St. Joseph: Now More Important Than Ever

The Feast of St. Joseph adds a note of excitement and joy to the waning days of Lent. Celebrants are attired in gold vestments; the Gloria is sung or said; and rules of fast and abstinence are disregarded for the day.

But the feast, as important as it is in the Church calendar, should have even greater impact on the everyday world in which we live.

Fathers are under siege these days. Patriarchy is a bad word. Even the thought of traditional parenthood itself is questioned by many on the left.

There are "Dad Jokes," corny and dumb and geeky. There are "Dad Jeans," which are old fashioned and square and nerdy.

Watch any TV commercial that features a family and inevitably the father will be seen as out of touch and dim-witted. He doesn't "get it." Mom is the one who solves the problems, knows the answer, while dad looks on uncomprehendingly.

In other ads it will be the kids who solve the dilemma and roll their eyes as they explain the modern world to bring dad up to speed. In a dating scene, it's the girl who knows how to order correctly and doesn't slurp her soup. Her date acts like he just crawled out of a cave.

It's tough being a dad these days; tough being a man in a world that no longer cares what you do or think. Or considers everything you do and think to be either of little value or a complete joke.

But the fact is, dads are more important now than ever before, and so is St. Joseph, who as the father of Jesus, is the ultimate dad.

Research has shown that the presence of a father in the family is an almost universal predictor of well-adjusted, successful kids. A father is the most important person especially in a girl's life, as he creates the image of what a male should be and how she should be respected.

Girls without a father's respect and love often end up in abusive relationships, as they have a poor concept of how a man should treat them. Often one abusive relationship follows another in an unbroken circle of disrespect and unhappiness.

One can picture St. Joseph with his son: Teaching him his craft, honing his skills, not just in the shop but in the wider world. We can only surmise what took place in those years between the loss of Jesus in the Temple and the beginning of his public life.

It was during those years that Jesus learned his communication skills, his flair for persuasion, his discipline and self-esteem. Perhaps he even learned the value of parables from St. Joseph. Most importantly, he learned how a man should treat a woman by watching Joseph as he cared for and protected his mother. He saw how much he loved her.

We know that Jesus was like us in all ways except sin. Therefore he had to learn how to be a man from the only source he had: his father, St. Joseph.

We hear not a word from Joseph in the Gospels, and he is not even mentioned in Acts. But while we don't know what he said, we know what he did. He helped perfect the skills and abilities of the Son of God. This is the image of fatherhood that should exist in our world today.

Fathers need to try to counteract the negative portrayals so evident in the media; and moms should encourage the type of leadership that families require in these challenging times. Most of all, the church must foster a more vibrant devotion to St. Joseph, realizing the essential role he plays, not only in the life of his son but in the entire world today.

Church leadership must be bold in counteracting radical attempts to dissolve the very concept of the nuclear family. There should be no more quiet acceptance of movies and TV specials glorifying single-mom families and portraying gender-confused individuals as some sort of heroes. Bishops have a voice and should become vocal in support of the traditional family structure and the importance of a father's presence in it.

When I was a grade-school altar boy we lived in a town that had an outdoor theater specializing in risqué movies. It was called the Starlite, I think. Our pastor made his position very clear: "If you're at the Starlite Saturday night don't come into my church on Sunday morning!" he said, presumably unless you made a visit to the confessional in between. Such directness is laudable and needed in today's confused world.

There are several feasts celebrating St. Joseph throughout the year, and they should be launching pads for homilies highlighting his role in the life of Christ and the church. Beyond that however, any feast celebrating the holy family should become another opportunity to talk about St. Joseph and the importance of fathers in our families today.

Mary didn't raise Jesus all by herself. She wasn't a single mom. Joseph was with Jesus every day of his youth, teaching him, instructing him and serving as an example of the right way to live. While there's little mention of Joseph in the scriptures, and we don't know much about him other than he was a carpenter and a righteous man, he epitomizes what a husband and father should be. Men of all ages, fathers especially, should look to him for guidance and example.