The Humility of St. Joseph
One
After Jesus was born, the wise men came to Jesus, and brought him the gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. But when King Herod found out that they were honoring a baby as the King of the Jews, he was furious, because he was the king. How closely pride is tied to imagination; how pride stretches our self-perception out of proportion to reality; how we seek to replace God with self, and the only person we fool is ourselves. No one else accepts our charade, at least not internally. If we don’t check our pride and our selfish ambition, we will see God as a rival who must be destroyed. This of course is impossible, and the only destruction that occurs is the eternal destruction of those who are proud. Lord, save me from such blind and selfish pride, a pride that makes me think I can overcome you, that you are the threat, when in fact, I’ve become an evil fool. Convert my heart and help me do the same for others who may be following my wretched path! Humble St. Joseph, pray for me!
Two
St. Joseph’s humility enabled him to discern God’s voice so well he literally heard God speak in his dreams. This is how he knew to take the Christ child and His holy Mother into Egypt and flee the wrath of Herod. This is why Blessed Pope Pius IX called St. Joseph the Protector of the Universal Church. In the very beginning, “the Church” was just Jesus, Mary, and Joseph… they were the only people who had heard the Good News. This is due to their humility: Christ, who is God, comes in the form of a slave, like us in all ways but sin. Mary is sinless, and yet consents to the piercing of own heart by swords of sorrow. And St. Joseph was responsible for their protection, a task he could only accept in all modesty of spirit. Just as a servant knight might protect a king from danger, St. Joseph was given the task of protecting Jesus by taking the family into Egypt. The pope’s point was that St. Joseph, who is now in heaven with Mary and Jesus, is still protecting us by praying for us and looking out for us. And so, when the Church is facing troubles, we turn to Joseph and ask him for his prayers. Joseph reveals to us the paradoxical connection between humility and safety, a safety that comes from God who dwells with the humble of heart. St. Joseph in your humility, hear our prayer and safeguard the Holy Church and all those in communion with her.
Three
Remember the angel’s message from St. Joseph’s dream: “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt.” This is a huge mission: it would mean leaving all of their friends and all of their family, and their own country, and going to a foreign country that they didn’t know at all. And the angel didn’t tell them how long they were going to have to live there. Joseph was going to have to start his job over in Egypt, and remember, the family didn’t have much money to begin with. But Joseph got up in the middle of the night and obeyed immediately. They didn’t even wait until morning – they left in the middle of the night! St. Josemaria Escriva comments, “That's the way St Joseph's faith was: full, confident, complete. And it expressed itself in an effective dedication to the will of God and an intelligent obedience.” We’re called to this same intelligent obedience. We should be smart, and we should obey God, for as Scripture teaches, and as we see in the life of St. Joseph, we should “walk in obedience to all that the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days in the land that you will possess. (Deut 5:33.)
Four
Another facet of St. Joseph’s virtue is his “creative courage.” That’s how Pope Francis describes Joseph. After all, when St. Joseph was taking the Holy Family into Egypt, they had to think about which roads to take – after all, they wanted to avoid enemy soldiers, but they also needed to avoid going TOO far out of the way, because they didn’t want to die of heat going through the desert. Joseph had to be brave and courageous, and he had to act. How often do we allow intimidation at the thought of challenge and suffering deter us from a grand task at hand, especially when that task is spiritual in nature, rather than something where the gratification is instant and obvious? Because Joseph didn’t trust solely on his own power, and because he had such an intimate relationship with the Father, he was magnanimous, took a risk by going through the desert into Egypt, and helped save the world by saving its Savior! Magnanimity is a virtue whereby we seek to do great things for Jesus, even risky things for His glory rather than our own. St. Joseph, teach me magnanimity!
Five
In the Old Testament, there is a dreamer named Joseph. His brothers sold him into slavery in Egypt, but he ended up becoming Pharaoh’s right-hand man. He saved Egypt and his own family from a famine by storing up grain for bread. Genesis 41:55 says, “When all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread; and Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, ‘Go to Joseph; what he says to you, do.’”
In the New Testament, St. Joseph is also a dreamer – God sends angels to visit him in his dreams. And he also is forced to go into Egypt. Only this time, he’s not protecting grain for bread, he’s protecting Jesus, the Bread of Life. And so we should listen to the same advice Pharaoh had: Go to Joseph; what he says to you, do. Our call to action, therefore, is to repent from sin, trust in God, follow His will, and make our families holy by praying the rosary with them and frequently receiving the Holy Eucharist.
To this end, let us close with this prayer of consecration to St. Joseph:
O dearest Saint Joseph, I consecrate myself to your honor and give myself to you, that you may always be my father, my protector and my guide in the way of salvation. Obtain for me a greater purity of heart and fervent love of the interior life. After your example may I do all my actions for the greater glory of God, in union with the Divine Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. O Blessed Saint Joseph, pray for me, that I may share in the peace and joy of your holy death. Amen.