Solemnity of St. Joseph

Greatness is sometimes hidden in humble packages. Albert Einstein didn’t speak until he was four years old, and couldn’t read until he was seven.  His teacher called him “mentally slow and adrift in foolish dreams.” The famous French sculptor, Rodin, who carved that great work of art called “The Thinker,” was described by his father as an idiot. Three times he failed to gain admittance into art school. Beethoven’s teacher said he was “hopeless” as a composer. Winston Churchill suffered a lifetime of setbacks starting when he failed sixth grade. Rudyard Kipling was rejected by the San Francisco Examiner with the comment, “You just don’t know how to use the English language.” Like all of these so-called “losers” who went on to stunning success, St. Joseph looked like  loser when he was shocked by Mary’s pregnancy, and later when he had to flee from his homeland with Mary and the child to become refugees in Egypt.

Jesus, Mary and Joseph were a family hardly worth noticing: an ordinary carpenter, a young wife, and a little child. But the boy was the Son of God, and Joseph’s wife was the Mother of God and Queen of the Universe, and Joseph himself was the guardian of God’s Son and of the Church, the Mystical Body of Christ.

Today we break the silence and fasting of Lent to celebrate the Solemnity of St. Joseph with a shout of joy.  In the catacombs Joseph is painted as a young beardless man, hardly much older than Mary.  To these two youngsters the Savior of the world was entrusted. And like Jesus they lived their lives in virginity and celibacy, following a path their neighbors would have ridiculed if they had known about it.  But we know that within the humble package that formed the envelope of St. Joseph’s life on earth, there was a greatness from God that we will see in all its splendor in the kingdom of heaven. 

And that is true for each one of us because we also have a greatness that is hidden in humble packages.  What is our greatness?  We are sharers in God’s own nature, in God’s divinity.  That should make us begin each day with a shout of joy!