When you read the lives of the saints there are many stories of miracle performed, of heroic missionary journeys, of austere penances, of courageous martyrdoms, of the formation of dyanmic communities, of political influence and/or defiance. The life of St. Joseph contains none of these. Instead he is described as the husband of Mary, as the one who raised Jesus from boyhood, as a righteous man faithful to his religious practice, as a working laborer, as one willing to go out of his way to care for his family. Very ordinary virtues. Perhaps that is why devotion to Joseph has increased dramatically in the last century or so. We need examples of sanctity in the midst of ordinariness and Joseph fulfills that role. “Go to Joseph” and find in him the grace of God in the everydayness of life.
