The Life-giving Love of True Fathers

A blessed Father's Day to all you fathers out there!

We give thanks for you every day!

The History of Father's Day

The Birth of Father's Day

Pawpaw's World [read only]

FATHER'S DAY, 2001: A PROCLAMATION [read only]

St. Joseph, Patron of Fathers

ST. JOSEPH

Charles L. Souvay

Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary and foster-father of Our Lord Jesus Christ. The chief sources of information on the life of St. Joseph are the first chapters of our first and third Gospels; they are practically also the only reliable sources, for, whilst, on the holy patriarch's life, as on many other points connected with the Saviour's history which are left untouched by the canonical writings, the apocryphal literature is full of details, the non-admittance of these works into the Canon of the Sacred Books casts a strong suspicion upon their contents; and, even granted that some of the facts recorded by them may be founded on trustworthy traditions, it is in most instances next to impossible to discern and sift these particles of true history from the fancies with which they are associated. Among these apocryphal productions dealing more or less extensively with some episodes of St. Joseph's life may be noted the so-called "Gospel of James'', the "Pseudo-Mathew", the "Gospel of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary", the Story of Joseph the Carpenter", and the "Life of the Virgin and Death of Joseph". St. Mathew (i, 16) calls St. Joseph the son of Jacob; according to St. Luke (iii, 23), Heli was his father. This is not the place to recite the many and most various endeavours to solve the vexing questions arising from the divergences between both genealogies ; nor is it necessary to point out the explanation which meets best all the requirements of the problem (see GENEALOGY OF CHRIST); suffice it to remind the reader that, contrary to what was once advocated, most modern writers readily admit that in both documents we possess the genealogy of Joseph, and that it is quite possible to reconcile their data. At any rate, Bethlehem, the city of David and his descendants, appears to have been the birth-place of Joseph. When, however, the Gospel history opens, namely, a few months before the Annunciation, Joseph was settled at Nazareth. Why and when he forsook his home-place to betake himself to Galilee is not ascertained; some suppose—and the supposition is by no means improbable—that the then moderate circumstances of the family and the necessity of earning a living may have brought about the change. St. Joseph, indeed, was a tekton, as we learn from Matt, xiii, 55, and Mark, vi, 3. The word means both mechanic in general and carpenter in particular; St. Justin vouches for the latter sense (Dial. cum Tryph., lxxxviii, in P. G., VI, 688), and tradition has accepted this interpretation, which is followed in the English Bible. It is probably at Nazareth that Joseph betrothed and married her who was to become the Mother of God. When the marriage took place, whether before or after the Incarnation, is no easy matter to settle, and on this point the masters of exegesis have at all times been at variance. Most modern commentators, following the footsteps of St. Thomas, understand that, at the epoch of the Annunciation, the Blessed Virgin was only affianced to Joseph; as St. Thomas notices, this interpretation suits better all the evangelical data.

It will not be without interest to recall here, unreliable though they are, the lengthy stories concerning St. Joseph's marriage contained in the apocryphal writings. When forty years of age, Joseph married a woman called Melcha or Escha by some, Salome by others; they lived forty-nine years together and had six children, two daughters and four sons, the youngest of whom was James (the Less, "the Lord's brother"). A year after his wife's death, as the priests announced through Judea that they wished to find in the tribe of Judea a respectable man to espouse Mary, then twelve to fourteen years of age, Joseph, who was at the time ninety years old, went up to Jerusalem among the candidates; a miracle manifested the choice God had made of Joseph, and two years later the Annunciation took place. These dreams, as St. Jerome styles them, from which many a Christian artist has drawn his inspiration (see, for instance, Raphael's "Espousals of the Virgin" in The CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA, V, 542), are void of authority; they nevertheless acquired in the course of ages some popularity; in them some ecclesiastical writers sought the answer to the well-known difficulty arising from the mention in the Gospel of "the Lord's brothers"; from them also popular credulity has, contrary to all probability, as well as to the tradition witnessed by old works of art, retained the belief that St. Joseph was an old man at the time of marriage with the Mother of God. This marriage, true and complete, was, in the intention of the spouses, to be virgin marriage (cf. St. Aug., "De cons. Evang.", II, i in P.L. XXXIV, 1071-72; "Cont. Julian.", V, xii, 45 in P.L.. XLIV, 810; St. Thomas, III:28; III:29:2). But soon was, the faith of Joseph in his spouse to be sorely tried: she was with child. However painful the discovery must have been for him, unaware as he was of the mystery of the Incarnation, his delicate feelings forbade him to defame his affianced, and he thought on these things, behold the angel of the Lord appeared to him in his sleep, saying: Joseph, son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife, for that which is conceived in her, is of the Holy Ghost... And Joseph, rising from his sleep, did as the angel of he Lord had commanded him, and took unto him his wife" (Matt., i, 19, 20, 24).

