Year of St. Joseph (Part 6)

(An excerpt during the reflection night on St. Joseph by Rev. Fr. Wilfredo de Mesa Jr. OSJ, Parochial Vicar of Sanctuario de San Jose in Green Hills, Manila, via DXGN 89.9 Spirit FM-Davao, April 29, 2021. The Oblates of St. Joseph is a Congregation of priests and brothers who live the spirituality of St. Joseph. They work for the education of the Youth, the parish ministry and the propagation of the devotion to St. Joseph. Part 6 of a series.)

Now why is St. Joseph a model of stewardship? Because my dear brothers and sisters as a steward pinagkatiwalaan po si San Jose ng Diyos. Ano po ang ipinagkatiwala kay San Jose? Makikita po natin ito sa Gospels. Ang sabi ng Diyos kay San Jose, “Joseph do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife”. Pinagkatiwalaan po ng Diyos si San Jose na pangalagaan at mahalin ang Mahal na Birhen Maria. May pangalawa pang ipinagkatiwala sa kanya ang Diyos. Ang sabi sa Gospel, “You are to give him the name Jesus”. At ang sabi pa ng Diyos kay San Jose, “Rise, take the child”. Ipinagkatiwala ng Diyos kay San Jose ang ating Tagapagligtas, ang Kanyang Anak, ang ating Panginoong Jesucristo. In other words, my dear brothers and sisters, God made St. Joseph steward of two significant vocations. St. Joseph will be the spouse of the mother of God, and St. Joseph will be the foster father of the Son of God. Akalain nyo, napakalaki po pala ang ipinagkatiwala ng Diyos kay San Jose. Now papano po siya naging mabuting katiwala para kay Jesus at sa Mahal na Birheng Maria? Una, si San Jose ay katiwala bilang ama ng anak ng Diyos. You know my dear brothers and sisters, an important fact of our faith which needs to be stress today is the need for a father in the family. Sabi po nung dating Pope, si Pope Benedict XVI, “today we have a crisis of fatherhood. We have an eclipse of fatherhood.” Ano ang ibig sabihin nito? Homes without a father are growing. Halimbawa po, meron daw pong study sa America na ang America daw po is rapidly becoming a fatherless society or more accurately absentee father society. About 30% of American children are born into single parent homes, single parent family. At hindi na natin tingnan pa ang America. Look at our country, look at our communities, look at our neighborhood, or maybe our own homes, homes without a father are growing. And you know there are various reasons for cases of absent fathers.

Una po, the demands of working far from home, may mga ama na kailangan na magtrabaho ng malayo para mabuhay ang kanilang pamilya, nag aabroad, marami po sa atin nyan. Pangalawa, the flight from responsibilities, mas marami po nyan, tumatakas sa responsibilidad. Kaya po maganda yung sinabi ni Pope Francis, sa kanyang letter na “Patris Corde”. Sabi nya “A man does not become a father simply by bringing a child into the world but by taking up the responsibility, to care for the child. Whenever a man accept responsibility for the life of another in some way he becomes a father to that person.” There is another factor that adds to the crisis of the fatherhood, and this factor is that sometimes our society equates fatherhood with tyranny. Ano po ba yung tyrant? A tyrant uses force, uses fear in order to willed authority. At minsan yung negative connotation natin sa mga ama, nakakatakot, kailangan sundin. There are fathers who are tyrants but there also fathers who are not tyrants; there are fathers who are tender, loving fathers.