Year of St. Joseph: good husbandYear of St. Joseph: good fatherYear of St. Joseph: good workerPope Francis began his catechesis by recalling that "on December 8, 1870, Blessed Pius IX proclaimed St. Joseph patron of the universal Church. Now, 150 years after that event, we are living a special year dedicated to St. Joseph, and in the Apostolic Letter Patris corde I have collected some reflections on his figure. Never before as today, in this time marked by a global crisis with different components, he can serve us as a support, consolation and guide. That is why I have decided to dedicate to him a series of catecheses, which I hope will help us to allow ourselves to be enlightened by his example and his witness. For a few weeks we will be talking about St. Joseph".
"In the Bible," the Holy Father stressed, "there are more than ten characters who bear the name of Joseph. The most important of these is the son of Jacob and Rachel, who, through various vicissitudes, went from being a slave to becoming the second most important person in Egypt after Pharaoh (cf. Gn 37-50). The name Joseph in Hebrew means "may God increase. May God make grow". It is a wish, a blessing based on trust in providence and referring especially to the fruitfulness and growth of children. In fact, precisely this name reveals to us an essential aspect of the personality of Joseph of Nazareth. He is a man full of faith in his providence: he believes in God's providence, he has faith in God's providence. Each of his actions, as related in the Gospel, is dictated by the certainty that God "makes increase", that God "increases", that God "adds", that is, that God arranges the continuation of his plan of salvation. And in this, Joseph of Nazareth is very much like Joseph of Egypt".
Francis affirmed that also the main geographical references that refer to Joseph: Bethlehem and Nazareth, assume an important role in the understanding of his figure, and he wanted to dwell on the environment in which he lived to give us some light on his figure.
"In the Old Testament," he said, "the city of Bethlehem is called by the name of Beth LehemThe name is also Efratá, that is, "House of bread", or Efratá, after the tribe that settled there. In Arabic, instead, the name means "House of meat", probably because of the large number of flocks of sheep and goats present in the area. In fact, it is no coincidence that, when Jesus was born, the shepherds were the first witnesses of the event (cf. Lc 2,8-20). In the light of Jesus' account, these allusions to bread and flesh refer to the mystery of the Eucharist: Jesus is the living bread come down from heaven (cf. Jn 6,51). He himself will say of himself: "He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood, has eternal life" (Jn 6,54)".
"Bethlehem is mentioned several times in the Bible, as early as the book of Genesis. Bethlehem is also linked to the story of Ruth and Naomi, told in the small but wonderful Book of Ruth. Ruth gave birth to a son named Obed, who in turn gave birth to Jesse, the father of King David. And it was from David's line that Joseph, the legal father of Jesus, came from. The prophet Micah foretold great things about Bethlehem: "But you, Bethlehem-Ephrathah, though you are the least among the families of Judah, out of you shall come forth to me one who is to be ruler in Israel" (My 5,1). The evangelist Matthew will take up this prophecy and link it to the story of Jesus as its evident fulfillment".
"In fact, the Son of God did not choose Jerusalem as the place of his incarnation, but Bethlehem and Nazareth, two peripheral towns, far from the clamor of the news and the power of time. Yet Jerusalem was the city beloved by the Lord (cf. Is 62,1-12), the "holy city" (Dn 3:28), chosen by God to inhabit it (cf. Zac 3:2; Ps. 132:13). Here, in fact, dwelt the teachers of the Law, the scribes and Pharisees, the high priests and the elders of the people (cf. Lc 2,46; Mt 15,1; Mc 3,22; Jn1,19; Mt 26,3)".
"For this reason," the Pope continued, "the choice of Bethlehem and Nazareth tells us that the periphery and marginality are God's favorite places. Jesus was not born in Jerusalem with all the court... no: he was born in a periphery and spent his life, until he was 30 years old, in that periphery, working as a carpenter, like Joseph. For Jesus, the peripheries and marginalities are his favorite places. Not taking this reality seriously is tantamount to not taking seriously the Gospel and the work of God, who continues to manifest himself in the geographical and existential peripheries. The Lord is always at work in the peripheries, also in our soul, in the peripheries of the soul, of feelings, perhaps feelings of which we are ashamed; but the Lord is there to help us to go forward".
"The Lord continues to manifest himself in the peripheries, both geographical and existential. In particular, Jesus goes in search of sinners, enters their homes, speaks to them, calls them to conversion. And he is also rebuked for this: "But look at this Teacher - the doctors of the law say - look at this Teacher: he eats with sinners, he gets dirty, he goes in search of those who have not done evil, but have suffered it: the sick, the hungry, the poor, the last ones. Jesus always goes to the peripheries. And this should give us great confidence, because the Lord knows the peripheries of our heart, the peripheries of our soul, the peripheries of our society, of our city, of our family, that is, that dark part that we do not let be seen, perhaps out of shame".
"In this respect," Francis concluded, "the society of that time is not very different from ours. Even today there is a center and a periphery. And the Church knows that she is called to announce the good news starting from the peripheries. Joseph, who is a carpenter from Nazareth and who trusts in God's plan for his young betrothed and for himself, reminds the Church that she must fix her gaze on what the world deliberately ignores. Today Joseph teaches us this: "not to look so much at the things that the world praises, to look at the angles, to look at the shadows, to look at the peripheries, at what the world does not want". He reminds each one of us that we must give importance to what others discard. In this sense, he is a true master of the essential: he reminds us that what is truly valuable does not call for our attention, but requires patient discernment to be discovered and valued. Discovering what is valuable. Let us ask him to intercede so that the whole Church may recover this gaze, this ability to discern and this capacity to evaluate what is essential. Let us start again from Bethlehem, let us start again from Nazareth".
"Today I would like to send a message to all men and women who live in the most neglected geographical peripheries of the world or who live in situations of existential marginalization. May they find in St. Joseph the witness and protector to look to. To him we can turn with this prayer, a prayer "made at home", but which has come from the heart":
San José,
you who have always trusted in God,
and you have made your decisions
guided by his providence,
teach us not to count so much in our projects,
but in his plan of love.
You who come from the peripheries,
help us to convert our gaze
and to prefer what the world discards and puts in the margins.
Comforts those who are lonely
And sustains the one who is bent on silence
For defending life and human dignity. Amen
