St. Joseph, The Man Closest to Christ

Today is the Solemnity of St. Joseph, foster father of our Lord and Patron of the Universal Church, fathers, husbands and workers. Second only to our Blessed Mother Mary, St. Joseph is the greatest of all saints in the Church. Just an aside, but since it is a Solemnity you are not bound to the Lenten abstinence; if the Solemnity had fallen on a Friday, you could have eaten meat. See Jimmy Akin's post; he cites a reliable canonist (Dr. Edward Peters).

Righteous Man
The bible says St. Joseph was a righteous man (Matthew 1:19), a just man. Permit me to paraphrase for a moment. Psalm 1 defines a just man as the man who studies his faith, lives it and doesn't hang out with naysayers. He was a spiritual leader.

Man of Action
St. Joseph was strong in his faith and thus possessed the grace to to answer God's call to be the protector of his most cherished creation - Mary - and his only begotten son, Jesus. Joseph was a man of action and a man of few words (he is not quoted at all in the bible). When God called Joseph to move the family to Egypt to protect them from Herod, he did it (Matthew 2:13-23). He did not negotiate with God. Instead he was humbly obedient and acted on God's instructions.

Role Model
Joseph is the leader, father and husband we can all model. He was the original Joe Catholic, just an ordinary guy living a holy life through the extraordinary grace of our Lord.

ONLINE RESOURCES:

• Oblates of St. Joseph
• In St. Joseph's Workshop, St. Josemaria Escriva Foundation
• 6 Reflections for Fathers, St. Joseph Covenant Keepers
• St. Joseph, EWTN

BOOKS & OTHER MEDIA

• Go to Joseph, Richard Gilsdorf
• Joseph of Nazareth, Federico Suarez
• The Mystery of Joseph, Marie-Dominique Philippe
• Joseph: The Man Closest to Christ (DVD that inspired the founding of Joe Catholic)