This is what the Pope begins by explaining in your letter. St. Joseph was not what we would call today "biological father" of Jesus, but only his "legal father". However, he lived the paternity over Jesus and being the husband of Mary in an eminent way.
Many saints, from St. Irenaeus and St. Augustine to various Doctors of the Church, among them St. Teresa of Avila, have considered this to be the case. St. John Paul II.
By reading and meditating on Francis' letter, one can come to rediscover how St. Joseph is not only custodian of the Churchbut also of humanity, particularly of its most fragile part.those members who are most in need.
In any case, he is an important saint. Moreover, as Francis writes, "after Mary, Mother of God, no saint takes up so much space in the pontifical Magisterium as Joseph, her husband".
Francisco points out that, in addition to the 150th anniversary of the declaration of St. Joseph as patron saint of the universal Church, there are a "personal" reason: talk about what fills your heart (cf. Mt 12:34).
He also confesses in the introduction: "This desire has grown during these months of pandemic". Thus we learn about some of the thoughts and spiritual processes that have taken place in the Pope's heart during this period of the pandemic.
Concretely, the Pope, as he has done on several occasions, underlines and thanks the witness of so many "common people, commonly forgotten, that (...) are writing today the decisive events of our history"; because work, hope and prayWe are always discreet, but subject to all of them.
To all of them and to us proposes the example and the help of St. Joseph: "Everyone can find in San Jose, the man who goes unnoticed, the man of daily presence, discreet and hidden, an intercessor, a support and a guide in times of difficulty."
"St. Joseph reminds us that all those who are apparently hidden or in the 'second line' have an unparalleled protagonism in the history of salvation. To all of them is addressed a word of recognition and gratitude".
In his letter, Francis dedicates seven epigraphs to St. Joseph in the form of "titles".which could be equivalent to seven sentences of a short "litany of the father":
Beloved Father, in tenderness, in obedience, in welcome,
in creative courage, in the work, always in the shadows.
Along with the historical and biblical "roots" of Saint Joseph (cf. Gen 41:55; 2 Sam 7, Mt 1:16,20), beloved father, and the foundations of his identity and his veneration on our part (his link with the incarnation of the Son of God and his role as St. Joseph, father of Jesus and spouse of Mary), the letter includes major themes of Francis' magisterium, with accents and expressions of his own.
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"Jesus saw the tenderness of God in Joseph." (n. 2), which is to be expected of all good fathers (cf. Ps 110:13). Joseph taught Jesus, while protecting him in his weakness as a child, to "see" God and to turn to Him in prayer. For us, too, "it is important to encounter God's Mercy, especially in the sacrament of Reconciliation, having an experience of truth and tenderness" (Ibid.).
There God welcomes us and embraces us, sustains us and forgives us. Joseph also "teaches us that, in the midst of life's storms, we must not be afraid to yield the rudder of our boat to God." (Ibid.).
In a similar way to the Virgin Mary, Joseph also pronounced his "fiat" (go to) to God's plan. He was obedient to what God asked him to do.even if this manifested itself in dreams. And furthermore, what seems astonishing, "taught"obedience to Jesus. "In the hidden life of Nazareth, under the guidance of Joseph, Jesus learned to do the will of the Father" (n. 3). And this, passing through the passion and the cross (cf. Jn 4:34; Phil 2:8; Heb 5:8).
As St. John Paul II wrote in his exhortation Redemptoris custos (1989)on St. Joseph, "Joseph was called by God to serve directly the person and mission of Jesus through the exercise of his fatherhood.Thus he cooperates in the fullness of time in the great mystery of redemption and is truly '...'.minister of salvation'".
All of this went through the "welcome"Joseph, Mary and God's plan for her. Joseph assumed that plan, his paternityHe was a mysterious person, with personal responsibility, without looking for easy solutions. And these events shaped his inner life.
Although God's plans exceed Joseph's expectations, he does not resign himself passively, but rather acts with strength. And so he gives us an example and supports us in welcoming ".creative courage"Our life as it is, even with its contradictory, unexpected and even disappointing side. Then St. Paul will say that "everything contributes to the good of those who love God". (Rm 8:28).
It is easy to suppose that these, those who truly love God, are the same ones who translate that love into concern for others. In fact, Francis writes, giving another very personal touch: "I wish to imagine that Jesus took from Joseph's attitudes the example for the parable of the prodigal son and the merciful father (cf. Lk. 15:11-32)" (Ibid.)..
The Pope points out that welcoming what we have not chosen in our lives, and acting with creative courage, are occasions that God uses to bring "to light". resources in each of us that we didn't even think we had" (n. 5). Specifically, José "I knew how to transform a problem into an opportunity, always putting trust in Providence first.".
For it is precisely by trusting in St. Joseph, as can happen with us, in what he could plan, invent, find. Thus, it could be deduced for our part, it is always Christian mission: an offer of trust from God who asks for our trust to do great things.
And just as he was the custodian of Jesus and his mother Mary, "St. Joseph cannot fail to be the Custodian of the Churchbecause the Church is the extension of the Body of Christ in history, and at the same time in the motherhood of the Church is manifested the motherhood of Mary". (cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, nn. 963-970).
Indeed, and this letter could have been called "custodian of the Church". Francis, too, in an original way, encourages us to perceive that when we take care of the Church, we are taking care of Jesus and Mary.. Let us recall the function of "guardian and servant" that the Pope attributed to St. Joseph in his homily at the Mass at the beginning of the Petrine ministry (March 19, 2013).
And not only that, but coherently, those most in need are, by the will of Jesus (cf. Mt 25:40)also this "Child" that Joseph continues to care forEvery needy person, every poor person, every suffering person, every dying person, every foreigner, every prisoner, every sick person are '...'".the Childwhich Joseph continues to guard. That is why St. Joseph is invoked as protector of the indigent, the needy, the exiled, the afflicted, the poor, the dying." (Patris corde, n. 5).
This deepening of St. Joseph as custodian of the Church in and through, though not exclusively, the poorest of the poor is very interesting, suggesting no less that Maria identifies with them. This is not strange, one might think, since she is a mother of mercy and spouse of Christ who identifies with everything that affects and matters to him.
"From Joseph, the Pope proposes, we must learn the same care and responsibility: to love the Child and his mother; to love the sacraments and charity; to love the Church and the poor. In each of these realities is always the Child and his mother".
Mr. Ramiro Pellitero Iglesias
Professor of Pastoral Theology
Faculty of Theology
University of Navarra
Published in "Church and new evangelization".
