In ‘The Year Of Saint Joseph’ We Can All Learn From His Humble Example By Thomas Griffin for The Federalist
The actions of Joseph teach men how to be virtuous and women and children that they deserve to be protected, trusted, and cared for.
Pope Francis, the spiritual father of the Roman Catholic world, recently declared that church body will journey through “A Year of St. Joseph” from Dec. 8, 2020, through Dec. 8, 2021. Proclaiming a year in the name of some person or theme is a method several popes have used to highlight an all-important message they believe to be critical for both the church and the entire world at that time.
In 2014, Francis did something similar when he proclaimed “A Year of Consecrated Life” focusing on the men and women who vow their lives to serve in the church, along with “A Year of Mercy” in 2015 focusing on God as the face of merciful compassionate love. Now, the bishop of Rome is encouraging the globe to peer into the facts about the life of the earthly step-father of Jesus to see just how much meditating on the life of Joseph can profoundly affect our lives.
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On each occasion a pope dedicates an upcoming year to a special theme or person, he has done so to respond to what the world was presently enduring. In this case, the pope has framed his letter to outline the need for Joseph’s heart within the context of the coronavirus and its effects on humanity, along with contemporary issues that are tearing apart families worldwide.
From the outset of his letter, Francis connects Joseph to the situation of the past year when humanity across the globe came to realize “our lives are woven together and sustained by ordinary people, people often overlooked.” These are “people,” the pope continues, “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.”
Pope Francis specifically highlights the roles of: “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.” Just as Joseph is often overlooked despite his crucial role in teaching and caring for Jesus, these fields have often been passed over as insignificant before this past year.
The COVID-19 pandemic helped reveal to us that no one goes through life alone, and, that “no one is saved alone.” Human beings rely on relationships. We need each other. This fundamental truth leads to Francis’s words regarding the faithfulness and trust Joseph personified in his marriage with Mary. Most emphatically, this was shown in the early stages of their marriage.