A few months later, the time came for Joseph and Mary to go to Bethlehem, to be enrolled, according to the decree issued by Caesar Augustus: a new source of anxiety for Joseph, for "her days were accomplished, that she should be delivered", and "there was no room for them in the inn (Luke, ii, 1-7). What must have been the thoughts of the holy man at the birth of the Saviour, the coming of the shepherds and of the wise men, and at the events which occurred at the time of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple, we can merely guess; St. Luke tells only that he was "wondering at those things which were spoken concerning him" (ii, 33). New trials were soon to follow. The news that a king of the Jews was born could not but kindle in the wicked heart of the old and bloody tyrant, Herod, the fire of jealousy. Again "an angel of the Lord appeared in sleep to Joseph, saying: Arise, and take the child and his mother, and flee into Egypt: and be there until I shall tell thee" (Matt., ii, 13). The summons to go back to Palestine came only after a few years, and the Holy Family settled again at Nazareth. St. Joseph's was henceforth the simple and uneventful life of an humble Jew, supporting himself and his family by his work, and faithful to the religious practices commanded by the Law or observed by pious Israelites. The only noteworthy incident recorded by the Gospel is the loss of, and anxious quest for, Jesus, then twelve years of old, when He had strayed during the yearly pilgrimage to the Holy City (Luke, ii, 42-51). This is the last we hear of St. Joseph in the sacred writings, and we may well suppose that Jesus’ foster-father died before the beginning of Savior's public life. In several circumstances, indeed, the Gospels speak of the latter's mother and brothers (Matt., xii, 46; Mark, iii, 31; Luke, viii, 19; John, vii, 3), but never do they speak of His father in connection with the rest of the family; they tell us only that Our Lord, during His public life was referred to as the son of Joseph ( John, i, 45; vi, 42; Luke, iv, 22) the carpenter (Matt., xiii, 55). Would Jesus, moreover, when about die on the Cross, have entrusted His mother to John's care, had St. Joseph been still alive? According to the apocryphal "Story of Joseph the Carpenter", the holy man reached his hundred and eleventh year when he died, on 20 July (A. D. 18 or 19). St. Epiphanius gives him ninety years of age at the time of his demise; and if we are to believe the Venerable Bede, he was buried in the Valley of Josaphat. In truth we do not know when St. Joseph died; it is most unlikely that he attained the ripe old age spoken of by the "Story of Joseph" and St. Epiphanius. The probability is that he died and was buried at Nazareth.

Joseph was "a just man". This praise bestowed by the Holy Ghost, and the privilege of having been chosen by God to be the foster-father of Jesus and the Spouse of the Virgin Mother, are the foundations of the honour paid to St. Joseph by the Church. So well-grounded are these foundations that it is not a little surprising that the cult of St. Joseph was so slow in winning recognition. Foremost among the causes of this is the fact that "during the first centuries of the Church's existence, it was only the martyrs who enjoyed veneration" (Kellner). Far from being ignored or passed over in silence during the early Christian ages, St. Joseph's prerogatives were occasionally descanted upon by the Fathers; even such eulogies as cannot be attributed to the writers among whose works they found admittance bear witness that the ideas and devotion therein expressed were familiar, not only to the theologians and preachers, and must have been readily welcomed by the people. The earliest traces of public recognition of the sanctity of St. Joseph are to be found in the East. His feast, if we may trust the assertions of Papebroch, was kept by the Copts as early as the beginning of the fourth century. Nicephorus Callistus tells likewise—on what authority we do not know—that in the great basilica erected at Bethlehem by St. Helena, there was a gorgeous oratory dedicated to the honour of our saint. Certain it is, at all events, that the feast of "Joseph the Carpenter" is entered, on 20 July, in one of the old Coptic Calendars in our possession, as also in a Synazarium of the eighth and ninth century published by cardinal Mai (Script. Vet. Nova Coll., IV, 15 sqq.). Greek menologies of a later date at least mention St. Joseph on 25 or 26 December, and a twofold commemoration of him along with other saints was made on the two Sundays next before and after Christmas.

