You know scripture is very quiet on the actual family life of Jesus. We do have reason to believe Joseph died between his 13th birthday and the beginning of His public ministry.
I have great respect for Joseph as a man of God that parented Jesus in his early years.. but so much of this article is nothing more than supposition, that we need to read it with the understanding that much of it is fictional.
BTW I do agree that scripture always points to the 2 parent family. If it did not matter then God would have just left Mary to be a “single” mother and not provided her with a godly husband
Considering the prevalence of Scriptural references in this article, I think it is classic nit-picking to say that “much of it is fictional”.
You write “ we need to read it with the understanding that much of it is fictional”. That may be your subjective understanding.
I don’t need to read it with that understanding. I read it with the understanding that plentiful Scriptural references are offered.
You say you “have great respect for Joseph as a man of God that(sic) parented Jesus in his early years.”
I see Joseph as the second person after Mary to accept the coming birth of Jesus, the second person after Mary to witness the face of the Incarnate Word, the person assigned by angels to protect and support the Infant Jesus and His Mother into Egypt and then back home again. Joseph is the father to whom Jesus placed Himself, under his roof, eating the bread Joseph supplied—He who would become Bread for us all.
Yes, we know that “scripture is silent about the actual family life of Jesus”. But in those years between the Finding of Jesus in the Temple and the opening of His public ministry, we also have no knowledge of when in that time frame that Joseph died. He possibly could have lived until Jesus had reached his full maturity; in which case that could have been many years in which the Holy Family shared the intimacy and unity of family life.