Righteousness That Comes From Faith

“It was not through the law
that the promise was made to Abraham and his descendants
that he would inherit the world,
but through the righteousness that comes from faith.”

Romans 4:13

Because of the nature of the penitential season of Lent, the Church does not usually celebrate the feasts and memorials of the Saints during Lent. This means that on the day of a saint’s feast day there will only be a commemoration because the Lenten weekday takes precedence. However, there are two important days that usually fall during Lent that breaks this “rule.” The Annunciation of Our Lord, the day when the Angel visited Mary and told her should would come to be the mother of Jesus, the Mother of God, thus, the Word becoming flesh. Of course this day will be celebrated with extreme solemnity! But, do you know which is the other feast day? You guessed correctly: the Solemnity of St. Joseph, the husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the foster father of Jesus.

This day of celebration during Lent alone tells us the place of and the regard the Church has for this mostly silent figure, the “Sleeping Giant,” St. Joseph. St. Joseph was, as the Scriptures tell us, a righteous man, meaning one who is in right relationship with God. Someone who is righteous is someone who above all things seeks to do the will of God. St. Paul tells us in his letter to the Romans that it was not through any law that Abraham was promised any land or descendants, but rather through righteousness, one that comes from faith. It was a covenant that God made with Abraham, a promise founded upon and rooted in love, between the Lover and the beloved, through which the “Beloved Son” of God would come into the world. From Abraham, our Father in Faith to Joseph, a descendant of David and a righteous man in the eyes of God, the promise of God to His people can be seen.

St. Joseph was there when Mary was pregnant with Jesus. He protected Mary and Jesus while traveling to Bethlehem for the census and also during the flight into Egypt. St. Joseph held Jesus, fed Him, and taught Him how to walk, talk, and act, and above all to pray and to love. As St. Bernadine of Siena put it, “He [St. Joseph] was chosen by the eternal Father as the trustworthy guardian and protector of his greatest treasures, namely his divine Son and Mary, Joseph’s wife. He carried out this vocation with complete fidelity until at last God called him.” The late French Bishop Jacques-Benigne Bossuet drew the connection between Joseph and the Apostles, saying “He accomplished his vocation, for just as the apostles were the ministers of Jesus Christ revealed, so Joseph was the minister and the companion of his hidden life.”

Brothers and sisters: we have in St. Joseph a great intercessor and spiritual father who wants nothing more than to helps us on our journey of faith and discernment, leading us to God. May St. Joseph, the righteous man, pray for us and ask for us the grace of humility and the righteousness that comes from faith.