In the West the name of the foster-father of Our Lord (Nutritor Domini) appears in local martyrologies of the ninth and tenth centuries, and we find in 1129, for the first time, a church dedicated to his honour at Bologna. The devotion, then merely provite, as it seems, gained a great impetus owing to the influence and zeal of such saintly persons as St. Bernard, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Gertrude (d. 1310), and St. Bridget of Sweden (d. 1373). According to Benedict XIV (De Serv. Dei beatif., I, iv, n. 11; xx, n. 17), "the general opinion of the learned is that the Fathers of Carmel were the first to import from the East into the West the laudable practice of giving the fullest cultus to St. Joseph". His feast, introduced towards the end shortly afterwards, into the Dominican Calendar, gradually gained a foothold in various dioceses of Western Europe. Among the most zealous promoters of the devotion at epoch, St. Vincent Ferrer (d. 1419), Peter d'Ailly (d. 1420), St. Bernadine of Sienna (d. 1444), and Jehan Charlier Gerson (d. 1429) deserve an especial mention. Gerson, who had, in 1400, composed an Office of the Espousals of Joseph particularly at the Council Constance (1414), in promoting the public recognition of the cult of St. Joseph. Only under the pontificate of Sixtus IV (1471-84), were the efforts of these holy men rewarded by Roman Calendar (19 March). From that time the devotion acquired greater and greater popularity, the dignity of the feast keeping pace with this steady growth. At first only a festum simplex, it was soon elevated to a double rite by Innocent VIII (1484-92), declared by Gregory XV, in 1621, a festival of obligation, at the instance of the Emperors Ferdinand III and Leopold I and of King Charles II of Spain, and raised to the rank of a double of the second class by Clement XI (1700-21). Further, Benedict XIII, in 1726, inserted the name into the Litany of the Saints.

One festival in the year, however, was not deemed enough to satisfy the piety of the people. The feast of the Espousals of the Blessed Virgin and St. Joseph, so strenuously advocted by Gerson, and permitted first by Paul III to the Franciscans, then to other religious orders and individual dioceses, was, in 1725, granted to all countries that solicited it, a proper Office, compiled by the Dominican Pierto Aurato, being assigned, and the day appointed being 23 January. Nor was this all, for the reformed Order of Carmelites, into which St. Teresa had infused her great devotion to the foster-father of Jesus, chose him, in 1621, for their patron, and in 1689, were allowed to celebrate the feast of his Patronage on the third Sunday after Easter. This feast, soon, adopted throughout the Spanish Kingdom, was later on extended to all states and dioceses which asked for the privilege. No devotion, perhaps, has grown so universal, none seems to have appealed so forcibly to the heart of the Christian people, and particularly of the labouring classes, during the nineteenth century, as that of St. Joseph.

This wonderful and unprecedented increase of popularity called for a new lustre to be added to the cult of the saint. Accordingly, one of the first acts of the pontificate of Pius IX, himself singularly devoted to St. Joseph, was to extend to the whole Church the feast of the Patronage (1847), and in December, 1870, according to the wishes of the bishops and of all the faithful, he solemnly declared the Holy Patriarch Joseph, patron of the Catholic Church, and enjoined that his feast (19 March) should henceforth be celebrated as a double of the first class (but without octave, on account of Lent). Following the footsteps of their predecessor, Leo XIII and Pius X have shown an equal desire to add their own jewel to the crown of St. Joseph: the former, by permitting on certain days the reading of the votive Office of the saint; and the latter by approving, on 18 March, 1909, a litany in honour of him whose name he had received in baptism.

