St. Joseph, head of the Holy Family

"[Jesus] went down with [Mary and Joseph] and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them..." -- Luke 2:51 (NAB)

Today is the wonderful feast of the Holy Family. Coming as it does during the Christmas season, it's natural to think of the Holy Family when Jesus was an infant, or perhaps when as a child He was found by His parents in the Temple in Jerusalem, as in today's Gospel. But I found myself thinking of an insight that I received several years ago on Holy Thursday regarding St. Joseph. I make no claim to it being anything other than what it is, private revelation. I offer it simply for you to take or leave as the Lord leads.

That year during the Eucharistic Prayer at Holy Thursday Mass, I found myself wondering what share St. Joseph had had in the Passion, given that he had died before Jesus' public ministry began. I suddenly had a flash of insight that came in the time it took to mention St. Joseph's name in the Eucharistic Prayer, an understanding that came to me complete and whole, not in a linear string of words as I'm forced to use to describe it now.

Mary and Joseph knew that their son was the Messiah, and being good Jews familiar with the Scriptures, that meant that they also knew that His mission would involve great suffering. They didn't know, however, certain details, such as exactly when and under what circumstances His mission would begin. Nonetheless, Joseph, having heard Simeon's prophecy that a sword would also pierce Mary's soul, always assumed that he would be there for her, to support her and provide strength and shelter for her in her sorrow, as he had been in Bethlehem and Egypt and Nazareth and Jerusalem.

Then one day Joseph became sick. As a strong working man, he had rarely been sick and never with anything serious. But this sickness, whatever it was, sapped his strength and before long, he had to stay in bed. Despite Mary's loving care, he continued to grow weaker, and it became clear that Joseph was dying.

At one point, Mary was out of the house, perhaps drawing water at the well, and Jesus was alone with Joseph, sitting next to his bed to comfort him. Joseph looked up at Jesus and asked weakly, "I won't be there for her?" Jesus, knowing exactly what he meant, looked at him with great love and understanding and then shook His head, No.

In that moment, all the pain and suffering of the Passion combined with the anguish that was unique to Joseph over the fact that he would not be able to be present at the Passion for Mary, whom he loved more than his own life, and they came together into a white-hot point of exquisite, indescribable pain that pierced his soul like a laser, hit his heart, and exploded.

And in the very next instant, from the center of his shattered heart, he whispered to God, "Yes."

I doubt if we will ever know until we get to Heaven what an incredibly great saint Joseph is.

St. Joseph, head of the Holy Family, please pray for us.