PAUS FRANSISKUS MENCANANGKAN "TAHUN SANTO YOSEF"

diambil dari WA Rm. Agoeng Selasa 8-12-2020 jam 20.35; ilustrasi dari koleksi Blog Domus

Dengan Surat Apostolik "Patris corde" ("Dengan Hati Seorang Bapa"), Paus Fransiskus memperingati 150 tahun deklarasi Santo Yosef sebagai Pelindung Gereja Semesta oleh Beato Paus Pius IX. Untuk memperingati peristiwa tersebut, Bapa Suci telah mencanangkan “Tahun Santo Yosef” mulai 8 Desember 2020 hingga 8 Desember 2021.

Dalam surat apostoliknya tersebut, Paus Fransiskus menggambarkan Santo Yosef sebagai bapa yang terkasih, bapa yang lembut dan penuh kasih, bapa yang patuh, bapa yang menerima; bapa yang secara kreatif pemberani, bapa yang sedang bekerja, bapa dalam bayang-bayang.

Bapa Suci menulis “Patris corde” dengan latar belakang pandemi Covid-19, yang, dikatakannya, telah membantu kita melihat lebih jelas pentingnya orang-orang "biasa" yang, meski jauh dari pusat perhatian, tetap sabar dan menawarkan harapan setiap hari. Dalam hal ini, mereka menyerupai Santo Yosef, "orang yang kehadirannya sehari-hari tidak diperhatikan, bijaksana dan tersembunyi", yang meskipun demikian memainkan "peran yang tak tertandingi dalam sejarah keselamatan".

Santo Yosef, pada kenyataannya, "secara nyata mengungkapkan kebapaannya" dengan mempersembahkan dirinya dalam kasih, "kasih yang ditempatkan untuk melayani Mesias yang tumbuh hingga dewasa di rumahnya", tulis Paus Fransiskus, mengutip pendahulunya, Santo Paulus VI.

Dan karena perannya di "persimpangan antara Perjanjian Lama dan Perjanjian Baru", Santo Yosef "selalu dihormati sebagai seorang bapa oleh umat Kristiani" (PC, 1). Di dalam dia, “Yesus melihat kasih Allah yang lembut”, yang membantu kita menerima kelemahan kita, karena “melalui” dan terlepas dari “ketakutan kita, kerapuhan kita, dan kelemahan kita,” sebagian besar rencanan ilahi terwujud. “Hanya kasih yang lembut yang akan menyelamatkan kita dari jerat sang penuduh”, tegas Paus Fransiskus, dan dengan menjumpai belas kasih Allah khususnya dalam Sakramen Rekonsiliasi kita “mengalami kebenaran dan kelembutan-Nya,” - karena “kita tahu bahwa kebenaran Allah tidak menghukum kita, melainkan menyambut, merangkul, menopang dan mengampuni kita” (2).

Santo Yosef juga seorang bapa dalam ketaatan kepada Allah : dengan 'ya'-nya ia melindungi Maria dan Yesus serta mengajarkan Putra-Nya untuk "melakukan kehendak Bapa". Dipanggil oleh Tuhan untuk melayani perutusan Yesus, ia “bekerjasama… dalam misteri agung Penebusan”, seperti yang dikatakan Santo Yohanes Paulus II, “dan benar-benar seorang pelayan keselamatan” (3).

Pada saat yang sama, Santo Yosef adalah "Bapa yang menerima", karena ia "menerima Maria tanpa syarat" - sebuah isyarat penting bahkan hingga hari ini, kata Paus Fransiskus, "di dunia kita di mana kekerasan psikologis, verbal dan fisik terhadap perempuan begitu nyata". Tetapi sang mempelai Maria tersebut juga adalah orang yang, dengan percaya kepada Tuhan, menerima dalam hidupnya bahkan peristiwa-peristiwa yang tidak ia pahami, “mengesampingkan gagasan-gagasannya” dan mendamaikan dirinya dengan sejarahnya sendiri.

Jalan spiritual Santo Yosef “bukan jalan yang menjelaskan, tetapi jalan menerima” - yang tidak berarti bahwa ia “pasrah”. Sebaliknya, ia "dengan berani dan tegas proaktif", karena dengan "karunia ketabahan Roh Kudus", dan penuh harapan, ia mampu "menerima hidup apa adanya, dengan segenap pertentangan, frustrasi dan kekecewaan". Dalam prakteknya, melalui Santo Yosef, seolah-olah Allah mengulangi kepada kita : "Jangan takut!" karena "iman memberi makna pada setiap peristiwa, entah gembira maupun sedih", dan membuat kita sadar bahwa "Allah dapat membuat bunga bermunculan dari tanah berbatu". Santo Yosef “tidak mencari jalan pintas tetapi menghadapi kenyataan dengan mata terbuka dan secara pribadi bertanggung jawab terhadap kenyataan tersebut”. Karena alasan ini, “ia mendorong kita untuk menerima dan menyambut orang lain apa adanya, tanpa kecuali, dan menunjukkan perhatian khusus kepada orang-orang yang lemah” (4).

Patris corde menyoroti "keberanian kreatif" Santo Yosef, yang "muncul terutama dalam cara kita menghadapi kesulitan." "Sang tukang kayu dari Nazareth", jelas Paus Fransiskus, mampu mengubah masalah menjadi kemungkinan dengan percaya akan pemeliharaan ilahi. Ia harus menghadapi “masalah nyata” yang dihadapi keluarganya, masalah yang dihadapi oleh keluarga lain di dunia, dan terutama para migran.