Transcribed by Joseph P. Thomas In memory of Father Joseph Paredom

Provided Courtesy of:
Eternal Word Television Network
5817 Old Leeds Road
Irondale, AL 35210
www.ewtn.com

Catholic Discussion Ping!

Please notify me via FReepmail if you would like to be added to or taken off the Catholic Discussion Ping List.

Happy Fathers' Day to all you fathers and grandfathers out there!

The Blessings of the Father

by Fr. John De Celles

Other Articles by Fr. John De Celles

The Blessings of the Father

06/18/05

Today’s Gospel tells us: “Are not two sparrows sold for a small coin? Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father's knowledge. So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.”


When Jesus speaks of our Father in heaven, He describes Him as one who cares for us in such a way that takes care of even our smallest needs, and takes away all of our fears. That is probably the most fundamental aspect of being a father: he protects and takes care of his children. But a father does this in a unique way: he does it as a man. Because while male and female are both created in God’s image, completely equal in dignity, there remain many differences between men and women. Equality does not mean sameness. For the last few decades our society has made great strides in understanding this male/female equality. Unfortunately, in the process we’ve lost sight of what the differences mean. So as we have of grown in our appreciation of the dignity and identity of women, the dignity and identity of men has become confused. Psychologists tell us, as does common sense, that men tend to be more — for lack of a better word — aggressive, while women tend to be more nurturing. This isn’t to say that men aren’t loving or that women aren’t strong, but that the love and strength of men and women are predominately expressed in these different ways. In a man, his “aggressiveness” needs to be lived out, or he’ll never be happy, always trying to become someone he isn’t. Sometimes people try to make men less aggressive and more nurturing, more like women. But while men can definitely learn a lot from women, instead of asking how a father should love as a man, some try to make fathers love like women, especially by suppressing the distinctly aggressive aspects of their masculinity. And how do fathers react? Men denied the opportunity to express their aggressiveness in constructive ways, often tend to abuse it in destructive ways. Some react by fighting, so we see that spousal and child abuse is way up over the last few decades. Others make strategic retreats, looking for another place to exercise their masculinity. Some abandon their spouses and children, while others retreat without ever leaving home, perhaps by having a mistress or throwing themselves into their careers. What should a man do? Does Christ offer us an answer? In Christ, fathers see what a true man should be like: they love by being aggressive for their families. A Christian father follows Jesus’s counsel in today’s Gospel to “fear no one.” He’s not afraid of outsiders who try to hurt or mislead his children, and he’s not afraid of his children, not afraid to love them by teaching them, correcting them and disciplining them. He becomes a man by laying down his life for his family, not by running away. And just as his heavenly Father knows when even a sparrow falls to the ground, he aggressively seeks to know when his children are near trouble, and he protects them. This weekend, as America celebrates Father’s Day, we turn to the Gospel and, by keeping our eyes fixed on Christ, who is the Son and image of the Father, we learn what a true father is and does — how a father loves. In Christ and His Father we see what fathers were created to be, and the promise of the grace necessary to become a true man, a true a father, in Christ. Fr. De Celles is Parochial Vicar of St. Michael Parish in Annandale, Virginia. (This article courtesy of the Arlington Catholic Herald.)

Good story. Thanks for the PING. Happy Dad's day to all! :)

Thanks.

"For our fathers, who give us care and protection, love and direction, may they always know we love them."

Happy Father's Day to all the fathers among us!

Thanks for posting this wonderful story. God bless all fathers on this and every day!

Amen.

As I said to one person who sent me a FReepmaail, I am so tired of the man-bashing that when I saw this article I knew I wanted to post it!

		I have an unusual family background. My late father and his wife had eleven children. In the 1950s, his wife died of cancer, and so my dad left his sporting goods store in Kankakee, Illinois and moved most of the family to Southern California. Not too long after that, he met and married my mother.

