ST JOSEPH AND THE IMPORTANCE OF FATHERHOOD

Fr Billy Swan

My father died fourteen years ago. I miss him. His presence in my life mattered when he was alive and his absence matters, now he is dead. Fatherhood matters. It is not a social construct. It is gift of nature that nurtures a child in a way that complements the gift of motherhood.

On the 19^th March each year, the Church celebrates the feast of St Joseph, the husband of Mary and foster father of Jesus. ‘With a Father’s Heart’ is how Joseph loved Jesus and it is the title of an Apostolic Letter written by Pope Francis in 2020 to mark the 150th anniversary of St. Joseph being solemnly declared Patron of the universal Church by Pope Pius IX on 8th December 1870. Here I would like to reflect on how St Joseph reclaims the importance of fatherhood today at a time when the fight against stereotypes is leading to a diminishment of the essential category of fatherhood in the family and society, especially in the lives of children. I identify seven qualities in Joseph’s witness as a father that can inspire Christian fathers today: to be present, to provide, to protect, to rear, mentor, teach and sanctify.

First, Joseph is the father who was present in Jesus’ life. When he was faced with a huge crisis on the pregnancy of Mary, in response to God’s will, Joseph stood by his wife-to be and was with her up to the day she gave birth. He was with her and her Son for all the thirty years of Jesus’ hidden life as he ‘lived under their authority’ (Luke 2:51). The antidote to the crisis of absent fathers is fathers who are close to their children and are a constant presence in their lives.

Joseph provided for his family and was responsible for them. He was carpenter and worked to provide a roof over their heads and food on the table. There is something deeply instinctive and natural in a father’s desire to provide for those he is responsible for. Providing is at the heart of his identity as a father. That’s why marriage and family belong together. He is responsible for his children and his wife.

Warned of danger in a dream, Joseph protected his family. He shielded them from harm. Likewise, as patron of the Church, Joseph protects the people of God. As Pope St. John Paul II pointed out: “Just as Saint Joseph took loving care of Mary and gladly dedicated himself to Jesus Christ’s upbringing, he likewise watches over and protects Christ’s Mystical Body, the Church, of which the Virgin Mary is the exemplar and model” (Redemptoris Custos, 1). There is no shortage of dangers that fathers need to protect their families against today.

With Mary, Jesus was reared, mentored and taught by Joseph. There in his home in Nazareth, we are told that Jesus ‘grew in wisdom and stature’ (Luke 2:52). This points to the importance of the family as a community where children can learn the wisdom of previous generations, acquire Christian values from Christian parents and grand-parents. It emphasises the importance of the family as a place of formation where they learn discipline, make mistakes, learn, share, achieve their potential and are taught the basic courtesies that are essential to being a good citizen.

Finally, Joseph was ‘a righteous man’, a man of faith and a man of God. He accompanied his wife and infant Christ to the temple for the Presentation and played his part in making his family holy. This points to the role of parents in being the first teachers of their children in the ways of faith and how every family is a domestic Church where children first learn the basics of prayer, faith and the life of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the place where room is made for God.

Pope Benedict XVI once said: “The crisis of fatherhood that we are experiencing today is a basic aspect of the crisis that threatens humankind as a whole where fatherhood is perceived only as a biological accident on which no genuinely human claims may be based” (The God of Jesus Christ).

Fatherhood is a gift of creation and essential category of being human. St Joseph offers us a timely reminder of that truth.