Dalam pengertian ini, Santo Yosef adalah "santo pelindung khusus dari semua orang yang terpaksa meninggalkan tanah air mereka karena perang, kebencian, penganiayaan, dan kemiskinan". Sebagai penjaga Yesus dan Maria, Santo Yosef tidak dapat “menjadi yang lain selain penjaga Gereja”, penjaga keibuan Gereja, dan penjaga tubuh Kristus. “Akibatnya, setiap orang yang miskin, membutuhkan, menderita atau menghadapi ajal, setiap orang asing, setiap narapidana, setiap orang yang lemah adalah 'anak' yang terus dilindungi oleh Santo Yosef”. Dari Santo Yosef, tulis Paus Fransiskus, "kita harus belajar ... mengasihi Gereja dan orang miskin" (5).

“Seorang tukang kayu yang mencari nafkah dengan jujur untuk menafkahi keluarganya”, Santo Yosef juga mengajari kita “nilai, martabat dan kegembiraan dari apa artinya makan roti yang merupakan buah dari kerja kerasnya sendiri”. Segi karakter Santo Yosef ini memberi Paus Fransiskus kesempatan untuk mengajukan permohonan yang mendukung pekerjaan, yang telah menjadi "masalah sosial yang membara" bahkan di negara-negara dengan tingkat kesejahteraan tertentu. “Ada kebutuhan baru untuk menghargai pentingnya pekerjaan yang bermartabat, di mana Santo Yosef adalah santo pelindung yang perlu diteladani”, tulis Paus Fransiskus.

Bekerja, Bapa Suci mengatakan, “adalah sarana untuk ambil bagian dalam karya keselamatan, kesempatan untuk mempercepat kedatangan Kerajaan Allah, mengembangkan talenta dan kemampuan kita, dan menempatkannya dalam pelayanan masyarakat dan persekutuan persaudaraan”. Orang-orang yang bekerja, beliau menjelaskan, "bekerjasama dengan Allah sendiri, dan dalam beberapa hal menjadi pencipta dunia di sekitar kita". Paus Fransiskus mendorong setiap orang "untuk menemukan kembali nilai, pentingnya, dan perlunya pekerjaan untuk mewujudkan 'kenormalan' baru di mana tak seorang pun dikecualikan". Terutama mengingat meningkatnya pengangguran karena pandemi Covid-19, Paus Fransiskus meminta semua orang untuk "meninjau prioritas kita" dan mengungkapkan keyakinan teguh kita bahwa tidak ada orang muda, tidak ada orang, tidak ada keluarga tanpa pekerjaan!" (6).

Mengacu pada The Shadow of the Father - sebuah buku karya penulis Polandia Jan Dobraczyński - Paus Fransiskus menggambarkan kebapaan Santo Yosef terhadap Yesus sebagai "bayang-bayang duniawi dari Bapa surgawi".

"Bapa tidak dilahirkan, tetapi dijadikan", kata Paus Fransiskus. “Seorang laki-laki tidak menjadi seorang bapa hanya dengan membawa seorang anak ke dunia, tetapi dengan bertanggung jawab untuk merawat anak itu”. Sayangnya, dalam masyarakat saat ini, anak-anak “sering kali tampak seperti yatim piatu, tidak memiliki bapa” yang mampu memperkenalkan mereka “pada kehidupan dan kenyataan”. Anak-anak, kata Paus Fransiskus, membutuhkan bapa yang tidak akan mencoba menguasai mereka, tetapi membesarkan mereka agar "mampu memutuskan sendiri, menikmati kebebasan, dan menjelajahi kemungkinan baru".

Ini adalah pengertian di mana Santo Yosef digambarkan sebagai bapa yang "paling tulus", yang berlawanan dengan sifat posesif yang menguasai. Santo Yosef, kata Paus Fransiskus, “tahu bagaimana mengasihi dengan kebebasan yang luar biasa. Ia tidak pernah menjadikan dirinya pusat dari segala hal. Ia tidak memikirkan dirinya sendiri, tetapi berfokus pada kehidupan Maria dan Yesus".

Bagi Santo Yosef, kebahagiaan melibatkan pemberian diri yang sejati : "Di dalam dirinya, kita tidak pernah melihat frustrasi, tetapi kepercayaan semata", tulis Paus Fransiskus. Keheningannya yang sabar adalah awal dari ungkapan kepercayaan yang nyata. Oleh karena itu, Santo Yosef menonjol sebagai sosok teladan untuk zaman kita, di dunia yang “membutuhkan bapa”, dan bukan “penguasa lalim”; sebuah masyarakat yang "menolak orang-orang yang mengacaukan otoritas dengan otoritarianisme, pelayanan dengan penghambaan, diskusi dengan penindasan, amal dengan mentalitas kesejahteraan, kekuasaan dengan kehancuran".

Bapa sejati, sebaliknya, “menampik menjalani kehidupan anak-anaknya demi mereka”, dan sebaliknya menghormati kebebasan mereka. Dalam pengertian ini, kata Paus Fransiskus, seorang bapa menyadari bahwa "ia sungguh bapa dan pendidik pada saat ia menjadi 'tidak berguna', ketika ia melihat bahwa anaknya telah mandiri dan dapat menjalani kehidupan tanpa pendamping”. Menjadi seorang bapa, Paus Fransiskus menekankan, "tidak ada hubungannya dengan kepemilikan, tetapi lebih merupakan 'tanda' yang menunjuk pada kebapaan yang lebih besar" : tanda "Bapa surgawi" (7).

