Celebrating two outstanding role models

St. Joseph, husband of Mary and Foster father of Jesus, Pray for us!

Every March 19^th, the Church honors and celebrates the life of St. Joseph, “Husband of Mary”.  He is such a good example for us in the world we live in today.  More than ever, we live in a world that lacks a moral compass, where good and evil are not recognized as social conditions, and leaders are no longer respectful and committed to the common good.

We celebrate St. Joseph’s fidelity to the traditions of his ancestors.  We celebrate his openness to God’s voice in his life.  We celebrate his love for his wife, Mary.  We celebrate his parenting of his son, Jesus. We celebrate his sense of justice and his integrity.

What was it like for Jesus, Mary and Joseph in the home at Nazareth?  What did they talk about?  What was the shape of their daily life?  The gospels never answer those questions, but that very fact allows us to imagine that, to a certain extent, life in that home was not too different from life in our own homes.  Life in the home at Nazareth was an ordinary and even obscure life; yet, God in Jesus chose to dwell there. 

This simple fact invites us to look around at our own home today, to believe that, in all of its ordinariness and perhaps even obscurity, it is a home where God chooses to dwell each day.  May we today, through the prayers of Joseph, rejoice in the nearness of God who once chose to live in a human home, and chooses to do so today as well.

March 19^th is also the anniversary date of my grandfather Clarence Batty’s death, 50 years ago today in 1970, a week after his 82^nd birthday.   

He was a quiet, gentle man who showed nothing but love and respect for everyone he came in contact with.  I never heard him raise his voice or speak with anger.  He was a great role model. 

As my mother wrote in her blog ten years ago, “Dad was a good, hardworking man and like St. Joseph, was kind to all of us [everyone] and we never went without a meal in our lives!  And …we always had a roof over our heads!  He converted to the Faith shortly after marrying Mother and never let his Faith down.”

What higher praise can you give a man, than to say he was good, hardworking, and faithful?  That’s what each of us should strive to be every day.  I fail miserably most of the time, but God, in His mercy, knows I try.