Search
-
March 20, 2025Today we celebrate the solemnity of Saint Joseph, husband of the Virgin Mary and foster father of Jesus. It is a great celebration for all the people of God; Saint Joseph is the patron saint of the Church. We entrust ourselves to him in difficult moments, we entrust the Church to him on her journey; to his paternal intercession we entrust those who leave this life to return to the heavenly Father.
Saint Joseph is also the patron saint of our Cathedral and of our parish here in Abu Dhabi. We feel deeply surrounded by his paternal protection. Therefore, dear faithful, let us joyfully celebrate Saint Joseph.
In these past years, various Popes have described in a very significant way the figure of Saint Joseph, his importance in the history of salvation and in Christian spirituality. Saint John Paul II called Saint Joseph the “guardian of the Redeemer”. With his paternal love he had guarded the beginnings of Jesus' life, above all he had defended and protected the bond between Jesus and Mary from the threats of the powerful of this world. Saint Joseph is the protector of good bonds, those that make us grow in love.
Pope Francis, for his part, has shown the world in Saint Joseph his precious heart as a Father. In this way, the Holy Father has not only shown the decisive loving attention of Saint Joseph towards Jesus, but he has shown us the value of fatherhood, he has shown how to be truly good husbands towards your wives and truly fathers towards your children. Saint Joseph teaches us to be fathers who love, fathers who respect, fathers who make others grow, renouncing being controllers of their children. Saint Joseph teaches us the tenderness of faithful love.
The word of God we heard connects Saint Joseph with the figure of Abraham and with King David. First of all, Saint Joseph is in a profound relationship with Abraham, our father in faith. Abraham entrusted himself completely to God and began a new journey towards the promised land, despite his old age. He placed his hope in God and was able to overcome all difficulties and in this way be the father of a multitude. Likewise, Saint Joseph was able to face many difficulties to protect Mary and Jesus; the secret of Saint Joseph was his simple and profound faith, and his hope placed in God. Saint Joseph, like Abraham, always welcomed God's surprises in his life, he did not remain attached to his own plans but accepted to change to welcome God's will.
Saint Joseph is then shown to us by the sacred scripture in a deep relationship with King David; he is called the son of David. The fact that Jesus, born of Mary by the work of the Holy Spirit, is recognized by Joseph as his son allows us to see Jesus as the fulfillment of the promise made to David. Jesus is the son of David thanks to the fatherhood of Saint Joseph.
Finally, the Gospel presents us with one of the most dramatic moments in the life of Saint Joseph. He is already the promised husband to the Virgin Mary when he discovers that she already carries a son in her womb. We can imagine what difficult days Joseph must have gone through; he could no longer understand the meaning of his life together with Mary. He knew that something holy had happened in the heart of his betrothed, but he no longer understood his task; therefore, he wanted to step aside and secretly dismiss Mary, avoiding any scandal.
Precisely in this moment of great confusion, blessed Joseph in his sleep receives a particular revelation: ‘Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because she has conceived what is in her by the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you shall name him Jesus, because he is the one who is to save his people from their sins.’ When Joseph woke up he did what the angel of the Lord had told him to do”.
In these words of the Gospel, we know in summary what happened. Saint Joseph welcomes the revelation of the angel, rediscovers the meaning of his being close to Mary, the woman he has always loved. He accepts to welcome Jesus as his son. In this way Saint Joseph shows himself to be obedient to God and lets the will of God totally change his life, even his most intimate plans. But this obedience, even if it requires sacrifice, exalts his fatherhood, exalts his heart as a husband and father.
Dear faithful, as we celebrate the solemnity of Saint Joseph in this Jubilee year, in which we are called to be pilgrims of hope. Looking at Saint Joseph we can acclaim him as a man of hope. Anchored to God, he trusted in God in every difficulty and invites us to have full trust in God, not to be afraid to place our hope in him who is the God with a human face, the God who enters the history of humanity to save.
Finally, Saint Joseph invites all fathers to be a humble sign of God's fatherhood, of the tenderness of the heavenly father. Let us entrust all our fathers to Saint Joseph, so that they may be in the family, with their wives and with their children, a sign of God the Father who loves all his children and who wants everyone to be saved.
May the Mother of God and Saint Joseph always protect our families, keep them united, protect them from all evil and always accompany us on the path of good.
Photo album