This month I’ll take up two more titles of St. Joseph, both of which are related to family.
The first is Foster Father of the Son of God, actually a compound title, and one with which we are quite familiar. When on a tour of the Monastery’s shrines, we are introduced to St. Joseph as Foster Father of Our Savior. In our society we may consider a “foster” father – a one who takes the place of a father who is absent – as having a negative connotation: the child was not wanted. In St. Joseph, however, we have the best of this concept: a child who is loved so much that his Father gives Him into the care of another highly trusted individual, more akin to a tutor, for his earthly training, to shape the mind, heart and character of the child. There is no greater honor for a man than to be given such a responsibility. St. Joseph shows us how to do it well, and in that sense is an incredibly positive model for all men, in that he put aside his own wants and desires for the sake of the One for whom he cares.
This leads naturally to the other title: Head of the Holy Family. St. Joseph not only gives Jesus his all in raising, forming, and caring for Him, but he also cares for, supports, and loves Mary, the Lord’s Blessed Mother, who was betrothed to Joseph and yet gave her “Fiat” to the angel God had sent. St. Joseph accepted this, and in an honorable and loving manner cared for them both. He kept his family safe from trouble, listened attentively to God’s messages, and instructed his foster son by word and example; things that are the responsibility of the head of a family.
How Mary must have cherished such a man! What a blessed example we have to all men – single and married – as we have in St. Joseph!