Saint Joseph, Husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary - Solemnity 2nd book of Samuel 7:4-5.12-14.16. The Lord spoke to Nathan and said: "Go, tell my servant David, 'Thus says the LORD: Should you build me a house to dwell in? And when your time comes and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your heir after you, sprung from your loins, and I will make his kingdom firm. It is he who shall build a house for my name. And I will make his royal throne firm forever. I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me. And if he does wrong, I will correct him with the rod of men and with human chastisements; Your house and your kingdom shall endure forever before me; your throne shall stand firm forever.'" Psalms 89(88):2-3.4-5.27.29. The promises of the LORD I will sing forever, proclaim your loyalty through all ages. For you said, "My love is established forever; my loyalty will stand as long as the heavens. I have made a covenant with my chosen one; I have sworn to David my servant: I will make your dynasty stand forever and establish your throne through all ages." Selah He shall cry to me,'You are my father, my God, the Rock that brings me victory!' Forever I will maintain my love for him; my covenant with him stands firm. Letter to the Romans 4:13.16-18.22. Brothers and sisters: It was not through the law that the promise was made to Abraham and his descendants that he would inherit the world, but through the righteousness that comes from faith. For this reason, it depends on faith, so that it may be a gift, and the promise may be guaranteed to all his descendants, not to those who only adhere to the law but to those who follow the faith of Abraham, who is the father of all of us, as it is written, "I have made you father of many nations." He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into being what does not exist. He believed, hoping against hope, that he would become "the father of many nations," according to what was said, "Thus shall your descendants be." That is why "it was credited to him as righteousness." Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 1:16.18-21.24. Jacob was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary. Of her was born Jesus who is called the Christ. Now this is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found with child through the holy Spirit. Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly. Such was his intention when, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "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." When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home. www.dailygospel.org/main.php Commentary of the day Saint José Maria Escriva de Balaguer (1902-1975), priest, founder Sermon of the 19/03/63 in Es Cristo que pasa Saint Joseph's vocation For Saint Joseph the life of Jesus was a continuous discovery of his own vocation... His first years were full of apparently contradictory events: glorification and flight, the royal presence of the magi and the poverty of the crib, the song of the angels and the silence of men. When the time came to present the child in the Temple, Joseph, who brought the poor offering of a pair of turtle doves, witnessed Simeon and Anna proclaim Jesus to be the Christ: «The Child's father and mother were amazed at what was said about him,» Saint Luke says (2,33). And later on, when the Child remains in the Temple without either Mary or Joseph knowing about it, the same evangelist relates that «they were astonished» when they found him again three days later (2,48). Joseph is taken aback, amazed. God reveals his designs to him little by little and he tries hard to grasp them. Like any soul who wants to follow Jesus closely, he discovers at once that it is not possible to move forward carelessly and that there is no place for mere routine. To stop on reaching a certain level and rest on one's laurels is not enough for God. He demands ever more from us and his ways are not our ways. Saint Joseph learned from Jesus, as no other has done, to open his soul and heart and keep on the watch to recognise God's wonderful works. But if Joseph learned from Jesus to live divinely yet, if I may say so, at the human level it was he who taught many things to the Son of God... Joseph took care of this Child as he had been commanded to do and he turned Jesus into a workman by passing on his trade to him... At the human level, Joseph was Jesus' teacher. Every day he surrounded him with tender affection; he cared for him with joyful self-denial. Isn't this one good reason for considering this just man (Mt 1,19), this holy patriarch in whom the faith of the Old Testament is brought to fulfilment, to be a teacher of the interior life?

St. Joseph Feastday: March 19, May 1 Patron of the Universal Church Everything we know about the husband of Mary and the foster father of Jesus comes from Scripture and that has seemed too little for those who made up legends about him. We know he was a carpenter, a working man, for the skeptical Nazarenes ask about Jesus, "Is this not the carpenter's son?" (Matthew 13:55). He wasn't rich for when he took Jesus to the Temple to be circumcised and Mary to be purified he offered the sacrifice of two turtledoves or a pair of pigeons, allowed only for those who could not afford a lamb (Luke 2:24). Despite his humble work and means, Joseph came from a royal lineage. Luke and Matthew disagree some about the details of Joseph's genealogy but they both mark his descent from David, the greatest king of Israel (Matthew 1:1-16 and Luke 3:23-38). Indeed the angel who first tells Joseph about Jesus greets him as "son of David," a royal title used also for Jesus. We know Joseph was a compassionate, caring man. When he discovered Mary was pregnant after they had been betrothed, he knew the child was not his but was as yet unaware that she was carrying the Son of God. He planned to divorce Mary according to the law but he was concerned for her suffering and safety. He knew that women accused to adultery could be stoned to death, so he decided to divorce her quietly and not expose her to shame or cruelty (Matthew 1:19-25). We know Joseph was man of faith, obedient to whatever God asked of him without knowing the outcome. When the angel came to Joseph in a dream and told him the truth about the child Mary was carrying, Joseph immediately and without question or concern for gossip, took Mary as his wife. When the angel came again to tell him that his family was in danger, he immediately left everything he owned, all his family and friends, and fled to a strange country with his young wife and the baby. He waited in Egypt without question until the angel told him it was safe to go back (Matthew 2:13-23). We know Joseph loved Jesus. His one concern was for the safety of this child entrusted to him. Not only did he leave his home to protect Jesus, but upon his return settled in the obscure town of Nazareth out of fear for his life. When Jesus stayed in the Temple we are told Joseph (along with Mary) searched with great anxiety for three days for him (Luke 2:48). We also know that Joseph treated Jesus as his own son for over and over the people of Nazareth say of Jesus, "Is this not the son of Joseph?" (Luke 4:22) We know Joseph respected God. He followed God's commands in handling the situation with Mary and going to Jerusalem to have Jesus circumcised and Mary purified after Jesus' birth. We are told that he took his family to Jerusalem every year for Passover, something that could not have been easy for a working man. Since Joseph does not appear in Jesus' public life, at his death, or resurrection, many historians believe Joseph probably had died before Jesus entered public ministry. Joseph is the patron of the dying because, assuming he died before Jesus' public life, he died with Jesus and Mary close to him, the way we all would like to leave this earth. Joseph is also patron of the universal Church, fathers, carpenters, and social justice. We celebrate two feast days for Joseph: March 19 for Joseph the Husband of Mary and May 1 for Joseph the Worker. There is much we wish we could know about Joseph -- where and when he was born, how he spent his days, when and how he died. But Scripture has left us with the most important knowledge: who he was -- "a righteous man" (Matthew 1:18). In His Footsteps: Joseph was foster father to Jesus. There are many children separated from families and parents who need foster parents. Please consider contacting your local Catholic Charities or Division of Family Services about becoming a foster parent. Prayer: Saint Joseph, patron of the universal Church, watch over the Church as carefully as you watched over Jesus, help protect it and guide it as you did with your adopted son. Amen www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php