Dear St Joseph,
Today being your
feast day, I thought of writing you a few lines mainly to show my gratitude to
you for all you did for Jesus and Mary his mother. Very few people are greater
than you, because who was ever closer to Mary and Jesus than you. You married
Mary even though many people were suspicious of you, and you were patient
enough to raise Jesus from his birth to the day you died, and left him as an
orphan and his mother as a widow.
Joseph, you showed your greatness by
your humility. By being humble and quiet and staying always in the background,
your image shone forth majestically and we admire the simple life you led, and
your courage in taking Mary as your wife, in spite of the gossip that was going
on from other people.
I can only imagine how special and
happy was that house in Nazareth, raising Jesus as a baby, a toddler, a young
boy and as a teenager. A few questions come to mind:
- Was
he obedient to you and his mother? Did he go to sleep on time? Did he get up on
time? Did he say his prayers? Did he obey at home? Did he have any sleepovers?
Did he have any girlfriends? Did his friends know how
special he was? It hurts me to read that the people of Nazareth threw stones at
him when he visited them years later!
- Did
he play any tricks on you and Mary? Since he was an only boy, he couldn’t blame
his brothers and sisters if something went missing, if something broke. Did he
always do his chores? Did he go to school, which were probably different from
our schools? Did he do his homework?
Dear St Joseph, we admire your
kindness in dealing with other people. When a stressful situation appeared, you
always let Mary handle it, like when Jesus was lost in the temple for 3 days,
or like the wedding at Cana, when they ran out of wine. You always stayed in
the background, and this also shows that you were respectful of others and
avoided any quarrels and conflicts.
I ask you finally St Joseph to keep our families in your prayers. Just as you
protected your family
from Herod, from harm and from those who hated you, your wife and your Son,
please protect our families and children from danger. I beg you also, please
pray for vocations to the priesthood and religious life. We need more priests
and sisters to work in our parishes, schools, hospitals and other places. And I
ask you also to remember those who work,
those looking for work, especially husbands and fathers who lost their
jobs. And finally help us to
overcome the present plague we are facing as a nation, as a world in turmoil
and with so much uncertainty ahead of us.
Signed – your friends in Malta
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