Just

“…A righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame.” (Matthew 1:19).

Saint Joseph and Child (Ron DiCianni)

I have been reflecting on the word “JUST”, which is used in Sacred Scripture to describe God and Saint Joseph the Foster Father of Christ…

The description of Saint Joseph, which is so aligned with the description of God the Father as PERFECT justice, is something that has caused me to take a moment to reflect.  You see, in the Bible when we are told that God speaks of “justifying” someone what we are really being told is that God is bringing the individual to share in His Holiness…  You see, it is only JUST that a soul should be just as God is just (that is good as God is good) before that soul can share in the Holiness of God…

A JUST man is a man who willingly accepts all that God wants for him in his life.  He is completely open to the Will of God.  And this is significant in the case of Saint Joseph.  You see, Saint Joseph was so open to the Holy Will of God that he was willing to marry his Spouse after a dream of an angel.  He was so open to the Holy Will of God that he was willing to take flight in the middle of the night to Egypt after a dream of an angel.

I am imagining that sort of love of God – that willingness to place himself at the disposal of God.  How that must have looked to the Blessed Virgin.  Was she afraid of telling her betrothed that she was with Child?  Or did she – with the wisdom of the Father – see that he was a just man and a good man who would do God’s Holy Will?

You see, when Saint Joseph initially decided to divorce the Blessed Virgin, when he discovered she was pregnant by the Holy Spirit, he did not do with to bring her shame.  He planned to do this “quietly” because he was “a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame.” (Matthew 1:19).  And this is significant.  Because Saint Joseph was not rejecting his spouse at this time, he was trying to take a step away and allow God to do as He pleased with her.  He did not feel worthy of being the foster-father of God.  And in his justice, he stepped away from that Child as he knew his worth.  And yet, God called him back.  He ushered him forward through a dream. 

And apart from those few dreams and the later search for Christ in the Temple when he was lost for three days, which is described in Luke 2:41-51, we hear nothing further of Saint Joseph…

Saint Bernadine of Siena said, “He (Saint Joseph) was chosen by the eternal Father as the trustworthy guardian and protector of his greatest treasures, namely, His divine Son and Mary, Joseph's wife. He carried out this vocation with complete fidelity until at last God called him, saying: ‘Good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your Lord.’”

And I have been reflecting on that today.  You see, little will be said about me after my death, but I wonder if my Lord will be able to call me his good and faithful servant?  I wonder if I am just enough for that?

I just wonder…

Saint Joseph pray for us who have recourse to thee…

For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.