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| 4.
The fatherhood of Saint Joseph Naturally the most cherished title possessed by the holy Patriarch is the privilege of being called the father of Jesus, which comes to him as Mary's husband. When this holy couple contracted marriage they had no idea it would be blessed with such fruitfulness, being ordained by the gracious providence of God to receive the Son of God, the Redeemer and Saviour of the world. Mary and Joseph were both parents of the Child, but in different ways. Mary by the miraculous intervention of the Holy Spirit became His mother in the full sense of the word. Truly she was the Mother of God, the Redeemer, because she clothed Him with flesh from her own maternal substance. Because of her physical motherhood a metaphysical relationship was established between Mary and Christ in virtue of which she could say that He was her child and, in turn, He could say of Mary: truly this is My Mother. Of all the creatures of God no one is more intimately related to Christ than His Mother. The fatherhood of Joseph and the motherhood of Mary are both due to the miraculous intervention of God. The Divine Motherhood is unique in all of history. What is unique and distinctive about Joseph's fatherhood will become clear only after we have considered the following points: (a) the general concept of fatherhood; (b) false kinds of fatherhood attributed to Joseph; (c) the description of his fatherhood that best accords with the teaching of Revelation. a) The general concept of fatherhood Fatherhood in the <proper> sense is brought about by physical generation whereby life is vitally transmitted by the father to his child. This type of fatherhood is fatherhood in the ordinary sense and can be described as <physical> and <natural> fatherhood. The relationship arising between the father who transmits life and the child who receives that life is a permanent and indissoluble one. Once established, this relationship endures in time and in eternity. Paternity establishes two different bonds. The first, produced by the generative act, can be called <physical> since the father communicates something of his own physical substance to form the body of his son. But paternity establishes a relationship of a higher and more elevated nature, which is the most noble aspect of human fatherhood, namely, the <spiritual> bond of human affection. Sinibaldi writes: Paternity would not be worthy of esteem, except for the excellence of the moral bond, of which it is the natural principle, just as it is of the physical bond. If the physical bond could exist of itself separate from the moral bond, human paternity would not be above that of the brute animal. On the other hand, if the moral bond could exist without the physical, it alone would suffice for true paternity, because it is more beautiful, more perfect, and more sublime. The heart can supply for the physical bond and establish another closer tie, like to that which proceeds from the natural order of fatherhood.22 We call a man father in the <improper> sense when he adopts a child that is not the fruit of his own marriage and bestows upon that child all the love, affection and privileges that he would accord to the child if it were his natural son. In these cases a strong, personal bond of affection arises that can be spoken of as a <true>, but <improper>, type of fatherhood. Cases are not unknown when the father, in the moral order, feels closer to an adopted child than to his own flesh and blood. b) False kinds of fatherhood attributed to Saint Joseph It would be contrary to the teachings of the deposit of faith to claim that Saint Joseph was the <physical> father of Jesus Christ in the <natural> and <proper> sense of the word. This is the clear belief of the Church expressed in the words of the Apostles Creed: "I believe... Jesus Christ, His only Son, Our Lord, who was conceived of the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary." Those who deny the supernatural order hold the opinion that Joseph was the natural father of Christ. Nevertheless there have not been wanting pious authors, moved not by any type of malice but rather by an excessive and exaggerated love of Saint Joseph, who have speculated on the possibility of the Holy Spirit miraculously and without prejudicing the virginity of Mary or Joseph, taking a bit of the virile semen of Joseph to bring about the conception of Christ. This would make Joseph the father of Christ in a <physical> but <virginal> manner. The Church has proscribed such speculation as being destitute of any real foundation; and, in addition, of being contrary to the constant teaching of the faith. Therefore, to claim that the fatherhood of Joseph <can in any possible sense> be described as physical is a serious departure from sound theology and the teachings of the Church. Since he did not cooperate in any physical sense, Joseph's fatherhood could only be in the <moral> order. This implies positively that he was moved by love and generosity to care for Christ and negatively it excludes the possibility of corporal generation. But this only imperfectly describes the situation, as we shall see. c) The fatherhood of Joseph is Unique In the whole course of human history there has never been a type of fatherhood that is identical to that of Saint Joseph. Why is this so? An event occurred in the life of Saint Joseph that has never occurred, and never will occur, to any other married men. This tremendous event implied: (1) that Almighty God miraculously enabled his wife virginally to conceive and bring forth a son; (2) the child in question was the Incarnated Word of God; (3) all this occurred in such a way, according to the special designs of Divine Providence, that the Child was not a stranger to Saint Joseph, but the fruit of his own marriage; (4) and finally Joseph by the same divine decree was, in a true sense, granted the rights and duties of fatherhood towards this Child. It would be a mistake to conclude that what distinguishes Joseph's fatherhood from all forms of human adoptive fatherhood is the fact that the child in question was divine. This oversimplification would miss the whole point. What is also unique in this case is the fact that the marriage of Mary and Joseph was ordained by God to receive the Son of God into the world. The Incarnate Word of God was the fruit of the marriage of this holy couple. Christ was not a stranger to their marriage. Quite different is an ordinary case of human adoptive parenthood, namely, the child adopted and given the rights accorded to natural children, is a <stranger> to the marriage of the couple in the sense that their marriage was not ordained to receive that child and care for him. Were it ever to happen that God would miraculously and virginally make a man's wife fruitful precisely because of his marriage to her, that man would become the father of the child in the singular way that Joseph is the father of Christ. God could not in justice deny him a paternal right to the fruit of his wife's womb. go to page 1, 2, 3 |
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