March 19, 2021
Solemnity of Saint Joseph, Husband of Mary
Readings for Today
Nang magising si Jose, ginawa niya ang iniutos sa kanya ng anghel ng Panginoon at tinanggap niya ang kanyang asawa sa kanyang tahanan. Mateo 1:24
Ano ang dahilan ng dakilang pagkatao ni San Jose? Hindi siya ipinaglihing walang bahid ng kasalanan tulad ng ating Mahal na Ina. Hindi siya Diyos tulad ni Hesus. Ngunit siya ang puno ng Banal na Mag-anak, ang tagapangalaga nito at tagapaglaan ng mga pangangailangan nito. Siya ang naging ama ayon sa batas ng Tagapagligtas ng Sanlibutan at kabiyak ng Ina ng Diyos. Ngunit hindi lamang dahil sa mga kahanga-hangang pribilehiyong ipinagkaloob sa kanya kaya dakila si Jose. Una sa lahat, naging dakila siya dahil sa mga pasiyang ginawa niya sa buhay. Inilalarawan siya ng Ebanghelyo ngayon bilang isang “taong matuwid” at bilang isang taong “ginawa ang iniutos sa kanya ng anghel ng Panginoon.” Kaya ang kanyang kadakilaan ay pangunahing nagmumula sa kanyang matuwid na pamumuhay at pagsunod sa kalooban ng Diyos.
Lalong makikita ang pagiging masunurin ni Jose sa kanyang pagsunod sa tinig ng Diyos na ipinarating sa kanya sa apat na panaginip na nakatala sa Banal na Kasulatan. Sa kanyang unang panaginip, sinabi kay Jose, “huwag kang matakot na tanggapin sa iyong tahanan si Maria na iyong asawa. Sapagkat ang batang ipinaglihi niya ay mula sa Espiritu Santo. Magsisilang siya ng isang anak na lalaki at pangangalanan mo siyang Hesus, sapagkat ililigtas niya ang kanyang bayan mula sa kanilang mga kasalanan” (Matthew 1:20–21). Sa kanyang ikalawang panaginip, sinabi kay Jose, “Bumangon ka, dalhin mo ang bata at ang kanyang ina, tumakas kayo patungong Ehipto, at manatili roon hanggang sa sabihin ko sa iyo. Hahanapin ni Herodes ang bata upang patayin siya” (Matthew 2:13). Sa kanyang ikatlong panaginip, sinabi kay Jose, “Bumangon ka, dalhin mo ang bata at ang kanyang ina at pumunta kayo sa lupain ng Israel, sapagkat patay na ang mga nagtangkang pumatay sa bata” (Matthew 2:20). At sa kanyang ikaapat na panaginip, binalaan si Jose na sa halip ay pumunta sa Galilea at hindi sa Judea (Matthew 2:22).
Kapag binasa nang sunod-sunod ang mga panaginip na ito, malinaw na nakikinig nang mabuti si San Jose sa tinig ng Diyos. Lahat tayo ay nananaginip, ngunit naiiba ang mga panaginip ni Jose. Mga malinaw na pahayag ang mga ito mula sa Diyos, at nangangailangan ang mga ito ng isang taong handang tumanggap. Bukas si Jose sa tinig ng Diyos at nakinig siya nang may pananampalataya bilang isang taong handang tumanggap.
Joseph also responded with complete submission and full determination. The commands Joseph received were not insignificant. His obedience required that he and his family travel great distances, take up residence in strange lands, and do so all in faith.
Malinaw din na buong-sigasig na ginampanan ni Jose ang kanyang bokasyon. Ibinigay sa kanya ni Papa San Juan Pablo II ang titulong “Tagapangalaga ng Manunubos.” Paulit-ulit niyang ipinakita ang kanyang di-natitinag na katapatan sa kanyang tungkulin bilang tagapangalaga ng kanyang Anak ayon sa batas, si Hesus, at ng kanyang asawa, si Maria. Inialay niya ang kanyang buhay sa pagtustos sa kanilang mga pangangailangan, pagprotekta sa kanila, at pagkakaloob sa kanila ng pusong ama.
Pagnilayan ngayon ang natatanging bokasyon ni San Jose. Isaalang-alang lalo na ang mga unang taon ng kanyang pagsasama kay Maria at ang pagpapalaki kay Hesus. Pag-isipan ang kanyang katapatan bilang ama sa pag-aaruga, pagtustos sa mga pangangailangan, at pagprotekta sa kanyang Anak. Dapat nating lahat na sikaping tularan ang mga birtud ni San Jose sa pamamagitan ng pag-iingat sa presensiya ni Kristo sa ating sariling mga puso, sa mga puso ng ating pamilya at mga kaibigan, at sa buong daigdig. Manalangin kay San Jose at hilingin sa kanya na tulungan kang sundan ang kanyang halimbawa upang ang nakatagong presensiya ng ating Panginoon sa ating buhay ay lumago at ganap na magkahinog.
