In the loving relationship between God and His most exalted Mother, Daughter and Spouse, there is one who was chosen for a very special mission within the mystery of the Incarnation: Saint Joseph.
Newsdesk (March 2026, Gaudium Press) In God’s eyes, each member of the Holy Family of Nazareth participates in the same salvific plan of God, since the decree of predestination was one for Jesus, Mary and Joseph, and they were jointly and hierarchically the first of the predestined in view of the Redemption.
Together with Mary, St. Joseph was called to be an intimate part of this sublime reality, given his role directly linked to the Person of the Redeemer. As Msgr. João Scognamiglio Clá Dias, points out in his work St. Joseph, Who Really Knows Him?…, the Holy Patriarch’s co-operation in the conception of Christ was not in a biological, but rather a moral sense, which is the noblest aspect.
Thus, this co-operation with the plan of the hypostatic union was true, morally necessary and intimate because, by his willingness to fulfil God’s will in all its radicality and every nuance, it can be said that he implicitly accepted God’s plan for the virginal conception, in the joy of his soul, even if he was not aware of its details.
Furthermore, without St. Joseph’s consent to betroth Mary, the Incarnate Word would not have been able to enter the world as the Creator wished from the beginning of humanity, that is, in the bosom of a well-constituted family. Only his consent would make it possible for Our Lady to be a Virgin and Mother in a dignified and fitting manner; and for him, through his right to everything that belonged to his wife, to also be a virgin and father, or better, the virginal father of Jesus, “the most perfect title for his relationship with the Son of God.”
A “god” for God himself
We must also consider him as Our Lord’s real father. In the first place, because God’s words not only symbolize, but, having their own efficacy, actually produce what they signify. Jesus evidently called St. Joseph “father”, which is in itself a striking proof of his true paternity. Moreover, the Blessed Virgin herself confirmed the virginal paternity of her husband, when She found the Child Jesus in the Temple and said: “Your father and I have been looking for you” (Lk 2:48).
Other passages of Scripture also prove that St. Joseph’s paternity was real, and not just symbolic or juridical. St. Matthew, for example, lists Christ’s genealogy from the Holy Patriarch (cf. Mt 1:16) because, for the Jewish people, heredity always came from the male. And the Angel entrusts Joseph with the paternal task of giving Jesus His name (cf. Mt 1:21), a simple duty, but one in which the entire paternal office of Mary’s husband is declared.
From this legal prerogative of St. Joseph comes his authority over the Eternal Father’s Only-begotten Son. We are faced, then, with the immense majesty of a man “charged with directing the conduct of a God and to be placed as superior over Him in whose presence the highest of creatures, the most exalted of the angelic hierarchies, the Seraphim and the Cherubim, prostrate and annihilate themselves, casting their crowns at His feet.” In Edward Healy Thompson’s beautiful expression, “Joseph was, in a manner, set to be the god of God Himself.”
Therefore, despite not having contributed biologically to the generation of Jesus, St. Joseph loved Him as no father has ever loved his son in all of history. Far from diminishing his affection, this holy man’s unblemished virginity increased and purified it for, possessing a pure heart, nothing earthly or human interfered with his paternal affection for the Infant-God.
Ambassador of the Holy Spirit to Mary
The Third Person of the Most Holy Trinity also acted in an eminent way towards the Holy Patriarch in the matter of the Incarnation. Our Lady is the Spouse of the Holy Spirit, since She conceived through His work (cf. Mt 1:20; Lk 1:35). But Mary is also the real Spouse of Joseph! How can this paradox be explained? Being invisible, the Paraclete gave His virginal Bride, as a substitute, a visible husband, who was to accompany Her everywhere and render Her faithful service. As some Josephine theologians put it, he was a “vice-Paraclete”.
And there is more. The Holy Patriarch was the model adopted by God for the generation of Jesus’ humanity. Thus, the Divine Holy Spirit made Joseph’s temperament, dispositions and inclinations, as well as his own physical appearance, as similar as possible to those of the Saviour. This resemblance was undeniably fitting, so that Jesus would be considered, in the eyes of all, the real son of St. Joseph.
Text adapted from Heralds of the Gospel Magazine March 2024. By Vinícius Lima.
The post Saint Joseph: Truly Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ appeared first on Gaudium Press.
Compiled by Roberta MacEwan
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