Second Sunday of St. Joseph (2026)

By Fr. Conor Donnelly

(Proofread)

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

My Lord and my God, I firmly believe that you are here, that you see me, that you hear me. I adore you with profound reverence. I ask your pardon for my sins, and grace to make this time of prayer fruitful. My Immaculate Mother, St. Joseph, my father and lord, my guardian angel, intercede for me.

In this second Sunday dedicated to St. Joseph, we can contemplate the virtues which he practiced in his ordinary life of work. While describing the virginal birth, St. Matthew chose to describe the Holy Patriarch as “Joseph her husband, a just man.” This is how the evangelists portray the foster father of our Savior.

One writer says he is “a just man.” In the case of Joseph, “just” refers not only to the virtue of giving to each person his due; justice also has to do with sanctity, with the habitual fulfillment of one’s duty and the will of God. In the Old Testament, we find that the idea of a just man is the same as that of a saint.

A just man has a clean heart and a right intention. He observes all that God has commanded in his social and personal behavior. Joseph was a just man in every sense of the word.

When considering the virtues of Joseph, we need to keep in mind that God’s perspective on human actions is frequently quite different from the world’s perspective. We men and women have a habit of giving all our attention to exterior things, while neglecting the interior realities. We tend to work against the clock, we accept appearances, and give little importance to what is most important. We can worry so much about how things will look to others, instead of being concerned for the way they ought to be.

It is for this reason that the most esteemed virtues are those that are associated with getting on in life and which lead to success in business. As a consequence, the interior and hidden virtues are rarely practiced, and for that matter rarely understood. Yet these are the virtues that pertain to man’s relationship with God.

One writer says this dilemma or paradox is the key to the mystery of true virtue. “Joseph, the honest man, seeks God. Joseph, the selfless man, finds God. Joseph, the hidden man, delights in God’s presence.”

We need to follow St. Joseph’s example by seeking God’s presence in the course of our ordinary work. One of the most important virtues that we observe in Joseph’s life is humility. This virtue is shown in his reaction to his vocation. We can imagine that St. Joseph would sometimes glance at the child Jesus and wonder to himself, why did God choose me and not somebody else? What do I have to offer that has earned me this holy charge?

Perhaps he didn’t receive an answer to those ponderings because the ways of the Lord are beyond the calculations of men. God calls whom He wants, and He grants the graces necessary for every vocation.

It’s useful to remember in this connection that the name “Joseph” in Hebrew means “God will add.” God adds unsuspected dimensions to the holy lives of those who do His will. He adds one important dimension which gives meaning to everything: the divine dimension.

A Belgian missionary priest in Singapore one time, at a meeting of priests, stood up at a discussion we were having about vocation and said he learned the meaning of vocation from a young married couple on his first assignment as a missionary priest. He was assigned to the United States and got to know this young couple who were expecting their first baby. The woman’s name was Nancy. The baby turned out to be a Down’s baby.

The obstetrician said to the couple, “Are you ready to accept this baby? I can’t tell you that it’s going to be easy. But I can tell you that for every ounce of love that you put into this baby, you’re going to get a pound of love in return.” Nancy said, “Yes, we’re ready to accept whatever comes.”

The priest said, “I was very impressed by that, because nobody gets married and says that they want to have a handicapped child.” He said, “At twenty-eight years of age, I began to ask myself, well, am I ready to accept whatever comes?”

A few years later he was asked to go and work in Rome and handle the financial and the legal and the architectural work of their organization all over the world. One day somebody came to him and said, “What are you doing working behind a desk in Rome? You’re supposed to be a missionary priest. Shouldn’t you be off in Alaska or Brazil someplace?”

He said, “I got my answer from Nancy. I don’t particularly like this job. Much prefer to be somewhere else. Any other place but here, any other time but now, any other job but this. But I tried to accept whatever comes. This is what came along. If somebody came to our organization and said, ‘Well, I’m willing to join your organization as long as I can do all the jobs that I like and be in the places that I like at the time that I like,’ he’d be told, ‘Well, I’m sorry, you don’t have a vocation to our organization.’ Part of the deal is that you have to be ready to accept whatever comes.”

One great message that we get in Joseph’s life is that he was continually accepting whatever came. Joseph could make his own the words of Our Lady, his wife, that were told in St. Luke: “He has looked graciously upon the lowliness of his handmaid... Because He who is mighty, He whose name is holy, has wrought for me His wonders” (Luke 1:48–49).

St. Josemaria said St. Joseph was an ordinary sort of man on whom God relied to do great things. John Paul II says the humility of St. Joseph is also shown by his strong sense of gratitude to God. Our Lord wants us to imitate the Holy Patriarch in this disposition. We need to see all the events of our lives with eyes of faith, with a real determination to live out our vocation in the middle of the world.