Hail, Guardian of the Redeemer, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary. To you God entrusted his only Son; in you Mary placed her trust; with you Christ became man. Blessed Joseph, to us too, show yourself a father and guide us in the path of life. Obtain for us grace, mercy and courage, and defend us from every evil. Amen. (Prayer from Patris Corde, by Pope Francis)
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In honor of the Year of Saint Joseph instituted by our Holy Father, Pope Francis, from December 8, 2020, to December 8, 2021, we offer the introduction to his Apostolic Letter “Patris Corde” for your reflection. To read the full letter, click here.
WITH A FATHER’S HEART: that is how Joseph loved Jesus, whom all four Gospels refer to as “the son of Joseph”.[1]
Matthew and Luke, the two Evangelists who speak most of Joseph, tell us very little, yet enough for us to appreciate what sort of father he was, and the mission entrusted to him by God’s providence.
We know that Joseph was a lowly carpenter (cf. Mt 13:55), betrothed to Mary (cf. Mt 1:18; Lk 1:27). He was a “just man” (Mt 1:19), ever ready to carry out God’s will as revealed to him in the Law (cf. Lk 2:22.27.39) and through four dreams (cf. Mt 1:20; 2:13.19.22). After a long and tiring journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem, he beheld the birth of the Messiah in a stable, since “there was no place for them” elsewhere (cf. Lk 2:7). He witnessed the adoration of the shepherds (cf. Lk 2:8-20) and the Magi (cf. Mt 2:1-12), who represented respectively the people of Israel and the pagan peoples.
Joseph had the courage to become the legal father of Jesus, to whom he gave the name revealed by the angel: “You shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” (Mt 1:21). As we know, for ancient peoples, to give a name to a person or to a thing, as Adam did in the account in the Book of Genesis (cf. 2:19-20), was to establish a relationship.
In the Temple, forty days after Jesus’ birth, Joseph and Mary offered their child to the Lord and listened with amazement to Simeon’s prophecy concerning Jesus and his Mother (cf. Lk 2:22-35). To protect Jesus from Herod, Joseph dwelt as a foreigner in Egypt (cf. Mt 2:13-18). After returning to his own country, he led a hidden life in the tiny and obscure village of Nazareth in Galilee, far from Bethlehem, his ancestral town, and from Jerusalem and the Temple. Of Nazareth it was said, “No prophet is to rise” (cf. Jn 7:52) and indeed, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” (cf. Jn 1:46). When, during a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, Joseph and Mary lost track of the twelve-year-old Jesus, they anxiously sought him out and they found him in the Temple, in discussion with the doctors of the Law (cf. Lk 2:41-50).
After Mary, the Mother of God, no saint is mentioned more frequently in the papal magisterium than Joseph, her spouse. My Predecessors reflected on the message contained in the limited information handed down by the Gospels in order to appreciate more fully his central role in the history of salvation. Blessed Pius IX declared him “Patron of the Catholic Church”,[2] Venerable Pius XII proposed him as “Patron of Workers”[3] and Saint John Paul II as “Guardian of the Redeemer”.[4] Saint Joseph is universally invoked as the “patron of a happy death”.[5]
Now, one hundred and fifty years after his proclamation as Patron of the Catholic Church by Blessed Pius IX (8 December 1870), I would like to share some personal reflections on this extraordinary figure, so close to our own human experience. For, as Jesus says, “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (Mt 12:34). My desire to do so increased during these months of pandemic, when we experienced, amid the crisis, how “our lives are woven together and sustained by ordinary people, people often overlooked. People who do not appear in newspaper and magazine headlines, or on the latest television show, yet in these very days are surely shaping the decisive events of our history. Doctors, nurses, storekeepers and supermarket workers, cleaning personnel, caregivers, transport workers, men and women working to provide essential services and public safety, volunteers, priests, men and women religious, and so very many others. They understood that no one is saved alone… How many people daily exercise patience and offer hope, taking care to spread not panic, but shared responsibility. How many fathers, mothers, grandparents and teachers are showing our children, in small everyday ways, how to accept and deal with a crisis by adjusting their routines, looking ahead and encouraging the practice of prayer. How many are praying, making sacrifices and interceding for the good of all”.[6] Each of us can discover in Joseph – the man who goes unnoticed, a daily, discreet and hidden presence – an intercessor, a support and a guide in times of trouble. Saint Joseph reminds us that those who appear hidden or in the shadows can play an incomparable role in the history of salvation. A word of recognition and of gratitude is due to them all. (Continue reading>>>)
Mga Sanggunian para sa Kuwaresma
Higit pang mga Pagninilay sa Ebanghelyo
Mga Pagninilay sa Inaawit na Awa ng Diyos
Mga Pagninilay sa Banal na Kasulatan para sa Kuwaresma
Further Reading – Saint Joseph Husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary—Solemnity
Mga Pagpipilian sa mga Pagbasa sa Misa
Featured image above: he Dream of St. Joseph By Luca Giordano