Dalam suratnya, Paus Fransiskus mencatat bagaimana, "Setiap hari, selama lebih dari empat puluh tahun, setelah Laudes [Doa Pagi]" beliau telah "mendaraskan doa kepada Santo Yosef yang diambil dari buku doa Prancis abad ke-19 dari Kongregasi Suster-suster Yesus dan Maria". Doa ini, beliau mengatakan, mengungkapkan pengabdian dan kepercayaan, serta bahkan menimbulkan tantangan tertentu bagi Santo Yosef”, karena, sebagai kata penutupnya, “bapaku yang terkasih, segenap kepercayaanku ada padamu. Jangan biarkan aku memanggil engkau dengan sia-sia, dan karena engkau dapat melakukan segalanya bersama Yesus dan Maria, tunjukkan kepadaku bahwa kebaikanmu sebesar kekuatanmu".

Di akhir suratnya, beliau kembali menambahkan doa kepada Santo Yosef. Dengan doa tersebut beliau mendorong kita semua untuk berdoa bersama :

Salam, Penjaga Sang Penebus,

Mempelai Santa Perawan Maria.

Kepadamu Allah mempercayakan Putra-Nya yang tunggal;

di dalam dirimu Maria menaruh kepercayaannya;

bersamamu Kristus menjadi manusia.

Santo Yosef, kepada kami juga,

perlihatkan dirimu seorang bapa

dan bimbing kami di jalan kehidupan.

Perolehkan bagi kami rahmat, belas kasih, dan keberanian,

serta lindungi kami dari setiap kejahatan. Amin.

___

(Peter Suriadi - Bogor, 8 Desember 2020)

TAMBAHAN (diambil dari kiriman Rm. Edy Purwanto dalam WAG GUYUB UNIO KAS Rabu 9-12-2020)

Di sini ditambahkan naskah dari Paus Fransiscus dalam bahasa Inggris.

The Holy See

APOSTOLIC LETTER

PATRIS CORDE

OF THE HOLY FATHER

FRANCIS

ON THE 150th ANNIVERSARY

OF THE PROCLAMATION OF SAINT JOSEPH

AS PATRON OF THE UNIVERSAL CHURCH

WITH A FATHER’S HEART: that is how Joseph loved Jesus, whom all four Gospels refer to as

“the son of Joseph”.[1]

Matthew and Luke, the two Evangelists who speak most of Joseph, tell us very little, yet enough

for us to appreciate what sort of father he was, and the mission entrusted to him by God’s

providence.

We know that Joseph was a lowly carpenter (cf. Mt 13:55), betrothed to Mary (cf. Mt 1:18; Lk

1:27). He was a “just man” (Mt 1:19), ever ready to carry out God’s will as revealed to him in the

Law (cf. Lk 2:22.27.39) and through four dreams (cf. Mt 1:20; 2:13.19.22). After a long and tiring

journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem, he beheld the birth of the Messiah in a stable, since “there

was no place for them” elsewhere (cf. Lk 2:7). He witnessed the adoration of the shepherds (cf. Lk

2:8-20) and the Magi (cf. Mt 2:1-12), who represented respectively the people of Israel and the

pagan peoples.

Joseph had the courage to become the legal father of Jesus, to whom he gave the name revealed

by the angel: “You shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” (Mt 1:21).

As we know, for ancient peoples, to give a name to a person or to a thing, as Adam did in the

account in the Book of Genesis (cf. 2:19-20), was to establish a relationship.

In the Temple, forty days after Jesus’ birth, Joseph and Mary offered their child to the Lord and

listened with amazement to Simeon’s prophecy concerning Jesus and his Mother (cf. Lk 2:22-35).

To protect Jesus from Herod, Joseph dwelt as a foreigner in Egypt (cf. Mt 2:13-18). After returning

to his own country, he led a hidden life in the tiny and obscure village of Nazareth in Galilee, far

from Bethlehem, his ancestral town, and from Jerusalem and the Temple. Of Nazareth it was said,

“No prophet is to rise” (cf. Jn 7:52) and indeed, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” (cf. Jn

1:46). When, during a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, Joseph and Mary lost track of the twelve-year-old

Jesus, they anxiously sought him out and they found him in the Temple, in discussion with the

doctors of the Law (cf. Lk 2:41-50).

After Mary, the Mother of God, no saint is mentioned more frequently in the papal magisterium

than Joseph, her spouse. My Predecessors reflected on the message contained in the limited

information handed down by the Gospels in order to appreciate more fully his central role in the

history of salvation. Blessed Pius IX declared him “Patron of the Catholic Church”,[2] Venerable

Pius XII proposed him as “Patron of Workers”[3] and Saint John Paul II as “Guardian of the

Redeemer”.[4] Saint Joseph is universally invoked as the “patron of a happy death”.[5]

Now, one hundred and fifty years after his proclamation as Patron of the Catholic Church by