We’re told in the liturgy, “He did not give in to the temptation of disbelief before the promise of the Lord. Instead, he became stronger in his faith and gave glory to God” (cf. Rom. 4:20).

Because St. Joseph was truly a humble man, he was able to remain steadfast in his faith through every trial. When the angel explained to him the manner of the Savior’s conception, Joseph believed without any hesitation. It’s reasonable for us to assume that Joseph found it hard to understand why God wanted his son to grow up in such a poor family.

How was Joseph supposed to react to the wicked threat posed by Herod? He must have found it strange that the Son of God would have to run away from a minor despot. How often have we found ourselves in tough situations where the logic of God stands opposed to the logic of men?

St. Joseph knew how to see God in everything that happened. This is because he lived a very holy life. St. Joseph’s hope grew as he awaited the arrival of the Redeemer. Later on, this virtue came into play as he watched the child Jesus develop into manhood. Perhaps he asked Jesus when he would manifest himself to the world.

His sincere love for Jesus and Our Lady must have grown deeper every day. But no one will ever love them as he loved them. That affection was demonstrated in the ordinary events of his working day, of his family life and social relations.

He was a just man. Supernatural grace helps each person to reach the fullness of his or her potentiality according to the providential plan of God. Grace does not just heal the wounds of our human nature. St. Joseph received countless supernatural gifts from God. By his holy correspondence to those graces, Joseph acquired the human and supernatural virtues to a superlative degree.

St. Josemaria has written, “The Gospel gives a picture of a remarkably sound man who was in no way frightened or shy of life. I see him as a strong young man, perhaps a few years older than Our Lady, but in the prime of his life and work.” Through his just behavior and holiness before God, St. Joseph served his neighbors unstintingly. He was a man of his word in business dealings and personal friendships.

This was the man whom God had entrusted with his Mother and Son. God was not disappointed. The life of the Holy Patriarch was full of work, from his time in Nazareth and Bethlehem, in Egypt, and then once again in Nazareth. Everyone knew of Joseph because he was such a hard worker.

He probably gave great importance to the development of a manly character, the type of character that shines through the episodes of the Gospels. St. Matthew repeatedly shows us how promptly Joseph responded to whatever God was asking of him.

During those times in Palestine, the job of a carpenter required dexterity and wide-ranging talents. This tradesman was therefore well-respected in the community. He was responsible for the most varied manufacturing projects, from constructing farming implements to making home furniture. He needed to be adept with any number of tools and implements. He also had to be familiar with the properties of the various materials—their strength, their endurance, their proper uses.

The human and supernatural virtues of St. Joseph are summarized by the Gospel writers in those few words: that he was a just man. St. Joseph was just towards God and just towards other people. His is the kind of behavior we should all aspire to. This is what God expects from each one of us.

The justice of St. Joseph is most evident in the testimony of his cleanliness of heart, of his readiness to learn the will of God and to bring it to fruition. He would have been a cheerful and friendly member of his community. Although the Gospels have not recorded anything Joseph ever said, they nevertheless give us a clear picture of his life and works. This record can serve as a point of reference for us in our efforts to achieve sanctity in our ordinary life.

What is crucially important is the sanctification of daily life. A sanctification which each person must acquire according to his or her own state, and one which can be promoted according to a model accessible to all people.

St. Paul VI said Joseph “is the model of those humble ones that Christianity raises up to great destinies. He is the proof that in order to be a good and genuine follower of Christ, there is no need to do great things. It is enough to have the common, simple, and human virtues, but they need to be true and authentic.”

St. Josemaria repeated and brought to life the advice of St. Teresa of Avila when he says, “Whoever cannot find a teacher to teach him prayer, let him take this glorious saint as his teacher, and he will not err along the way.”

St. Joseph was the most silent saint of all. No one has ever written down a single word of his for our edification. Not one small word of his was saved. That is the word that was the sum of all his life. The precious word he saved for everyone: that he might speak the Cross and not the knife, long, long after he was dead and gone and gathered to his fathers. Never again could he spirit the child and the young girl his mother out of the dangerous city.

For all men of all times, he was chosen and no other, not one from among the prophets. But this rarely heard and wordless man, he was the one to save God’s mighty Word, with a capital W.

We’re told in The Furrow, “While the Holy Family was asleep, the angel appeared to Joseph so that they would be able to flee to Egypt. Mary and Joseph took the child and started out on the journey without delay. They didn’t rebel. They didn’t find excuses. They didn’t wait till the following morning. Tell Our Holy Mother Mary and our Father and Lord St. Joseph that we wish to be prompt in loving all passive penance.”

In The Forge we’re told, “Love St. Joseph a lot. Love him with all your soul because he, together with Jesus, is the person who has most loved Our Lady and been closest to God. He is the person who 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.”

