Joseph of Nazareth 		March 19
Joseph appears in the New Testament only a few times, mainly in the infancy narratives of Matthew and Luke. These are part of the proclamation of who Jesus is rather than historical narratives. No reliable biographical material about Joseph is available.
The interest of both Matthew and Luke in Joseph is to show that Jesus belongs to David’s line. They present Joseph as a loyal and faithful Jew, a good and just man. He trusts the message of the angel that Mary’s pregnancy is “of the Holy Spirit”, when he himself had suspected her of unfaithfulness. He attends to the appropriate rites of circumcision, naming and purification associated with the birth of Jesus, and makes the annual pilgrimage to Jerusalem for the Passover. He protects the child by taking him and his mother to Egypt during Herod’s reign, and shares with Mary the anxious search for Jesus on the journey back from Jerusalem when Jesus is twelve.
Apart from the infancy narratives of Matthew and Luke, Joseph is scarcely mentioned in the New Testament. Matthew refers to Jesus once as “the carpenter’s son” (Matthew 13:55). Luke calls Jesus “son of Joseph” (Luke 4:22). In John, Philip tells Nathanael about “Jesus, son of Joseph” (John 1:45), and the crowd asks, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know?” (John 6:42). None of this adds anything to our knowledge of Joseph beyond that he was a carpenter.
Later Christian writings attempted to supply details of Joseph’s life, but they have no historical foundation. Since other members of Jesus’ family are mentioned in the ministry of Jesus whereas Joseph is not, it is presumed that Joseph died before Jesus’ ministry began. Veneration of Joseph developed in the eastern church from the fourth century, but was much later in the western church, being promoted there from the fifteenth century.
For Liturgical Use
According to Matthew, Joseph was a carpenter. He is referred to in the infancy narratives of Matthew and Luke. His importance there is to establish Jesus as David’s descendant. Matthew and Luke also present Joseph as a just man, a devout and loyal Jew, who attends to the Jewish legal and religious obligations surrounding the birth of Jesus and offers care and protection to the child and his mother.
Sentence
You, O Lord, are our father; our Redeemer from of old is your name.	Isaiah 63:16
Collects
God our guardian and protector,
you called Joseph to share in the nurture
of Jesus our Saviour;
give us grace to be faithful as he was to your call,
and to be obedient to all your commands;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Jesus,
God in human form,
we thank you for Joseph, Mary’s husband,
who treated you as a son;
we commend to you all those
who care for children not their own.
Psalms	119:57-64	123
Readings
2 Samuel 7:4,8,12-16	I will make your name great
Romans 4:13-16		The promise to Abraham
Matthew 2:13-15,19-23	A faithful guardian
Post Communion Sentence
The faithfulness of the Lord will be your shield and defence.	Psalm 91:4