Everything we know about the husband of Mary and the foster father of Jesus comes from Scripture. We know he was a carpenter, a working man. He wasn’t rich for when he took Jesus to the Temple to be circumcised and Mary to be purified, he offered the sacrifice of two turtledoves which was for those who could not afford a lamb.

Despite his humble work and means, Joseph came from a royal lineage as both Luke and Matthew mark his descent from David and the angel who first tells Joseph about Jesus greets him as “son of David,” a royal title.

When the angel came to Joseph a 2nd time, after foretelling of the birth of Lord to his wife Mary, the angel told him that his family was in danger. He immediately left everything he owned, all his family and friends, and fled to a strange country with his young wife and baby. He waited in Egypt without question until the angel told him it was safe to return.

Joseph treated Jesus as his own. His one concern was for the safety of this child entrusted to him by God. Upon his return, he settled in the obscure town of Nazareth out of fear for his life. When Jesus stayed in the Temple, Joseph searched with great anxiety for three days looking for him.

He followed God’s commands in the protection and care of his family. He took his family to Jerusalem every year for Passover, something that could not have been easy for a working man.

There is much we still wish we could know about Joseph; Where and when he was born, how he spent his days, when and how he died, but Scripture has left us the most important knowledge of him and that is who he was, “a righteous man” (Matthew 1:18).

He is the patron saint of the Universal Church, unborn children, fathers, workers, travelers, immigrants, and a happy death.

His feast day is March 19.

For God’s Glory.