Blessed Pius IX (8 December 1870), I would like to share some personal reflections on this

extraordinary figure, so close to our own human experience. For, as Jesus says, “out of the

abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (Mt 12:34). My desire to do so increased during these

months of pandemic, when we experienced, amid the crisis, how “our lives are woven together

and sustained by ordinary people, people often overlooked. People who do not appear in

newspaper and magazine headlines, or on the latest television show, yet in these very days are

surely shaping the decisive events of our history. Doctors, nurses, storekeepers and supermarket

workers, cleaning personnel, caregivers, transport workers, men and women working to provide

essential services and public safety, volunteers, priests, men and women religious, and so very

many others. They understood that no one is saved alone… How many people daily exercise

patience and offer hope, taking care to spread not panic, but shared responsibility. How many

fathers, mothers, grandparents and teachers are showing our children, in small everyday ways,

how to accept and deal with a crisis by adjusting their routines, looking ahead and encouraging the

practice of prayer. How many are praying, making sacrifices and interceding for the good of all”.[6]

Each of us can discover in Joseph – the man who goes unnoticed, a daily, discreet and hidden

presence – an intercessor, a support and a guide in times of trouble. Saint Joseph reminds us that

those who appear hidden or in the shadows can play an incomparable role in the history of

salvation. A word of recognition and of gratitude is due to them all.

1. A beloved father

The greatness of Saint Joseph is that he was the spouse of Mary and the father of Jesus. In this

way, he placed himself, in the words of Saint John Chrysostom, “at the service of the entire plan of

salvation”.[7]

Saint Paul VI pointed out that Joseph concretely expressed his fatherhood “by making his life a

sacrificial service to the mystery of the incarnation and its redemptive purpose. He employed his

legal authority over the Holy Family to devote himself completely to them in his life and work. He

turned his human vocation to domestic love into a superhuman oblation of himself, his heart and

all his abilities, a love placed at the service of the Messiah who was growing to maturity in his

home”.[8]

Thanks to his role in salvation history, Saint Joseph has always been venerated as a father by the

Christian people. This is shown by the countless churches dedicated to him worldwide, the

numerous religious Institutes, Confraternities and ecclesial groups inspired by his spirituality and

bearing his name, and the many traditional expressions of piety in his honour. Innumerable holy

men and women were passionately devoted to him. Among them was Teresa of Avila, who chose

him as her advocate and intercessor, had frequent recourse to him and received whatever graces

she asked of him. Encouraged by her own experience, Teresa persuaded others to cultivate

devotion to Joseph.[9]

Every prayer book contains prayers to Saint Joseph. Special prayers are offered to him each

Wednesday and especially during the month of March, which is traditionally dedicated to him.[10]

Popular trust in Saint Joseph is seen in the expression “Go to Joseph”, which evokes the famine in

Egypt, when the Egyptians begged Pharaoh for bread. He in turn replied: “Go to Joseph; what he

says to you, do” (Gen 41:55). Pharaoh was referring to Joseph the son of Jacob, who was sold

into slavery because of the jealousy of his brothers (cf. Gen 37:11-28) and who – according to the

biblical account – subsequently became viceroy of Egypt (cf. Gen 41:41-44).

As a descendant of David (cf. Mt 1:16-20), from whose stock Jesus was to spring according to the

promise made to David by the prophet Nathan (cf. 2 Sam 7), and as the spouse of Mary of

Nazareth, Saint Joseph stands at the crossroads between the Old and New Testaments.

2. A tender and loving father

Joseph saw Jesus grow daily “in wisdom and in years and in divine and human favour” (Lk 2:52).

As the Lord had done with Israel, so Joseph did with Jesus: “he taught him to walk, taking him by

the hand; he was for him like a father who raises an infant to his cheeks, bending down to him and

feeding him” (cf. Hos 11:3-4).

In Joseph, Jesus saw the tender love of God: “As a father has compassion for his children, so the

Lord has compassion for those who fear him” (Ps 103:13).

In the synagogue, during the praying of the Psalms, Joseph would surely have heard again and

again that the God of Israel is a God of tender love,[11] who is good to all, whose “compassion is

over all that he has made” (Ps 145:9).

The history of salvation is worked out “in hope against hope” (Rom 4:18), through our

weaknesses. All too often, we think that God works only through our better parts, yet most of his

plans are realized in and despite our frailty. Thus Saint Paul could say: “To keep me from being

too elated, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me, to keep me

from being too elated. Three times I appealed to the Lord about this, that it would leave me, but he

said to me: ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness’” (2 Cor 12:7-9).

Since this is part of the entire economy of salvation, we must learn to look upon our weaknesses

with tender mercy.[12]

The Evil one makes us see and condemn our frailty, whereas the Spirit brings it to light with tender

love. Tenderness is the best way to touch the frailty within us. Pointing fingers and judging others

are frequently signs of an inability to accept our own weaknesses, our own frailty. Only tender love

will save us from the snares of the accuser (cf. Rev 12:10). That is why it is so important to

encounter God’s mercy, especially in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, where we experience his

truth and tenderness. Paradoxically, the Evil one can also speak the truth to us, yet he does so

only to condemn us. We know that God’s truth does not condemn, but instead welcomes,

embraces, sustains and forgives us. That truth always presents itself to us like the merciful father

in Jesus’ parable (cf. Lk 15:11-32). It comes out to meet us, restores our dignity, sets us back on

our feet and rejoices for us, for, as the father says: “This my son was dead and is alive again; he

was lost and is found” (v. 24).

Even through Joseph’s fears, God’s will, his history and his plan were at work. Joseph, then,

teaches us that faith in God includes believing that he can work even through our fears, our

frailties and our weaknesses. He also teaches us that amid the tempests of life, we must never be

afraid to let the Lord steer our course. At times, we want to be in complete control, yet God always

sees the bigger picture.

