He Fulfilled God’s Will

Next to the Blessed Mother, no other saint came closer to Jesus than St. Joseph. Upon learning from a dream that the Blessed Virgin is going to be his bride, his fear and anxiety turned to resolute acceptance and action. Thus, he took the Blessed Mother to his home and became the father and guardian of the Virgin of virgins and the Word Incarnate. On another occasion, St. Joseph had to respond promptly to the warning from an angel when his family was in danger. The Holy Family had to flee to Egypt to escape King Herod. St. Joseph must have stayed with a community belonging to the Jewish Diaspora and started to eke out a living. He must have struggled to make a name as a good craftsman in order to establish his reputation, only to leave later on to go back to his country to settle in Nazareth. We do not know much about what happened next, but one thing is certain: St. Joseph continued to work and gave his life to his family and tradition tells us that he died in the arms of his son, Jesus, and the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Like most of us, we toil using our God-given talents. May we be inspired by St. Joseph, who, like St. Paul, finished the race in fulfilling the will of God. May we also be conscious of the gift of time, so that with relentless courage and love for the Lord, living in prayer, we shall be leaving a better world than when we came in, and be welcomed by the Holy Family in eternity.