion of the People of God entrusted to our
care. This is the best way we can be a groom and thus father for the Church.
Being a son and being a groom are the antecedents to true,
good, and lasting fatherhood.
There is a story I once read about a Spanish father and son
who had become estranged. The son ran away from home and the father set out to
find him. He searched for months to no avail. Finally, in a last, desperate
effort to find his son, the father put an ad in a Madrid newspaper. The ad
read: “Dear Paco, meet me in front of this newspaper office at noon on
Saturday. All is forgiven. I love you. Your Father.” That Saturday 800 men by
the name of “Paco” showed up, looking for forgiveness and love from their
fathers.
The world needs holy fathers. St. Joseph, help priests and
future priests to be good spiritual fathers. May our lives be an imitation of
yours and a living icon of Our Father, who is in heaven. St. Joseph, pray for
us.
[1]
Philippe, Jacques, Priestly Fatherhood, New York, Scepter, 2021, p. 45
[2]
Pope Benedict XVI, Meeting with Priests of the Diocese of Bolzano-Bressanone,
August 6, 2008