3. An obedient father

As he had done with Mary, God revealed his saving plan to Joseph. He did so by using dreams,

which in the Bible and among all ancient peoples, were considered a way for him to make his will

known.[13]

Joseph was deeply troubled by Mary’s mysterious pregnancy. He did not want to “expose her to

public disgrace”,[14] so he decided to “dismiss her quietly” (Mt 1:19).

In the first dream, an angel helps him resolve his grave dilemma: “Do not be afraid to take Mary as

your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to

name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” (Mt 1:20-21). Joseph’s response was

immediate: “When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him” (Mt

1:24). Obedience made it possible for him to surmount his difficulties and spare Mary.

In the second dream, the angel tells Joseph: “Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to

Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him”

(Mt 2:13). Joseph did not hesitate to obey, regardless of the hardship involved: “He got up, took

the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt, and remained there until the death of Herod”

(Mt 2:14-15).

In Egypt, Joseph awaited with patient trust the angel’s notice that he could safely return home. In a

third dream, the angel told him that those who sought to kill the child were dead and ordered him

to rise, take the child and his mother, and return to the land of Israel (cf. Mt 2:19-20). Once again,

Joseph promptly obeyed. “He got up, took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel”

(Mt 2:21).

During the return journey, “when Joseph heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of

his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. After being warned in a dream” – now for the fourth

time – “he went away to the district of Galilee. There he made his home in a town called Nazareth”

(Mt 2:22-23).

The evangelist Luke, for his part, tells us that Joseph undertook the long and difficult journey from

Nazareth to Bethlehem to be registered in his family’s town of origin in the census of the Emperor

Caesar Augustus. There Jesus was born (cf. Lk 2: 7) and his birth, like that of every other child,

was recorded in the registry of the Empire. Saint Luke is especially concerned to tell us that Jesus’

parents observed all the prescriptions of the Law: the rites of the circumcision of Jesus, the

purification of Mary after childbirth, the offering of the firstborn to God (cf. 2:21-24).[15]

In every situation, Joseph declared his own “fiat”, like those of Mary at the Annunciation and Jesus

in the Garden of Gethsemane.

In his role as the head of a family, Joseph taught Jesus to be obedient to his parents (cf. Lk 2:51),

in accordance with God’s command (cf. Ex 20:12).

During the hidden years in Nazareth, Jesus learned at the school of Joseph to do the will of the

Father. That will was to be his daily food (cf. Jn 4:34). Even at the most difficult moment of his life,

in Gethsemane, Jesus chose to do the Father’s will rather than his own,[16] becoming “obedient

unto death, even death on a cross” (Phil 2:8). The author of the Letter to the Hebrews thus

concludes that Jesus “learned obedience through what he suffered” (5:8).

All this makes it clear that “Saint Joseph was called by God to serve the person and mission of

Jesus directly through the exercise of his fatherhood” and that in this way, “he cooperated in the

fullness of time in the great mystery of salvation and is truly a minister of salvation.”[17]

4. An accepting father

Joseph accepted Mary unconditionally. He trusted in the angel’s words. “The nobility of Joseph’s

heart is such that what he learned from the law he made dependent on charity. Today, in our world

where psychological, verbal and physical violence towards women is so evident, Joseph appears

as the figure of a respectful and sensitive man. Even though he does not understand the bigger

picture, he makes a decision to protect Mary’s good name, her dignity and her life. In his hesitation

about how best to act, God helped him by enlightening his judgment”.[18]

Often in life, things happen whose meaning we do not understand. Our first reaction is frequently

one of disappointment and rebellion. Joseph set aside his own ideas in order to accept the course

of events and, mysterious as they seemed, to embrace them, take responsibility for them and

make them part of his own history. Unless we are reconciled with our own history, we will be

unable to take a single step forward, for we will always remain hostage to our expectations and the

disappointments that follow.

The spiritual path that Joseph traces for us is not one that explains, but accepts. Only as a result

of this acceptance, this reconciliation, can we begin to glimpse a broader history, a deeper

meaning. We can almost hear an echo of the impassioned reply of Job to his wife, who had urged

him to rebel against the evil he endured: “Shall we receive the good at the hand of God, and not

receive the bad?” (Job 2:10).

Joseph is certainly not passively resigned, but courageously and firmly proactive. In our own lives,

acceptance and welcome can be an expression of the Holy Spirit’s gift of fortitude. Only the Lord

can give us the strength needed to accept life as it is, with all its contradictions, frustrations and

disappointments.

Jesus’ appearance in our midst is a gift from the Father, which makes it possible for each of us to

be reconciled to the flesh of our own history, even when we fail to understand it completely.

Just as God told Joseph: “Son of David, do not be afraid!” (Mt 1:20), so he seems to tell us: “Do

not be afraid!” We need to set aside all anger and disappointment, and to embrace the way things

are, even when they do not turn out as we wish. Not with mere resignation but with hope and

courage. In this way, we become open to a deeper meaning. Our lives can be miraculously reborn

if we find the courage to live them in accordance with the Gospel. It does not matter if everything

seems to have gone wrong or some things can no longer be fixed. God can make flowers spring

up from stony ground. Even if our heart condemns us, “God is greater than our hearts, and he

knows everything” (1 Jn 3:20).

