Fourth Sunday Ordinary Time
January 30, 2022 •
We know the attributes Jesus would have looked for in a man to be the husband of Mary, and His own foster father. They're fairly obvious. Jesus would have chosen a man who was just like His Heavenly Father. If this man is going to be His earthly model of fatherhood, this earthly father would have to be a perfect image (as least in so far as that's possible) of the Heavenly Father....
We know that Mary was immaculately conceived, which kept her free from all stain of sin. But Joseph was not immaculately conceived. It's believed that the great grace bestowed upon him very early in life, kept him from any personal sin. We believe Joseph, during his entire life, didn't even commit a venial sin. Now, he was still conceived in sin, he still had original sin like the rest of us, he was still tempted. But God gave him great graces, so he never committed a personal sin.
One of the frustrations about trying to get to know Saint Joseph better is that we don't have a single thing written down in the Scriptures that he ever spoke. Not a word. We have a couple of his actions. The Gospels describe a few things that he did which showed he was a very holy and faithful Jewish man. But not a single word of Saint Joseph's.
This has been a frustration of the Saints for two thousand years. I mean, imagine! Think about this! This man has to be the model of all earthly men, second only to Jesus Christ, Our Lord. Wouldn't you want to hear some of the things he must have had to say throughout his life? Imagine the lessons he must have imparted to Jesus as Jesus was being raised up. Those are probably wise and holy lessons. Why aren't they written down?
It's always been a frustration that this great Saint - the greatest Saint of the Church, second only to the Blessed Mother - doesn't have a single word written down that came from his lips.
Recently, I've been thinking about this a lot. And something occurred to me I had never considered before. I think I've figured out why Joseph is so silent in the Scriptures...
Jer 1:4-5, 17-19; Ps 71:1-6, 15,17; 1 Cor 12:31--13:13; Lk 4:21-30
Homily begins at 17:09