SAINT JOSEPH: THE WORKER
*Fr.Ivo da Conceição Souza
On May 1, it is the International Workers’ Day. Saint Joseph was a
craftsman (a carpenter and a builder). He is the Patron of the Workers. He was
Mary’s husband and the father of Jesus (legally yes, not biologically). What do
we find in his life? He was a hardworking man, a conscientious breadwinner, a
saintly husband, an excellent father. He was a man of faith, of silence, of
fidelity, of values. He came to Nazareth, as he was working in Sepphoris, a new
city to be built.
The Gospel tradition explains tersely to the readers that Mary conceived
through the power of the Holy Spirit (cf.Mt 1:18-23). The news comes to Joseph
from an Angel's Revelation.
Joseph was Mary's legal husband by exchanging consent, as it was the
custom among the Jews. This was called “betrothal”, which was legal marriage.
It was the first step of Jewish marriage. Being an upright man, although he was
around 18-21 years old, Joseph was not willing to put Mary (around 13-15
years old) to shame as an adulterous woman, but decided to "divorce" her (in
Greek apolyein latra, meaning “to dismiss her secretly/leniently”). There are
three explanations of Joseph's uprightness: i)Kindness/mercy: Joseph showed
himself upright (=merciful) by his unwillingness to enforce the Law against
adultery rigorously. ii)Respect/Awe for God's Salvific Design/Plan: The
Jews had an awe/respectful fear to the presence of God. So Joseph drew back
because he could not take as his spouse, the woman whom God had chosen as his
sacred vessel. The Angel's message was intended to assure Joseph that God's
plan included the final step of marriage (that is, to take her home), so that
Joseph might give his name and Davidic heritage to the child. How could
Joseph know that Mary's pregnancy was the result of God's powerful;
intervention? Joseph learns from the Angel the divine origin of the Child in
Mary's womb. iii)Obedience to the Law: According to Dt 22:20f, if a woman was
found to be an adulteress, she had to be stoned to death. But in less severe
legal system, there was a command to "purge the evil from the midst of you",
interpreted as divorcing her, before two witnesses (that was benign
punishment). In this interpretation, Joseph wanted to divorce her, without
exposing her to the public disgrace. In this theory, Joseph assumes that she
has been unfaithful, but also the Angel's message makes a perfect sense
instructing Joseph not to be afraid to take her home. The Law was not being
broken. She was not an adulteress, but had conceived through God's power with
her vir¬ginity intact. To break off the engagement would obviously have cast a
slur on Mary, unless it could be done 'quietly'.
Joseph's motive for breaking off the engagement secretly would be so
as not to interfere in God's plan (cf. Lk 1:20). Unless we realize that Mary
must have told Joseph about the Annunciation, such a message might well have
increased rather than allayed Joseph's fears. "Do not be afraid, on the grounds
that what has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit, to take Mary to
yourself as wife". In this way, Joseph receives his commission to have no
fear, but to proceed with the marriage and to father the divine child by
receiving the child on his knees and imposing his name: "You shall call his
name Jesus" (Mt 1:21). The meaning of the name Yeoshuah, shortened to Yeshuah,
means "God saves" (cf.the etymological interpretation in Mt 1:21: "He will
save people from their sins", both Jews and Gentiles). Joseph seems to have
died young, before the public ministry of Jesus. Mary was about 50 years old,
at the time of Jesus’ death.
Regards.
Fr.Ivo