Here, once again, we encounter that Christian realism which rejects nothing that exists. Reality, in

its mysterious and irreducible complexity, is the bearer of existential meaning, with all its lights and

shadows. Thus, the Apostle Paul can say: “We know that all things work together for good, for

those who love God” (Rom 8:28). To which Saint Augustine adds, “even that which is called evil

(etiam illud quod malum dicitur)”.[19] In this greater perspective, faith gives meaning to every

event, however happy or sad.

Nor should we ever think that believing means finding facile and comforting solutions. The faith

Christ taught us is what we see in Saint Joseph. He did not look for shortcuts, but confronted

reality with open eyes and accepted personal responsibility for it.

Joseph’s attitude encourages us to accept and welcome others as they are, without exception,

and to show special concern for the weak, for God chooses what is weak (cf. 1 Cor 1:27). He is

the “Father of orphans and protector of widows” (Ps 68:6), who commands us to love the stranger

in our midst.[20] I like to think that it was from Saint Joseph that Jesus drew inspiration for the

parable of the prodigal son and the merciful father (cf. Lk 15:11-32).

5. A creatively courageous father

If the first stage of all true interior healing is to accept our personal history and embrace even the

things in life that we did not choose, we must now add another important element: creative

courage. This emerges especially in the way we deal with difficulties. In the face of difficulty, we

can either give up and walk away, or somehow engage with it. At times, difficulties bring out

resources we did not even think we had.

As we read the infancy narratives, we may often wonder why God did not act in a more direct and

clear way. Yet God acts through events and people. Joseph was the man chosen by God to guide

the beginnings of the history of redemption. He was the true “miracle” by which God saves the

child and his mother. God acted by trusting in Joseph’s creative courage. Arriving in Bethlehem

and finding no lodging where Mary could give birth, Joseph took a stable and, as best he could,

turned it into a welcoming home for the Son of God come into the world (cf. Lk 2:6-7). Faced with

imminent danger from Herod, who wanted to kill the child, Joseph was warned once again in a

dream to protect the child, and rose in the middle of the night to prepare the flight into Egypt (cf. Mt

2:13-14).

A superficial reading of these stories can often give the impression that the world is at the mercy of

the strong and mighty, but the “good news” of the Gospel consists in showing that, for all the

arrogance and violence of worldly powers, God always finds a way to carry out his saving plan. So

too, our lives may at times seem to be at the mercy of the powerful, but the Gospel shows us what

counts. God always finds a way to save us, provided we show the same creative courage as the

carpenter of Nazareth, who was able to turn a problem into a possibility by trusting always in

divine providence.

If at times God seems not to help us, surely this does not mean that we have been abandoned,

but instead are being trusted to plan, to be creative, and to find solutions ourselves.

That kind of creative courage was shown by the friends of the paralytic, who lowered him from the

roof in order to bring him to Jesus (cf. Lk 5:17-26). Difficulties did not stand in the way of those

friends’ boldness and persistence. They were convinced that Jesus could heal the man, and

“finding no way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down

with his bed through the tiles into the middle of the crowd in front of Jesus. When he saw their

faith, he said, ‘Friend, your sins are forgiven you’” (vv. 19-20). Jesus recognized the creative faith

with which they sought to bring their sick friend to him.

The Gospel does not tell us how long Mary, Joseph and the child remained in Egypt. Yet they

certainly needed to eat, to find a home and employment. It does not take much imagination to fill in

those details. The Holy Family had to face concrete problems like every other family, like so many

of our migrant brothers and sisters who, today too, risk their lives to escape misfortune and

hunger. In this regard, I consider Saint Joseph the special patron of all those forced to leave their

native lands because of war, hatred, persecution and poverty.

At the end of every account in which Joseph plays a role, the Gospel tells us that he gets up, takes

the child and his mother, and does what God commanded him (cf. Mt 1:24; 2:14.21). Indeed,

Jesus and Mary his Mother are the most precious treasure of our faith.[21]

In the divine plan of salvation, the Son is inseparable from his Mother, from Mary, who “advanced

in her pilgrimage of faith, and faithfully persevered in her union with her Son until she stood at the

cross”.[22]

We should always consider whether we ourselves are protecting Jesus and Mary, for they are also

mysteriously entrusted to our own responsibility, care and safekeeping. The Son of the Almighty

came into our world in a state of great vulnerability. He needed to be defended, protected, cared

for and raised by Joseph. God trusted Joseph, as did Mary, who found in him someone who would

not only save her life, but would always provide for her and her child. In this sense, Saint Joseph

could not be other than the Guardian of the Church, for the Church is the continuation of the Body

of Christ in history, even as Mary’s motherhood is reflected in the motherhood of the Church.[23]

In his continued protection of the Church, Joseph continues to protect the child and his mother,

and we too, by our love for the Church, continue to love the child and his mother.

That child would go on to say: “As you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my

family, you did it to me” (Mt 25:40). Consequently, every poor, needy, suffering or dying person,

every stranger, every prisoner, every infirm person is “the child” whom Joseph continues to

protect. For this reason, Saint Joseph is invoked as protector of the unfortunate, the needy, exiles,

the afflicted, the poor and the dying. Consequently, the Church cannot fail to show a special love

for the least of our brothers and sisters, for Jesus showed a particular concern for them and

personally identified with them. From Saint Joseph, we must learn that same care and

responsibility. We must learn to love the child and his mother, to love the sacraments and charity,

to love the Church and the poor. Each of these realities is always the child and his mother.

