Archdiocese of Denver

S T. J O S E P H WA S S A N C TI FI E D T H R O U G H H I S WO R K The Gospels say very little about St. Joseph, so it can be reasonably surmised that what they do tell us about him is of the utmost importance. The Gospels explicitly state that St. Joseph was a carpenter, and in those days, it was common for carpenters to train up an apprentice in their craft. Indeed, during the "hidden" years of Jesus' life, the Gospels imply that Jesus was St. Joseph's apprentice; "Having learned the work of his presumed father, he was known as 'the carpenter's son,'" St. John Paul II writes (22). In the case of the Holy Family, work was also an expression of love, St. John Paul II said, and in their work, they display yet another important paradigm for family life: "If the Family of Nazareth is an example and model for human families, in the order of salvation and holiness, so too, by analogy, is Jesus' work at the side of Joseph the carpenter" (22). In today's world, a person's work very much defines them, yet there can be a negative connotation asso- ciated with work; one that treats it as mundane and meaningless. However, there is a valuable lesson to be learned in the human work of St. Joseph, and by extension the human work of Jesus. "Human work, and especially manual labor, receive special prominence in the Gospel," St. John Paul II writes. "Along with the humanity of the Son of God, work too has been taken up in the mystery of the Incarnation, and has also been redeemed in a special way. At the workbench where he plied his trade together with Jesus, Joseph brought human work closer to the mystery of the Redemption" (22). Work, therefore, became sanctified; and just as St. Joseph was sanctified through his work, so, too, can all people be sanctified in their own daily labors. S T. J O S E P H' S I N T E R CE S S I O N I S P OW E R FU L Blessed Pope Pius IX couldn't have known how crucial St. Joseph's intercession would be in the year 2021, when he declared him the patron of the universal Church, yet here we are. And although St. John Paul II delivered Redemptoris Custos over 30 years ago, its words are made all the more relevant now as we observe this Year of St. Joseph. St. Joseph quietly watches over the Church here on earth, just as he did Jesus in his childhood. The Church cannot deny the need for St. Joseph as her guardian and protector. As St. John Paul II observes, "Besides trusting in Joseph's sure protection, the Church also trusts in his noble example, which transcends all individual states of life and serves as a model for the entire Christian community, whatever the condition and duties of each of its members may be" (30). As was intended by St. John Paul II and Pope Leo XIII before him, this Year of St. Joseph is an opportunity for renewed devotion to this most essential patron of the Church. Throughout the ages, many have attested to the power of St. Joseph's intercession, and this same power can be ours if we simply ask. Today, as we stand at the preci- pice of modernity and the many challenges it brings, St. John Paul II's closing words to Redemptoris Custos ring clear and true: "This just man, who bore within himself the entire heritage of the Old Covenant, was also brought into the 'beginning' of the New and Eternal Covenant in Jesus Christ. May he show us the paths of this saving Covenant as we stand at the threshold of the next mil- lennium, in which there must be a continuation and further devel- opment of the 'fullness of time' that belongs the ineffable mystery of the Incarnation of the Word" (32). S T. J O S E P H' S S I L E N CE E X E M P L I FI E D H I S V I R T U E Silence is hard to come by these days, with the hustle of daily life and the countless dis- tractions of smartphones and social media and streaming services that exist in spades. It's nothing more than human nature to con- verse and communicate and speak our minds to others, but is that always the most prudent thing to do? How many of us talk about doing something yet never actually act upon it? Contrast this mentality with St. Joseph, who says nary a word in the Gospels but instead communicates through his actions. "It is, a silence that reveals in a special way the inner portrait of the man," St. John Paul II writes. "The Gospels speak exclusively of what Joseph 'did.' Still, they allow us to discover in his 'actions' – shrouded in silence as they are – an aura of deep contemplation" (25). In his silence, St. Joseph's interior life cuts through the noise and reveals his strong virtue which empowered him to accept Mary as his wife and raise the Son of God: "The total sac- rifice, whereby Joseph surrendered his whole existence to the demands of the Messiah's coming into his home, becomes understandable only in the light of his profound interior life" (26). 3 4 5 35 ARCHDIOCESE OF DENVER | THE YEAR OF ST. JOSEPH

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