Feast of St Joseph, husband of Mary

Reflecting upon what we know about Joseph by the light of today's readings, there are a number of key virtues that come to mind. First of all, respect. Joseph held his wife in very high regard. To him, Mary was a woman who had a very deep sense of her divine calling. While it would probably have mystified Joseph, he respected what his fiance was experiencing in her strange encounter with the messenger from God. Secondly, trust. Joseph believed his fiance totally even though she had received a strange calling. Thirdly, courage. Admittedly he had his own dream when he was advised to take Mary as his wife, but still it took extraordinary nerve to accept the consequences. Fourthly, family. Joseph had a deep sense of the importance of ancestry. He followed in the line of David and this would have given him some appreciation for the events taking place around him. Fifthly, faith. Like Abraham he put his trust in God and this is what helped him find his way through the strange happenings that led to his marriage and the birth of Jesus. Finally. and above all, there was a deep and abiding love. From his decision to accept Mary as his wife through to the birth of their child in a manger, their time of exile in Egypt and their choice of Nazareth as the place in which to raise their family, Joseph stood by his wife and his family, including his son Jesus. He would have come to know from fairly early on that there was something special about this boy and to know of his privilege to be the husband of a woman, unlike any other.