St Joseph, a man for the present age

Q: Why a consecration to St Joseph?

Masculinity in our time is in peril. Western civilisation has moved from patriarchy to matriarchy. It used to be that men set the agenda for most things; today women are the ones taking the lead in the family, office, school, and many other areas of life. Politics and the boardroom, in our region, may be the exceptions.

The aim is not for men or women to set the agenda. Men and women must work together in a mutual relationship to find God’s will in all things.

In Ephesians 5:17–21, St Paul expresses it this way:

Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is …be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Surrendering to one another out of reverence for Christ is the ultimate goal of the Christian. Superiority of the male, or superiority of the female does not bring about harmony in the family, neither does it yield well-adjusted children, or a healthy spousal relationship. We need a reset in our gender relations. For this we need a new role model.

Men in crisis

Look around at our men and see what you see. What I see is men, for the most part, living in a crisis of masculinity. Listen to the women and hear what they say. What I hear is a shortage of men capable of being healthy husbands.

Look at The University of the West Indies (UWI) and see who is enrolled. At the Mona campus, 69 per cent of students are women and 31 per cent men. This means women will find it difficult to find husbands with their educational background.

In our Church we have a similar challenge. Most practising Catholics are women. Apart from the priest and deacon, women lead most ministries, in the parish and the Archdiocese. This represents a great shift from former years.

But to be clear, I want neither men nor women playing a dominant role. I want strong, emotionally healthy men who know how to love and cherish their spouses, in mutual love for their children; men who are devoted to Christ and His Church.

We have a crisis, and we need to at least be honest, neither our men nor women are hitting the mark in the emotional and spiritual capacity required for relationship with God and with each other. This has put a serious burden on the family and disadvantages the next generation.

St Joseph as role model

Part of the challenge is that there are too few role models around for men and women to see healthy masculinity and what it looks like. Here, St Joseph is a great example of healthy masculinity. If you had to pick someone to care for your only child, would you be random with your selection?

Of all the men that existed, God chose St Joseph to be father of His Son.

Think about this for a moment.

This man had to be exceptional. Today, we need the exceptional as a role model for us men to find a pathway to live healthy Caribbean masculinity.

St Joseph is not just an exceptional man; he was an exceptional man of God. We all call God father, only St Joseph was called Abba by God. For Jesus, St Joseph was the earthly experience of Abba, the foundation of His understanding of God.

It is most amazing that twice the Bible speaks about St Joseph giving up his will to obey God’s will. This is what we know most about him, and he was consistent.

Accepting Mary as his wife and taking the child and mother to Egypt was a matter of obedience. This gives him a title that is unique: Saviour of my Saviour, our Lord Jesus Christ. St Joseph saved Jesus and Mary on both these occasions.

Spiritual father

To round us out and teach us how to live fully for Christ, we all need a spiritual father, one who is excellent in docility to God’s will, love of God and Jesus, and love of all God’s people. We need a father that we can imitate to teach us how to live as children of God. This is what St Josemaría Escrivá has to say:

Love St Joseph a lot. Love him with all your soul, because he, together with Jesus, is the person who has most loved our Blessed Lady and been closest to God. He is the person who has most loved God, after our Mother. He deserves your affection, and it will do you good to get to know him, because he is the Master of the interior life, and has great power before the Lord and before the Mother of God.

For most of the history of the Church, devotion to St Joseph has been dormant. But in the last 150 years, many great saints have identified St Joseph as a man for the present age. It is as if he is emerging just when we need a strong father who is tender and wise to help us in our hour of great need.

On March 10, we will begin a novena to St Joseph, in which I am asking men and women of the Archdiocese to participate. We both need this spiritual father to point us to Jesus and teach us how to love God and his Son more deeply.

Do this as a family. While you are on your way to work and school, use some time to pray together and ask St Joseph to teach you how to pray to his Son.

The Holy Father has called for a year of prayer in preparation for the jubilee year 2025. Let us all engage in this novena and ask St Joseph to teach us how to pray, and to give us the grace of a deep and consistent prayer life.

Key Message:

St Joseph is a spiritual father and role model for us in our time of great need. Deepen your love for him, ask him to teach you to love his Son deeply.

Action Step:

Begin the St Joseph novena this weekend and reflect on the meditations and lessons. As you learn about this saint, acknowledge your need of a spiritual father. Ask him to lead you to his Son.

Scripture Reading:

Ps 105:21