Solemnity of Saint Joseph, Husband of The Blessed Virgin Mary (Patron Saint of the Society of Jesus)

"Loving father, precious son, faithful husband all three in one."  I use these words to describe a man who helped give me life and raised me to be the woman I am today--my father.  Today, I can't help but see how these same words could be used to portray Joseph and how both he and my father were similar in the greatest of ways--love.

As we know from this gospel reading, Joseph, the husband of Mary, made a selfless decision to be true to the vows that he made to his wife and remained married to her after learning the news that a child was conceived in her that was not biologically his.  We can infer that it was Joseph's faith and his love for Mary that allowed him to accept what the angel of the Lord had destined to be his will.

When my parents married almost fifty-nine years ago, they were very eager to have a family of their own.  Although fifteen years went by, they continued to pray and hope for that special blessing.  Yet, they were still without a child.   As my dad shared with me, never once did it matter if they never had children, because their love for each other and their faith in what God had destined for them was enough.  Just when they had fully accepted themselves as a family of two, a year later they became a family of three.  A miracle child is what he called me, a blessing and the greatest gift that came from three things: faith, hope and love.

"Joseph...was a righteous man...Then [he] awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him..."