6. A working father

An aspect of Saint Joseph that has been emphasized from the time of the first social Encyclical,

Pope Leo XIII’s Rerum Novarum, is his relation to work. Saint Joseph was a carpenter who earned

an honest living to provide for his family. From him, Jesus learned the value, the dignity and the

joy of what it means to eat bread that is the fruit of one’s own labour.

In our own day, when employment has once more become a burning social issue, and

unemployment at times reaches record levels even in nations that for decades have enjoyed a

certain degree of prosperity, there is a renewed need to appreciate the importance of dignified

work, of which Saint Joseph is an exemplary patron.

Work is a means of participating in the work of salvation, an opportunity to hasten the coming of

the Kingdom, to develop our talents and abilities, and to put them at the service of society and

fraternal communion. It becomes an opportunity for the fulfilment not only of oneself, but also of

that primary cell of society which is the family. A family without work is particularly vulnerable to

difficulties, tensions, estrangement and even break-up. How can we speak of human dignity

without working to ensure that everyone is able to earn a decent living?

Working persons, whatever their job may be, are cooperating with God himself, and in some way

become creators of the world around us. The crisis of our time, which is economic, social, cultural

and spiritual, can serve as a summons for all of us to rediscover the value, the importance and

necessity of work for bringing about a new “normal” from which no one is excluded. Saint Joseph’s

work reminds us that God himself, in becoming man, did not disdain work. The loss of employment

that affects so many of our brothers and sisters, and has increased as a result of the Covid-19

pandemic, should serve as a summons to review our priorities. Let us implore Saint Joseph the

Worker to help us find ways to express our firm conviction that no young person, no person at all,

no family should be without work!

7. A father in the shadows

The Polish writer Jan Dobraczyński, in his book The Shadow of the Father,[24] tells the story of

Saint Joseph’s life in the form of a novel. He uses the evocative image of a shadow to define

Joseph. In his relationship to Jesus, Joseph was the earthly shadow of the heavenly Father: he

watched over him and protected him, never leaving him to go his own way. We can think of

Moses’ words to Israel: “In the wilderness… you saw how the Lord your God carried you, just as

one carries a child, all the way that you travelled” (Deut 1:31). In a similar way, Joseph acted as a

father for his whole life.[25]

Fathers are not born, but made. A man does not become a father simply by bringing a child into

the world, but by taking up the responsibility to care for that child. Whenever a man accepts

responsibility for the life of another, in some way he becomes a father to that person.

Children today often seem orphans, lacking fathers. The Church too needs fathers. Saint Paul’s

words to the Corinthians remain timely: “Though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not

have many fathers” (1 Cor 4:15). Every priest or bishop should be able to add, with the Apostle: “I

became your father in Christ Jesus through the Gospel” (ibid.). Paul likewise calls the Galatians:

“My little children, with whom I am again in travail until Christ be formed in you!” (4:19).

Being a father entails introducing children to life and reality. Not holding them back, being

overprotective or possessive, but rather making them capable of deciding for themselves, enjoying

freedom and exploring new possibilities. Perhaps for this reason, Joseph is traditionally called a

“most chaste” father. That title is not simply a sign of affection, but the summation of an attitude

that is the opposite of possessiveness. Chastity is freedom from possessiveness in every sphere

of one’s life. Only when love is chaste, is it truly love. A possessive love ultimately becomes

dangerous: it imprisons, constricts and makes for misery. God himself loved humanity with a

chaste love; he left us free even to go astray and set ourselves against him. The logic of love is

always the logic of freedom, and Joseph knew how to love with extraordinary freedom. He never

made himself the centre of things. He did not think of himself, but focused instead on the lives of

Mary and Jesus.

Joseph found happiness not in mere self-sacrifice but in self-gift. In him, we never see frustration

but only trust. His patient silence was the prelude to concrete expressions of trust. Our world today

needs fathers. It has no use for tyrants who would domineer others as a means of compensating

for their own needs. It rejects those who confuse authority with authoritarianism, service with

servility, discussion with oppression, charity with a welfare mentality, power with destruction. Every

true vocation is born of the gift of oneself, which is the fruit of mature sacrifice. The priesthood and

consecrated life likewise require this kind of maturity. Whatever our vocation, whether to marriage,

celibacy or virginity, our gift of self will not come to fulfilment if it stops at sacrifice; were that the

case, instead of becoming a sign of the beauty and joy of love, the gift of self would risk being an

expression of unhappiness, sadness and frustration.

When fathers refuse to live the lives of their children for them, new and unexpected vistas open

up. Every child is the bearer of a unique mystery that can only be brought to light with the help of a

father who respects that child’s freedom. A father who realizes that he is most a father and

educator at the point when he becomes “useless”, when he sees that his child has become

independent and can walk the paths of life unaccompanied. When he becomes like Joseph, who

always knew that his child was not his own but had merely been entrusted to his care. In the end,

this is what Jesus would have us understand when he says: “Call no man your father on earth, for

you have one Father, who is in heaven” (Mt 23:9).

In every exercise of our fatherhood, we should always keep in mind that it has nothing to do with

possession, but is rather a “sign” pointing to a greater fatherhood. In a way, we are all like Joseph:

a shadow of the heavenly Father, who “makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends

rain on the just and on the unjust” (Mt 5:45). And a shadow that follows his Son.

* * *

“Get up, take the child and his mother” (Mt 2:13), God told Saint Joseph.

