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Joy and St. Joseph


I've been thinking about the importance of Joy and the joy that St. Joseph possessed. This idea never occurred to me until I read Pope Benedict XVI The Infancy Narratives:

The designation of Joseph as a "just man" extend far beyond the decision he takes at this moment: it gives and overall picture of Saint Joseph and at the same time it aligns him with the great figures of the Old Covenant--beginning with Abraham, the just. If we may say that the form of piety found in the New Testament can be summed up in the expression "a believer," then the Old Testament idea of a whole life lived according to sacred Scripture is summed up in the idea of "a just man."


Psalms 1 presents the classic image of the 'just man'. We might well think of it as a portrait of the spiritual figure of Saint Joseph. A just man, it tells us, is one who maintains living contact with the word of God , who ''delights in the law of the Lord" (v.2) He is like a tree, planted beside the flowing waters, constantly bringing forth fruit. The flowing waters, from which he draws nourishment, naturally refer to the living word of God, into which he sink the roots of his being. God's will is not a law imposed on him from without, it is "joy." For him the law is simply Gospel, good news, because he read it with a personal, loving openness to God and in this way learns to understand and live it from deep within.


If Psalm 1 sees it as the mark of the just man, the "happy man," that he lives by the Torah, the word of God, the parallel passage in Jer 17:7 calls "blessed' the one "who puts his trust in the Lord, whose hope in the Lord." This text brings out more strongly than the psalm the personal character of righteousness--the trust in God that gives man hope. Although neither passage speaks explicitly of the "just" but rather of the "happy" or 'blessed," we may still regard them...as providing the authentic Old Testament image of the just man, and so we can learn from them what Matthew means when he describes Saint Joseph as "just."


This image of the man with roots in the living waters of God's word ,whose life is spent in dialogue with God and who therefore brings forth constant fruit--this image becomes concrete in the event recounted here, as well as in everything we are subsequently told about Joseph of Nazareth. After the discovery that Joseph made, his task was to interpret and apply the law correctly. He does so with love: he does not want to give Mary up to public shame. he wishes her well, even in the hour of great disappointment. He does not embody the form of externalized legalism that Jesus denounces in Mt 23 and that St. Paul opposes strenuously. He lives the law as Gospel. he seeks the path that brings the law and love into unity. And so he is inwardly prepared for the new, unexpected and humanly speaking incredible news that comes to him from God. -Joseph Ratzinger. The Infancy Narratives: Jesus of Nazareth. p39-41

It's also worth including the footnote from the Catholic Pastoral Bible on Psalm 1:


God, the creator of human nature, only wishes man's happiness. It is very significant to note that this first psalm speaks on the theme of happiness jut as Jesus' first discourse will begin by "happy." ....Happiness must not be sought first in external things (money, pleasure, power) It comes to the people who follow God's Law. With images taken from rural life--that of the tree and of the chaff- The first man enjoys strength, constancy, and fruitfulness while the second is empty and fickle. Jesus is the green and fruitful tree par excellence. All that is good, great, beautiful and holy in men's hears matures in the tree of the Cross."

The Second part of part of Joy and Joseph requires prayer. We often pray the Joyful Mystery from Mary's point of view, but what about Joseph? I would encourage you to pray the joyful mysteries from his understanding.

The Annunciation: -The joy of humility upon hearing his wife's story and celebrating the news. His trust and belief of his wife's story and his support. In addition, the annunciation that came to visit Joseph in his dream to tell him of God's plan of giving Jesus his name and taking him as his son. The Visitation: The joy of charity to let your pregnant wife go on a trip without you to be with her family. The Nativity: The joy of poverty from external needs, that joy is someone...Jesus The Presentation: The joy of obedience to present the child to God. The Finding in the Temple: The joy of piety to be with God. Perhaps you too can fully develop a deeper sense of Joy and ask St. Joseph to become a Psalm 1:1-3 man.


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