4. Saint Joseph was a just man
Saint Matthew tells us that Saint Joseph was "a just man"15. In biblical language this means one who is adorned with all the virtues. Matthew stresses the justice of Saint Joseph when he describes the doubt that tormented him when Mary is "found to be with child"16.

We have already seen that Mary and Joseph were married, though not living together, at the time that Christ was conceived. In all probability Mary did not feel she had a right to inform Joseph of the mysterious event. Yet she was anxious for him to be informed, and knew he would be profoundly disturbed if he learned of her pregnancy and did not know of its miraculous origin.

This is exactly what came to pass. Joseph learned that his wife was with child, and knowing that he himself was not the natural father of the child, his mind was in a state of agonizing confusion.

Now that Joseph knew of the pregnancy of his wife, how did he account for this fact? Did he, as a few of the Fathers of the Church held, think that Mary had been raped or that she had committed adultery? Or are we to surmise that Joseph came to the conclusion that Mary had miraculously conceived a child by the power of God? Some have suggested a third possibility, namely, that Saint Joseph admitted to himself that he did not know how this could have happened and that at first he simply did not know what to do.

The first opinion, that Joseph thought she had been unfaithful, is not acceptable to modern scholars. It is extremely unlikely that Joseph entertained such an opinion. He knew Mary to be the holiest person he had ever met and he was aware that his young wife was a woman of profound spiritual insight and totally committed to the faithful fulfillment of the will of God. Never for an instant could we imagine him questioning her innocence.

He would, under the circumstances, be much more likely to be sympathetic to the second opinion: that she had miraculously conceived a child by the power of God. Rather than harbor any suspicion against his wife, he would have been prepared to accept this possibility on blind faith. Nevertheless, it is not likely that he came to this conclusion. A miraculous virginal conception was unheard of. Such an event would never have entered the mind of man without the aid of a divine revelation.

Thus by a process of elimination we come to the third possibility: Saint Joseph was baffled; he just did not know what to think. He was dumfounded.
Since Joseph was convinced of Mary's innocence, he naturally did not believe that he had an obligation of accusing Mary to the authorities who, in turn, would be obliged to have her stoned as an adulteress. All his feelings told him that Mary was more truly and fully good than any other person he had ever known. More than anything else he did not want to be separated from her. The heart has its reasons, said Pascal; it has reasons that cannot always be formulated in concepts, as we know from the teachings of the great mystics. And if ever that were true, it was true of the sentiments that Joseph experienced in wanting to take Mary to be his wife. The great mystical writers have described the condition of the soul that "feels" that it has been abandoned by God though it knows full well "by the obscure light of faith" that such is not the case. In the case of Saint Joseph it may well have been a mystical struggle that he was experiencing in which his deepest feelings and sentiments told him that he must never give Mary up, whereas reason (in the absence of any clear revelation from on high) made him suspect that he was obliged in conscience (a judgment of the practical intellect that is not <infallible> without a special revelation) to do the thing that he dreaded most, namely, to be forever divorced from Mary.

Surely he prayed for light. And waited. And God responded to his faith: "Behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream saying: Do not be afraid, Joseph, Son of David, to take to thee Mary thy wife, for that which is begotten in her is of the Holy Spirit''17.

We can easily imagine the joy that filled his heart. He determined to celebrate the solemnization of the marriage as soon as possible. As he reflected on the words of the angel there seemed to be more and more reason for happiness and joy, since the angel's words meant that Mary would be forever his, and it also meant that, in a way that was difficult to put into words, the Child was not completely a stranger to him but that it was <somehow> his Son.
In this account of Matthew we would say, in current English, that there had arisen a first-class misunderstanding between Joseph and Mary, between husband and wife. And it is admirable what manliness Joseph exhibits in striving to overcome the misunderstanding according to the light of reason and of faith. Torn between his sentiments of love for Mary and the law of God as he knew it through the light of conscience, he was prepared to follow the only light on God's will that he had. He, like Abraham before him, was prepared to sacrifice what was dearest to him in all the world; but at the appropriate time God intervened (as always) to help the weakness of His servant.

As Abraham was prepared to sacrifice Isaac who was most dear to him because of the <signified> (clearly indicated) will of God18, so Joseph was similarly concerned with responding to the will of God as he understood that will during the time of his doubt. This was not a theoretical question but a real existential spiritual trial that Joseph, the "just man", underwent.

Recalling that Joseph was probably only a teen-ager at the time sheds a great deal of light on the Scriptural mention of his justice. Not only was he trying to do what was just or fair, but this effort was prompted by his inner goodness, by his life-long generous fidelity to the will of God. Only a man open to the holiness of God would have struggled with the problem as did Joseph. Only such a man could have been tempted to make the mistake he did, namely, of selling himself short because he was convinced that it was the very thing God was demanding of him. An ordinary teen-ager, or for that matter, an ordinary man, would have been tempted to sell God short rather than himself.

The love that Abraham nourished towards his God was proven by his willingness to sacrifice Isaac; and God rewarded him by making him the "father of many". Abraham's descendent, Joseph, was rewarded even more amply for the selflessness and purity of his love. Through the words of the Angel he was told that he was to take Mary to be his wife and that he would be at least somehow the father of the Redeemer and, thereby, the spiritual father, in a much more profound sense than Abraham, of the people of God here on earth.

5. Appendix: The death of Joseph
After the episode of the Child Jesus in the temple, the gospels do not tell us any more about Saint Joseph. His name is mentioned, in passing, when we learn that Christ began His public ministry when he was about thirty years of age, being as it was supposed the "son of the carpenter"19. But there is no indication given that he was still alive.
In all probability Joseph died before Our Lord begins His public career; certainly before the wedding feast at Cana.
We know that Saint Joseph was a carpenter and it is extremely likely, according to tradition, that he taught his Son the same trade. Though born of the royal house of David, he was a man of modest circumstances and earned a living for his family by the sweat of his brow. We would be doing Joseph an injustice were we to imagine him being anything less than a good craftsman. While the Holy Family did not live in luxury, thanks to the diligence of Joseph it was properly provided for.

By teaching his Son his own trade, he made it possible for Our Lord to provide for Himself and for Mary till He began His public ministry. The work of Saint Joseph was completed.

Tradition has always believed that it was necessary for Joseph to disappear from the scene or he would have been an obstacle to the preaching of Christ. Think how confusing it would have been for Christ to be preaching about His heavenly Father if Joseph were close at hand! There is every reason to suspect that the multitudes would have thought He was speaking about Joseph. In order to obviate such difficulties, the early death of Joseph was convenient. Joseph had to decrease that the kingdom of God on earth could increase.

And so, some time before Christ began to preach publicly the good news of salvation, Joseph died, assisted and comforted by the loving presence of Jesus and Mary ,a death that was later to become the cherished ideal of all Christians.

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