The aim of this Apostolic Letter is to increase our love for this great saint, to encourage us to

implore his intercession and to imitate his virtues and his zeal.

Indeed, the proper mission of the saints is not only to obtain miracles and graces, but to intercede

for us before God, like Abraham[26] and Moses[27], and like Jesus, the “one mediator” (1 Tim

2:5), who is our “advocate” with the Father (1 Jn 2:1) and who “always lives to make intercession

for [us]” (Heb 7:25; cf. Rom 8:34).

The saints help all the faithful “to strive for the holiness and the perfection of their particular state

of life”.[28] Their lives are concrete proof that it is possible to put the Gospel into practice.

Jesus told us: “Learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart” (Mt 11:29). The lives of the

saints too are examples to be imitated. Saint Paul explicitly says this: “Be imitators of me!” (1 Cor

4:16).[29] By his eloquent silence, Saint Joseph says the same.

Before the example of so many holy men and women, Saint Augustine asked himself: “What they

could do, can you not also do?” And so he drew closer to his definitive conversion, when he could

exclaim: “Late have I loved you, Beauty ever ancient, ever new!”[30]

We need only ask Saint Joseph for the grace of graces: our conversion.

Let us now make our prayer to him:

Hail, Guardian of the Redeemer,

Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

To you God entrusted his only Son;

in you Mary placed her trust;

with you Christ became man.

Blessed Joseph, to us too,

show yourself a father

and guide us in the path of life.

Obtain for us grace, mercy and courage,

and defend us from every evil. Amen.

Given in Rome, at Saint John Lateran, on 8 December, Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception

of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in the year 2020, the eighth of my Pontificate.

Franciscus

[1] Lk 4:22; Jn 6:42; cf. Mt 13:55; Mk 6:3.

[2] S. RITUUM CONGREGATIO, Quemadmodum Deus (8 December 1870): ASS 6 (1870-71),

194.

[3] Cf. Address to ACLI on the Solemnity of Saint Joseph the Worker (1 May 1955): AAS 47

(1955), 406.

[4] Cf. Apostolic Exhortation Redemptoris Custos (15 August 1989): AAS 82 (1990), 5-34.

[5] Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1014.

[6] Meditation in the Time of Pandemic (27 March 2020): L’Osservatore Romano, 29 March 2020,

p. 10.

[7] In Matthaeum Homiliae, V, 3: PG 57, 58.

[8] Homily (19 March 1966): Insegnamenti di Paolo VI, IV (1966), 110.

[9] Cf. Autobiography, 6, 6-8.

[10] Every day, for over forty years, following Lauds I have recited a prayer to Saint Joseph taken

from a nineteenth-century French prayer book of the Congregation of the Sisters of Jesus and

Mary. It expresses devotion and trust, and even poses a certain challenge to Saint Joseph:

“Glorious Patriarch Saint Joseph, whose power makes the impossible possible, come to my aid in

these times of anguish and difficulty. Take under your protection the serious and troubling

situations that I commend to you, that they may have a happy outcome. My beloved father, all my

trust is in you. Let it not be said that I invoked you in vain, and since you can do everything with

Jesus and Mary, show me that your goodness is as great as your power. Amen.”

[11] Cf. Deut 4:31; Ps 69:16; 78:38; 86:5; 111:4; 116:5; Jer 31:20.

[12] Cf. Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium (24 November 2013), 88, 288: AAS 105 (2013),

1057, 1136-1137.

[13] Cf. Gen 20:3; 28:12; 31:11.24; 40:8; 41:1-32; Num 12:6; 1 Sam 3:3-10; Dan 2, 4; Job 33:15.

[14] In such cases, provisions were made even for stoning (cf. Deut 22:20-21).

[15] Cf. Lev 12:1-8; Ex 13:2.

[16] Cf. Mt 26:39; Mk 14:36; Lk 22:42.

[17] SAINT JOHN PAUL II, Apostolic Exhortation Redemptoris Custos (15 August 1989), 8: AAS

82 (1990), 14.

[18] Homily at Mass and Beatifications, Villavicencio, Colombia (8 September 2017): AAS 109

(2017), 1061.

[19] Enchiridion de fide, spe et caritate, 3.11: PL 40, 236.

[20] Cf. Deut 10:19; Ex 22:20-22; Lk 10:29-37.

[21] Cf. S. RITUUM CONGREGATIO, Quemadmodum Deus (8 December 1870): ASS 6 (1870-

1871), 193; BLESSED PIUS IX, Apostolic Letter Inclytum Patriarcham (7 July 1871): l.c., 324-327.

[22] SECOND VATICAN ECUMENICAL COUNCIL, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen

Gentium, 58.

[23] Catechism of the Catholic Church, 963-970.

[24] Original edition: Cień Ojca, Warsaw, 1977.

[25] Cf. SAINT JOHN PAUL II, Apostolic Exhortation Redemptoris Custos, 7-8: AAS 82 (1990), 12-

16.

[26] Cf. Gen 18:23-32.

[27] Cf. Ex 17:8-13; 32:30-35.

[28] SECOND VATICAN ECUMENICAL COUNCIL, Dogmatic Constitution Lumen Gentium, 42.

[29] Cf. 1 Cor 11:1; Phil 3:17; 1 Thess 1:6.

[30] Confessions, VIII, 11, 27: PL 32, 761; X, 27, 38: PL 32, 795.

©Copyright - Libreria Editrice Vaticana