19 Mar – Solemnity of St. Joseph, husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Joseph is a descendant of the house of David. A layman and a carpenter, he was the earthly spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and foster and adoptive father of Jesus Christ. He was a visionary who was visited by angels, and is noted for his willingness to immediately get up and do what God told him.
Prayer to St. Joseph
Blessed Joseph, husband of Mary, be with us this day.
You protected and cherished the Virgin;
loving the Child Jesus as your Son,
you rescued Him from the danger of death.
Defend the Church, the household of God,
purchased by the blood of Christ.
Guardian of the Holy Family,
be with us in our trials.
May your prayers obtain for us
the strength to flee from error
and wrestle with the powers of corruption
so that in life we may grow in holiness
and in death rejoice in the crown of victory.
Amen.
- Patron Saint Index
2 Sam 7:4-5,12-14,16
Rm 4:13,16-18,22
Mt 1:16,18-21,24
…what fulfils the promise depends on faith, so that it may be a free gift…
In a way, both Abraham (in today’s second reading) and Joseph, husband of Mary, are men of great faith. Both were ‘tested’ in their own challenging ways, yet they remained obedient, which is an important aspect of faith.
Today we celebrate the solemnity of St Joseph, the ‘foster daddy’ of Jesus. If he hadn’t any chivalrous honour or listened to the Holy Spirit to take Mary home as his wife, as part of God’s wonderful plan for our salvation, we would not have Jesus today. There are really very little facts recorded about Joseph in the Bible. He is mentioned only in the events surrounding Jesus’ birth, the flight to Egypt, return to Galilee and the finding of Jesus in the temple. He’s not even mentioned at all during Jesus’ public ministry. As a result, it’s natural to not really think much about Joseph. Yet we know that he’s an equally important figure in this salvation history.
What can we learn from the little that we know of Joseph? That he is a good God-fearing man, husband and father. It must not have been easy to accept a woman who’s pregnant not with his child, to remain chaste throughout their marriage, and to bring up a child like Jesus – so many things that were hard to understand. Yet, the one thing that brought them through to the end is faith and trust in the Lord. So, like all the saints, we know that he will be praying for us and may we also turn to Joseph to help intercede for our fathers, husbands and families especially. He knows what it takes to keep the family together, surely.
Faith and the promise that God made with His people are all ‘a free gift’. God is a gentleman. He never forces anyone to follow Him because of free will. So, when we receive this free gift, and if we are gracious enough to know what it means to follow him, then all will be well.
(Today’s OXYGEN by Cynthia Chew)
Prayer: Dear St Joseph, help us to have faith like yours. Please show all our fathers and husbands the qualities to have like yours, to be patient in all circumstances, so that we can all walk close to Jesus. Pray for us. Amen
Thanksgiving: Thank you, Jesus, for giving us your foster father, St Joseph — someone who was obedient, faithful, humble, as well as hardworking and a virtuous man of honour — to help us be and stay righteous.
OXYGEN 
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