St. Joseph doesn’t speak a word that is recorded in Sacred Scripture. Yet, in today’s gospel St. Matthew gives us plenty of insight into this incredible man. In particular, St. Joseph is described as being a “righteous man.” This along with many other little details would have had great significance to the Jewish audience for which Matthew was writing.
In today’s homily I explain some of the peculiar details of Jewish marriage customs as the time of Jesus. What did it mean to be betrothed? If Mary and Joseph are just betrothed, why are they called husband and wife? Did Joseph think that Mary had committed adultery? If he’s so righteous, why did he not follow the law in regard to her? Why is the act of naming Jesus such an important thing for Joseph to do? How would Jewish people have interpreted this?
All these questions are answered in today’s homily. Perhaps we just gloss over these parts of the Christmas story each year. Unless we understand these details as a Jew would, we’re likely to miss much of the story. When we really understand what is going on, we will not only understand the story better, but we will come to see just how amazing St. Joseph is. For good reason he is called righteous and for 2000 years the Church as advised us, Ite ad Ioseph, Go to Joseph!