Feast of Saint Joseph of Nazareth

“And he said to them, ‘How is it that you sought me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?’” (Luke 2:49)

The story of Jesus being lost in the temple, and his response when his parents find him, is both difficult and easy to wrap our heads around. On the one hand, God is his Father, so this is a completely legitimate response that illustrates Jesus’ relationship with the Father and the events which are to come.

On the other hand, when Joseph heard it, it must have felt like he was being stabbed in the heart. Here is his son, the boy whom he has loved and parented, glibly throwing off a line about his ‘real’ father. It’s every adoptive parent’s nightmare: that the child might one day (probably, though not necessarily, in anger) dismiss their words and concerns using their ‘birth’ parent as leverage.

Joseph’s road must have been a hard one. First, his betrothed shows up pregnant, and he has to put her away. When it turns out she hasn’t been unfaithful, he agrees to take her as his wife anyway. He starts down a long – and lonely – road where his firstborn son isn’t his flesh and blood. And he knows it. And Jesus knows it. Still, he raises his son with love. And Jesus innocently stabs him in the heart.

Joseph must have had moments, and even long periods of time, when he forgot Jesus wasn’t his. He must have had many painful moments when he remembered. With another Father in Jesus’ life, one with an absolute claim to the child’s love and loyalty, Joseph could never have the opportunity to be Jesus’ only father.

It must have been hard. It must have been lonely. But through it all he raised Jesus as his own; he was called by God, raised up, to love this child. Joseph is an example of humility, courage, and sacrifice, and there is much we can learn from him.

“Oh God, from the family of your servant David you raised up Joseph to be the guardian of your incarnate Son. Give us grace to follow him in faithful obedience to your commands; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever” (BAS).