The marriage of St. Joseph to Our Mother Mary is a source of many blessings and great hope for our own understanding of God’s desire and will in our lives. It is a sign of grace which we are all called to live in the will and providence of God’s love. Both Our Mother Mary and St. Joseph in their human dignity reflected the love of spousal unity as Pope Francis explained in the Apostolic Exhortation “Amoris Laetitia” where he recalled these words, “Saint Thomas Aquinas explains that “it is more proper to charity to desire to love than to desire to be loved”; indeed, “mothers, who are those who love the most, seek to love more than to be loved”. Consequently, love can transcend and overflow the demands of justice, “expecting nothing in return” (Lk 6:35), and the greatest of loves can lead to “laying down one’s life” for another (cf. Jn 15:13). Can such generosity, which enables us to give freely and fully, really be possible? Yes, because it is demanded by the Gospel: “You received without pay, give without pay”” (Mt 10:8). (#102)

St. Joseph, as husband of Mary, in his espousal reminds us of the desire to love. His sacrificial choice of following the will of God, discovered in a dream, to follow the path of righteousness in mercy and justice gives us an example of marital grace. Fr. Maurice Meschler, SJ in his book on St. Joseph calls to mind the basic teaching of the Catholic Church of the good of marriage in its sacramental form. The freedom to choose, as seen in the relationship of Joseph and Mary is the example of grace building upon grace. He writes, “As for us, the espousals teach us that matrimony in itself is a holy state of life ordained by God, and that marriages properly entered upon are really made in Heaven and are productive of indescribable blessings for the world and the Church. The espousals furthermore teach us that Divine Providence works from end to end mightily and wisely (Wisdom 8:1) through all sorts of apparently insoluble perplexities and, hence, that we can do nothing better than cast ourselves confidently into its arms.” (p. 24, from “The Truth About Saint Joseph: Encountering the Most Hidden of Saints” by Fr. Maurice Meschler, SJ)
In marriage, as in all life, there are so many ups and downs and unexpected sorrows and blessings that the grace of the Sacrament shows forth in positive grace. God invites us into a participation of love…he works with us to build love…he works with us to heal the hurt of sin. The Divine Providence of God’s will flows forth when we embrace the life that is given and the struggles we share rather than the dream of a utopia that never has and will never exist. The choice to love is the choice to embrace a reality gathering into a grace the fullness of human experience.
The great Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen reminds us again and again about how we are created for love and a love embracing a unity of the Most Holy Trinity. The chaste marital love of Mary and Joseph is the blessing of life embracing the fullness of the human heart and experience. He writes, “All love craves unity. This is evident in marriage, where there is the unity of two in one flesh. When a person loves anything, he sees it as fulfilling a need and seeks to incorporate it to himself, whether it be wine that he loves or the science of the stars…As saints become one with our Lord throughout the identification of their will with God’s Will, so those who love unto marriage become “two in one flesh.”” (p 19-20 from “Three to Get Married” by Bishop Fulton J. Sheen)
May we pray for happy and holy marriages and for all our young people seeking their true vocation in life.
God Bless
Fr. Mark