Joseph’s prayer was based on his unique, special, and intimate relationship with Jesus and Our Lady. That’s why he’s a teacher of interior life. His silence shows fullness of faith.

The liturgy invites us to contemplate Our Lady and St. Joseph in a special way who lived the time of waiting and preparation for the birth of Jesus with a unique intensity. He is the model of a righteous man who, in perfect harmony with his spouse, welcomes the Son of God made man and watches over his human growth.

It’s particularly fitting to establish a kind of spiritual dialogue with St. Joseph so that he helps us live to the fullest this mystery of faith. Pope St. John Paul II left us an admirable meditation dedicated to him in his apostolic exhortation Redemptoris Custos, the “Guardian of the Redeemer,” available on the internet. Among the many aspects that he emphasized, he dedicates a particular importance to the silence of Joseph.

His silence is permeated with the contemplation of the mystery of God in an attitude of total availability to the divine will. In other words, the silence of Joseph does not demonstrate an empty interior, but rather the fullness of faith that he carries in his heart and that guides each of his thoughts and actions.

The silence through which Joseph, together with Our Lady, guard the Word of God, known through Sacred Scripture, comparing it continually to the events of the life of Jesus; a silence interwoven with constant prayer, a prayer of blessing of the Lord, of adoration of His Holy Will, and of boundless confidence in His providence.

It’s not exaggerated to say that Jesus would learn on a human level precisely from his father Joseph this intense interior life, which is the condition of authentic righteousness, the interior righteousness which one day he will teach to his disciples. We could ask Our Lord that we might allow ourselves to be infected by the silence of Joseph. That we might cultivate an interior recollection so as to receive and keep Jesus in our lives.

He can be imagined recollected in prayer, lovingly protecting the Son of God made man, who has been entrusted to his paternal care. With the marvelous refinement of one who does not live for himself, the Holy Patriarch spends himself in silent prayer and effective service. We’ve talked about practicing a life of prayer and concern for apostolate.

St. Josemaria says, “Who could be a better teacher for us than St. Joseph? If you want my advice, which I have never tired of repeating these many years, Ite ad Ioseph, go to Joseph. He will show us definite ways, both human and divine, to approach Jesus.”

We can try to learn from him and turn to him in order to pray, to pray with more piety, more simplicity, more intimacy, and more depth.

Joseph was a silent man. But his silence was not empty. It was not simply absence of words and of thoughts, a vacuum occupied by nothing, the silence of an empty mind. It was a profound silence which was full of words mindful of the other, refreshing, a silence of substance. It was the giving up of words before the immense, the incomprehensible, the mystery of God made man, of a virgin who conceived without the help of man, and the mystery of his own vocation.

There was silence also in his imagination. Without interior silence, with a mind surrounded by images which can keep one in a world of fantasy, he would have been filled by a confused stream of meaningless and useless fantasies that make one waste time and do not provide solutions. Instead, he was a person capable of tackling a challenging task, who is more attentive to doing his duty than to an unreal and hypothetical future made of fantasies.

It is better to remain silent in matters that ought not to be spoken of or said; many times out of vanity. We often say things that would be better if we kept quiet about them. At times we hurt others with our remarks. We can turn our words into missiles launched on purpose to hurt others. We might even aim them carefully to cause the greatest damage. We might think ourselves ingenious. We may want to demonstrate our cleverness by humiliating others.

By contrast, Joseph’s silence is truly heroic, especially when confronted with the fact of Our Lady’s pregnancy, which was a heavy blow for him. Days passed and there was no explanation. For him, this was something inconceivable. He was utterly perplexed. He was confronted by the contradiction of two events: Our Lady was going to be a mother, and his conviction about the purity and sanctity of his spouse.

There were several courses of action that he could take. But of all the decisions that were open to him, he took the one which, with regard to Our Lady, harmed her the least, although it was not the most suitable or agreeable to himself. In silence, with no strident reactions or words, he is able to take not only the most charitable decision, but also to think intelligently and in a saintly manner.

In the preparatory prayer for this time of prayer, among other things, we have said: “St. Joseph, my father and lord, intercede for me.” It’s only natural that we ask St. Joseph to intercede so that we might do our prayer well. He lived with Jesus and Mary in great intimacy, fully aware of their identity and dignity, living observing attentively, lovingly providing for them.

It’s easy to realize that his daily life was an uninterrupted contemplation of the divine mysteries that he had before his eyes. He lived the fascinating life of one who saw the prophecies become a reality before his very eyes.

We can turn to Our Lady and ask her that she might help us to get to know her beloved spouse a little bit better during these Sundays of preparation for the great feast of St. Joseph.

I thank you, my God, for the good resolutions, affections, and inspirations that you have communicated to me during this meditation. I ask your help to put them into practice. My Immaculate Mother, St. Joseph, my father and lord, my guardian angel, intercede for me.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.