The Holy Family is the model for all
families. The household of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph was filled with peace, serenity,
and love. For 2,000 years, the Holy Family has been the shining example all
families strive to emulate.
But consider this: of the three people
in the Holy Family, only Joseph was a sinner. That’s right. Jesus was sinless, of
course, and the Church has always taught that Mary was uniquely blessed by God
to be conceived without sin (the “Immaculate Conception”). Which means, when
you boil it down, in that peaceful and loving household, only Joseph fit the
biblical truth that “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”
(Romans 3:23).
Wow! Talk about pressure! Anytime
anything went wrong in that house, two sets of sinless eyes immediately turned
and looked at the only family member who was not morally perfect. Poor
ol’ Joseph must have struggled to maintain his self-esteem.
Early in their marriage, I wonder if Joseph,
like all husbands throughout history, often blurted out the phrase, “I didn’t
do it.” For men, that phrase is an instinctive defense mechanism, as
involuntary as flinching when someone suddenly tosses something toward your face.
When we husbands say, “I didn’t do it,” we are not actually declaring, “I. Did.
Not. Do. It.” We are merely stalling for time so we can assess the situation
and find out if we’re really in trouble or not.
After a few years, I wonder if Joseph
realized the futility of offering that phrase time after time, and just
resigned himself to saying with a sigh, “Yeah, I did it. I’m sorry.”
Well, maybe that wasn’t exactly how it
happened. Maybe I’m just imagining what it would’ve been like if I was Saint
Joseph. However, since the Bible clearly tells us that Joseph was a righteous
man, let’s just say all of Christendom is a lot better off that God did not
pick someone to be the husband of Mary and step-father of Jesus who spends way
too much time hiding in a basement “man cave” watching baseball.
Since Joseph was indeed a righteous man,
the occasions when he did do something morally suspect were few and far
between. (And by “morally suspect,” I don’t mean the kind of sins that are
rampant in our culture today. I’m thinking of things like gossip,
discouragement, and mildly profane utterances whenever he hit himself on the
thumb with a hammer. You know, what we now call venial sins.)
On the other hand, since Joseph was
righteous, whenever he did do something wrong, he most likely admitted it right
away and asked for forgiveness. And who better to ask forgiveness from than the
two most merciful people in the history of the world? Can you imagine what it
must’ve been like to have the Blessed Virgin Mary and/or Jesus say to you,
“That’s OK. I forgive you. C’mere, big guy, gimme a hug!”? That must have been
awesome. If I were Joseph, I’d be tempted to do things wrong on purpose, just
to experience that unconditional forgiveness. (Yet another reason why God was
so wise in not picking me for that job.)
Actually, even though we are not a part
of the Holy Family, we can experience the same kind of unconditional
forgiveness and love Joseph experienced. All we need to do is go to Confession.
(Also known as the Sacrament of Reconciliation.) After all, we’re not asking
the priest to forgive us. He merely sits in place of Jesus, the One who pours
out His unconditional and total mercy on us.
The best way we can emulate the Holy
Family is to do what Jesus, Mary, and Joseph did: share the love and mercy of
God with each other. We won’t ever become sinless on this side of eternity, but
we will be filled with peace and serenity and joy.
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