"...you have received the spirit of adoption of sons, whereby we cry: Abba (Father)." Romans 8,15
The baptized person certainly receives this spirit of adoption as the Lord and His apostles teach; yet this spirit must be accessed not only through the will but first through the intellect.
For millions of us in these dark times the figure of father is distorted, weakened, and obscured by relentless attacks from the so-called progressives, the media, and in the end, by the demon himself, whom our Lord named "the father of lies." Fatherhood is made superfluous by the state which subsidizes out-of-wedlock births; fatherhood is lampooned by the media which makes him the butt of jokes and the punchline of dark humor. Social commentators label any expression of virility as 'toxic masculinity' and replace the order of the family as constituted by the Creator with a synthetic democracy of equals.
Those who have grown up abandoned by their fathers or had them ripped from their lives by divorce carry within their intellect the trauma of this primal loss. Some have never even known their fathers or have been abused by common-law live-in substitutes who had no claim on their filial obedience. For so many of us, the idea of father is complex and troubling, evincing a multitude of thoughts and emotions that marshal our fears and restrict our trust. Is God a father like one of these I have known?
To us, Divine Providence has given Blessed Joseph, foster father of the Son of God.
This gentle yet virile man among men was a descendant of the great King David which slew wicked Goliath; who accepted the virginal conception of Christ in the womb of Mary despite all inclinations to put her away quietly. This Joseph who modeled fatherhood for the formation of the human intellect of the God-Man is likewise given to us as a figure of the divine fatherhood to which St. Paul refers in the above quoted passage from Romans.
But we are not limited only to knowledge about Joseph; we are invited to engage his power as an intercessor here below who is so powerful in heaven. We are given such tender of examples of his fatherhood as we find in this ancient and much cherished prayer:
"Oh, St. Joseph, I never weary contemplating you and Jesus asleep in your arms; I dare not approach while he reposes near your heart. Press him in my name and kiss his fine head for me and ask him to return the kiss when I draw my dying breath."
St. Joseph is also the patron saint of a happy and holy death as he merited decease in the luminous presence of Jesus and Mary. How much he has to offer our generation of fatherless and father-wounded pilgrims! No matter how terrible (or completely missing) our experience of fatherhood may be, the Holy Spirit is willing and able to heal those memories through contemplation of Blessed Joseph.
Lastly, those of us who are fathers may also have discovered our weaknesses and deficiencies too late to mitigate their evil effects on our families, particularly our children. We cannot go back. What is done is done. But we can own those faults and in humility accept responsibility for them. We can do what is in our power to minister graces to our families by living in the example of Blessed Joseph. The harsh condemnations, accusations, cold silences and rejection of the values we raised our children with are now a heavy and agonizing cross, but a cross we never carry alone. God is with us in Christ our Savior Who shoulders these crosses with us in fathomless compassion. And our holy Mother the Church bids us in sweet invitation, "ite ad Josef" (go to Joseph).
Originally posted 13 August 2023
