Page 89 - Reflections on St. Joseph

bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their
sins”.
Having reached the culminating moment in the history of salvation (mysterium salutis),
Joseph is chosen by God and prepared by Him (this is why he is “just”, v. 19) :

a. to be and remain as the “spouse” (v. 19) of Mary;

b. to save and watch over the virginal conception of his “spouse” (v. 20);
c. to give the name to this unique “son”, who to all familial and legal effects is completely
his son..

3. The birth of Jesus (Lk. 2:1-16).
Lk. 2:4-5 : “And Joseph too went up from Galilee from the town of Nazareth to Judea, to
the city of David that is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of
David to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child”.

Lk. 2:16 : “So they (the shepherds) went in haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the
infant lying in the manger”.

God willed :
a. that Jesus, conceived by the work of the Holy Spirit (Mt. 1:18,20; Lk. 1:35), be born of
Mary, virgin and betrothed to Joseph;

b. that Joseph as a true father give Jesus his civil status and social category;

c. that Joseph be beside Mary as her spouse and the “child” as father, with a fatherhood
which is fuller than that which is biological: a legal, affective and psychological
fatherhood (consisting of welcoming and educating).

4. The circumcision of Jesus (Lk. 2:21).
“When eight days were completed for his circumcision, he was named Jesus, the name
given him by the angel before he was conceived in the womb”.

Mt.1:21 : (the Angel to Joseph) “you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his
people from their sins”.

For the Hebrew people one of the first duties of the father toward his son is that of “circumcising
him”, a precept and a rite which, even if not done literally and physically by the father, signifies
the father’s responsibility of enrolling his son in the people of the promise.

Luke underlines the link between the circumcision, the first shedding of blood, and the
conferral of the name in order to reveal the salvific meaning of the rite: “the circumcision was
the historical moment in which the name of Jesus became “mysterium salutis” (T. Stramare, o.
c., p. 97).

Reflections on st. joseph 65