JOSEPHITE SPIRITUALITY SEEDS
Monthly publication of the International Josephite-Marellian Center
April 2020

With Saint Joseph,
Take On The Mission of Fatherhood.

“Yet, o Lord, you are our father; we are the clay and you the potter: we are all the work of your hands.” (Isaiah 64:7).

Pope Saint John Paul II already warned us, in March 1983, that many parents have fallen into the temptation to “abdicate the great mission of fatherhood and opt for an «equal to equal» relationship with their children, and the consequences of this decision. Let's see:

“A great role, this role of fatherhood, which not a few parents today have tried to abdicate, opting for a relatioship on a par with their children, which ends up depriving the children of that psychological  support and that moral backing which they need to successfully get through the precarious state of childhood and early adolescence. Someone has said that today we are experiencing the crisis of a «fatherless society». We notice ever more clearly the need to be able to count on fathers who can fulfill their role, combining tenderness with seriousness, understanding with strictness,  camaraderie with the exercise of authority, because only in this way will children be able to grow harmoniously, overcoming their fears and preparing themselves to meet courageously the unknowns factors in life.”     (Pope St. John Paul II. Homily on the Solemnity of St. Joseph.Termoli, 03/19/1983)

These are precious indications of the Pope, the characteristics of a true educational process: it is necessary to combine tenderness with seriousness. Children need loving and tender parents, who know how to love them and express their love and affection in concrete actions. However, they also need these same parents to educate them seriously, exercising whenever necessary the practice of charitable and demanding love.

 It is necessary to combine understanding with rigor. Children need loving and understanding parents, who know how to respect the stages of growth and the just need for freedom and autonomy in decisions. But they also need these same parents to educate them firmly, exercising whenever necessary the practice of charitable and demanding love.

 It is necessary to combine camaraderie with the exercise of authority. Children need friendly parents and companions who know how to love and share moments of victory and defeat with them, go together and cry together, walk and have fun together, like good and true friends. But children also need these same parents to educate them with authority, exercising whenever necessary the practice of charitable and demanding love.

It is natural, however, that we ask ourselves how we can prepare to be parents and educators with these characteristics. We know that this would be very good for our children and students, but we ask ourselves, justly, how to prepare ourselves for this noble but demanding mission. Where can we first find an example of someone who has managed to exercise his parenting and educational responsibility in an appropriate manner and according to the needs of his children and students?

And where can we find motivation and strength for this mission? The same Pope St. John Paul II teaches us that it is in God that we can find the energy to do so and presents a model of fatherhood capable of positively influencing the educational process of our children. And indicates St. Joseph as an example of someone who managed to effectively exercise his paternity and educational mission and who, therefore, has much to teach us. Let's see:

“But where, dear fathers, will you be able to draw the energy necessary to assume in various circumstances the right attitude that your children, even without knowing it, expect from you? Saint Joseph offers you the answer to this: it is in God, the source of all fatherhood, it is in his way of acting with men, which is revealed to us by Sacred Scripture that you can find the model of a fatherhood capable of making a positive impression on the educational process of your children, not smothering their spontaneity on the one hand, nor abandoning their still immature personality to the traumatizing experiences of insecurity and loneliness on the other.”     (Pope St. John Paul II. Homily of the Solemnity of St. Joseph.Termoli, 03/19/1983)

Therefore, God is the "source of all fatherhood" and the perfect model of fatherhood. However, it is in the Holy Scriptures, the Bible, that we find the manifestation of how God exercises true fatherhood. And it is in Saint Joseph that we must look for example and strength, as a companion on the journey, to exercise our paternal and educating mission with dignity and effectiveness.

As Pope Francis taught us, St. Joseph is our model of an educating father:

“Today, 19 March (2014), we celebrate the Solemn Feast of St Joseph, Spouse of Mary and Patron of the Universal Church, and... I would like to take up the theme of guardianship under a particular aspect: the educational aspect. We look to Joseph as the model educator, who watches over and accompanies Jesus as he grows «in wisdom, age and grace», as the Gospel says. He was not Jesus’ father: the father of Jesus was God, but he was a father to Jesus, he was a father to Jesus in order to help him grow. And how did he help him grow? In wisdom, age and grace… And we can try to use precisely these three words - wisdom, age and grace - as a basis for our reflection.”
(Pope Francis. General Audience. March 19, 2014)

Pope St. John Paul II uses the expression "under the eyes of Joseph" (The growth of Jesus "in wisdom and in stature, and in favor with God and man" (Lk 2:52) took place within the Holy Family under the eyes of Joseph, who had the important task of "raising" Jesus, that is, feeding, clothing and educating him in the Law and in a trade, in keeping with the duties of a father." Pope John Paul II. Redemptoris Custos, 16) to summarize the attentive and participatory way in which Saint Joseph exercised his fatherly and educating mission before Jesus.

Under the eyes of Saint Joseph, we can also exercise this mission. And the first step is the firm decision to do so and to prepare for it.

Reflection and Sharing
Share about the teachings received in this Josephite Spirituality Seeds.

Commitment of the Month
Exercise in the practice of combining tenderness with seriousness, understanding with rigor, and camaraderie with the exercise of authority, with the company of Saint Joseph.