Saint Joseph: Choosing Responsibility When Plans Change

Joseph, a simple carpenter, was betrothed to Mary. The Gospels of Matthew and Luke, which mention his name the most, tell very little about him. Then something happened that changed the course of his life: Mary was found to be with child.

The Gospel of Matthew calls Joseph a righteous man. He did not want to disgrace Mary in public, so he intended to divorce her quietly. In the apostolic letter Patris Corde, Pope Francis explains that Mary's mysterious pregnancy deeply troubled Joseph.

While Joseph still intended this, the Gospel of Matthew tells that the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. The angel addressed him as son of David and asked him not to be afraid to take Mary, his wife, into his home.

When he awoke, Joseph did what the angel had commanded and took Mary into his home. He gave the child the name Jesus, the name revealed by the angel, and became his legal father. Patris Corde calls this step an act of courage. According to the letter, obedience made it possible for Joseph to surmount his difficulties and spare Mary.

According to Pope Francis, Joseph set aside his own plans and accepted the course of events, however mysterious they seemed, as part of his life story. He did not look for shortcuts, but faced reality with open eyes and took personal responsibility. The Pope also writes that God was still at work, even through Joseph's fear.

That responsibility was then tested. The Gospel of Matthew tells that Joseph was again warned in a dream. To protect Jesus from Herod, he got up by night, took the child with his mother to Egypt, and lived there as a foreigner until Herod died.

On the way home, Joseph heard that Archelaus was ruling in Judea in place of his father, Herod. The Gospel records that Joseph was afraid to go there. After being warned once more in a dream, he went to the district of Galilee and settled in Nazareth, a small village.

In Nazareth, Joseph led a hidden life. Patris Corde describes him as a carpenter who earned an honest living for his family. According to the letter, Joseph became a father because he was willing to take up the task of caring for Jesus, and he knew that the child was not his own but had been entrusted to him.

The Church honors Joseph as a saint. In 1870, Pope Pius IX declared him Patron of the Universal Church. Pope Francis wrote Patris Corde on the 150th anniversary of that declaration, to invite the faithful to love Saint Joseph, to implore his intercession, and to imitate his virtues.

Church status

Saint

Patron of the Universal Church

Declared by Pope Pius IX in 1870

Occupation

Carpenter

Main sources of his story

The Gospels of Matthew and Luke, which tell very little about him

Family's home

Nazareth, Galilee, after returning from Egypt