Page 193 - Reflections on St. Joseph

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back…” This drawing back clearly shows St. Joseph’s righteousness or justice. For
Guillemette, this justice is religious justice.
This kind of justice prevented St. Joseph from thinking that he deserved to take Mary, the
chosen vessel of God, as his wife and to “appropriate for himself the paternity of the
Messiah.” Thus, Joseph planned to divorce Mary not because the latter was adulterous but
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because the former was fearful of God. This must be the very reason why the Angel of the Lord
told him not to be afraid to take Mary as his wife, “for the child conceived in her is from the
Holy Spirit” (Mt 1:20). According to Guillemette, the function of “for” in v. 20 is “not to bring
any new information to Joseph but merely confirms what Joseph already knows.”
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b. His fear is the “beginning of wisdom” (Prov 1:7)

Proverbs 1:7 declares the “key principle in the wisdom enterprise—the religious grounding of
all intellectual pursuits: The Fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom
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and instruction.” The term “beginning” can mean “the most important part, the essence.”
Here, fear should not be understood as literally an existential fear but as a “deep awe and
reverence for God one must have in order to live properly. One must be aware that there is a
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God and that he holds person responsible for their action.”

The fear of St. Joseph mirrors well Prov. 1:7. If the fear of St. Joseph is essentially manifested
in his religious justice, then such justice is the beginning of his wisdom. Because Joseph was
just, he was able to see the action of God in his life and in turn configured his action according
to the will of God. This configuration is a radical surrender of his life in silence. In Mt 1:19-20
we see words closely related to silence: “quietly” in v. 19 and “in a dream” in v. 20. These words
appeared when Joseph was making a crucial decision. Thus, it can rightly be stated the Joseph
became wise because he allowed God to speak to him in silence.

c. His fear is fulfilled in obedience

“When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him” (Mt 1:24).
Joseph obeyed the plan God has set for him. His obedience proved his fear of God in the sense
that he lived his life according to His will. It is not unreasonable to surmise that Jesus also
learned how to obey the will of God from Joseph. If Jesus was taught by Joseph how to obey, it
is implied then that Jesus also learned the way of the just and the way of the wise from Joseph
since these virtues are concretely expressed in the saint’s obedience to God.

Although Joseph did not see his Son crucified for the sake of the will of the Father, the saint
must have already envisaged this. Joseph must have anticipated also the fear of Jesus: “My
Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not what I want but what you want” (Mt
26:39, NRSV). But he was confident that Jesus would indeed obey the Father. By showing Jesus
how to obey, Joseph was able to transmit the virtues of justice and wisdom to Him. Through
the paternal educative presence of Joseph, Jesus succeeded in fulfilling the will of the Father.

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Reflections on st. joseph