Thought for the Day – 23 March – Meditations with Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900)
“Short Meditations for March, St Joseph”
From “The Devout Year”
By Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900)
23rd Day – St Joseph, Father of Jesus
We need not fear to apply this name to the holy foster-father of the Son of God, since it was given to him by Our Lady herself, when she said to Him in the Temple, “Thy father and I have sought Thee, sorrowing.”
+1. He had the position of father of Jesus and was recognised as such, by the common consent. He had all the rights and the authority of a father, as far as any could have, over the Son of God. His Divine Foster-Son from His birth, depended on him, as the child naturally depends upon his father. He fulfilled the office of father. God delegated to him, the duties, the rights, the privileges, of a father and, therefore, he is truly called, the father of Jesus.
+2. We may also piously believe, his Divine Son was made like to him in outward form. In the natural order, Jesus would not be made after the likeness of His holy Mother alone. The Holy Ghost, in fashioning the features of the Son of God, would have taken St Joseph as in some sort, the model to be followed in form and face. What must have been St Joseph’s beauty, sweetness of expression, symmetry of form, perfect purity of body and soul!
What a contrast to my unsightliness and impurity!
+3. When God calls a man by any name, He, thereby, ascribes to him whatever that name implies. How often Jesus called St Joseph by the endearing name of father! By so doing, He showed that He was truly His father. His Words were no mere fiction. O happy St Joseph! it is no wonder thou hast such power in Heaven!
AnaStpaul 