In This Article... Family Realities Something to Celebrate Coming to Grips with Fatherhood


Family Realities A decade earlier, my mom's husband had been killed in World War II, leaving her with two babies. I am the only child of my parents' marriage. Even so, I'm very much the product of a large family. I don't even try anymore to stay on top of the number of nephews, nieces, great-nephews, and great-nieces I have, because they're so numerous and dispersed. From time to time growing up I was asked, "How many brothers and sisters do you have?" I would innocently respond that I was the youngest of fourteen children. However, when the questioner learned more of the details of my family history, he would inevitably ask the follow up question: "So how many real brothers and sisters do you have?" Being fairly good with numbers back then, I did the math. Since I had seven half-sisters and six half-brothers, I responded, "Six and a half." As I grew older, these questions began to bother me. Perhaps they reminded me of the disturbing reality that the two step-families that my mom and dad brought together were never fully integrated into one family. These questions also revealed the emphasis our society puts on biological paternity and maternity apart from the realities and responsibilities of family life. To all my siblings — whom I love — I am merely a ”half-brother.” The term is biologically accurate, but being a "half" never quite sat well with me. Something to Celebrate Many years later, I was doubly blessed. I married a wonderful woman who already had a daughter named Brenda. I didn't want to force the situation, but I truly desired to adopt Brenda and make her in every sense my daughter. How thrilled I was when she came to me and told me she'd like to be adopted. We went through the adoption process together, and when our court date arrived, it was time to celebrate. We had a party for friends and family. We had a cake that said, "It's a girl!" and Brenda was handing everyone her autograph bearing her new — and difficult to spell — last name. One interesting aspect of the adoption process — even in the case of a step-parent adoption — is that the government issues a new birth certificate, identifying the adoptive parent as the "real" father or mother. I used to tease Brenda about her now being French-Canadian (my nationality). But I never refer to her as my “step-daughter.” As an attorney, I handled Brenda's adoption proceeding myself. While family law was not my area of practice or expertise, I ended up handling other adoptions on occasion, usually step-parent adoptions. Working with adoptions was a singularly joyous experience for me, even more so because it was so different from the usual experience of our legal system. Judges are typically asked to referee disputes that reflect our sinfulness, frailty, and brokenness (see Catechism, no. 1264), knowing full well that awarding one party some money or giving another party jail time — while administering "justice" on one level — isn't going to undo the effects of original and actual sin. Adoptions are different. Here I'm not talking about the nasty controversies that arise (and tend to get reported in the media) when there are conflicting claims, which bring other issues into play. Where all sides consent to the adoption, the atmosphere in the courtroom is downright jovial. The child gets to sit on the judge's desk. The judge smiles and even laughs. The family gets someone to take photos of the event. The bottom line is that everyone senses that there's something fundamentally good and restorative happening. Coming to Grips with Fatherhood In an age of "absent fathers" and radical feminism, here's a family (i.e., husband and wife) who are willing to accept the responsibilities of parenthood. Our experience of human family life provides us glimpses of God's fatherhood. After all, God's fatherhood is the source of fatherhood and motherhood within the family (see Catechism, no. 2214). Yet even in the most faithful of families, the reflection of God's perfect, familial love is imperfect. And in our society, the loss of a sense of the divine and sacred has gone hand in hand with the loss of an authentic sense of family, so that even fundamental truths such as the reality of marriage as a lifelong, monogamous bond between a man and woman are called into question. This situation has brought much confusion and pain in family relationships, and has made it more difficult to approach God as "Father." Yet if we are to really come to know and love God, we must come to grips with the fact that God is our Father, and we are His children by adoption. St. Paul teaches us: But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!" (Gal 4:4-6; cf. Rom 8:14-17) Three of my children are adopted. With each adoption, I've come to a more profound appreciation of God's life-giving love. I know how much I love all my children, who by birth or adoption have miraculously found their way into my family. Yet, our Heavenly Father loves us so much more than that. I challenge all us married Catholic men to embrace and faithfully live out our vocations, and in a particular way to be open to the singular gift of adoption. In doing so, let's turn to St. Joseph, patron of the Universal Church and patron of fathers. He who never had relations with Mary teaches us how to be the best of husbands, and he who was not Jesus's biological father teaches us how to be the best of fathers. © Copyright 2005 Catholic Exchange Leon J. Suprenant, Jr. is the president of Catholics United for the Faith (CUF) and Emmaus Road Publishing and the editor-in-chief of Lay Witness magazine, all based in Steubenville, Ohio. He is a contributor to Catholic for a Reason III: Scripture and the Mystery of the Mass and an adviser to CE’s Catholic Scripture Study. His email address is leon@cuf.org.