Only yesterday did we celebrate the Feast of St. Joseph, the Worker.  This great a saint deserves a hearing. Today, we will speak on St. Joseph and the example he gives us.

One of the most remarkable things concerning Joseph, the foster father of the Son of God,  is that he never speaks in all of scripture.  The silent saint still teaches us, however, not by his words but by his works; and so it is fitting to name the feast “St. Joseph, the Worker” and not, “St. Joseph, the Talker.” This silent witness of Joseph should console many who, for one reason or another, may not be able to talk up the faith, can at least please God by living it out in a virtuous life.

The scriptures call Joseph “a just man.”  If we examine his life, we will find a host of virtues. 

Chastity. 
Joseph was espoused to the most beautiful woman God would ever create, our Blessed Lady.  He lived with her without committing any unchaste act... not in deed nor in his mind.  And so we praise Joseph’s heroic purity in his litany, “Joseph most pure.”  How many of us could claim so great a mastery over our flesh?

Humility.
Joseph was of kingly descent, the lineage of King David; he was espoused to the most beautiful woman in all the world; he conversed with angels; he was chosen to be the foster father of the Son of God... but in none of these things did Joseph seek his glory.  He remains a simple man, a carpenter, who sweats to earn his bread, whose hands are calloused with wear, and at the end of the day his back aches.  Joseph is so poor that he cannot afford the regular victim to ransom his Son, but is charged the poor man’s fee of two turtle doves.  Joseph did not seek his glory in symbols of status, beauty, fame, or wealth... rather, he sought the greater glory of God by living to serve Him and finding his pleasure in God above all things.

Charity. 
In Rev. Alban Butler’s Lives of the Saints we read that the most eminent virtue of Joseph is his charity and meekness towards his neighbor.  This becomes evident when we consider the great diligence which Joseph took to preserve Mary’s good name.  After his espousal to Mary, Joseph finds out she is pregnant.  He decides to put her away privately, without harshness or rebuke.  Nor does Joseph even think to condemn or accuse her, but commits the whole cause to God.  So he conducted himself until an angel of God delivers the message that he should marry her.   

Admiring Joseph’s example of charity towards his neighbor, the Rev. Alban Butler writes,
“How happy should we be if we were as tender in all that regards the reputation of our neighbor; as free from entertaining any injurious thought or suspicion, whatever certainty our conjectures or our senses may seem to rely upon and to be as guarded in our tongue!  We commit these faults only because in our hearts we are devoid of that true charity and simplicity of which St. Joseph sets us so eminent an example on this occasion.”

We may consider also the prompt obedience of Joseph.  In the middle of the night, having made no preparations, he is told to go into Egypt “for King Herod seeks to kill the boy.”  We may also consider his patience in enduring all manner of pains during the exile without complaint.  And, if wish to summarize, we must say of Joseph, “this man has mastered the art of resignation to the Divine Will.”.


 But besides his examples of virtue, silent Joseph also presents us with an example which should console us when we experience sorrow.

We read in the early life of our Savior, when He was finally found in the temple by his parents,
“Thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing.”

In today’s gospel, we read the Savior’s words to His beloved disciples at the Last Discourse,
“You therefore have sorrow now.”

If our dear Savior spares neither His father or mother or chosen disciples the pains of sorrow and tribulation - which He very well could have - so we should not expect immunity from them either.

As Joseph was spared not from sorrow, so we can go to him and ask that he help us through our own.  Joseph knows what sorrow is; he can sympathize with us in our tribulations.  He will teach us to see in sorrow the good they are meant to sow.  And sorrow is permitted for our good.   In a little while we shall be thankful for them.  If we did not have them we would become too attached to this earth and less welcoming of heaven.  But heaven is our enduring joy and once obtained no man shall take it from us.   From that happy place, we shall look back at our life and see how our sufferings on earth were as so many rungs in a ladder which aided us Home... where we hope to occupy one of many mansions which St. Joseph wants to build for us.