Dear Parishioners of St. James:
Praised be Jesus Christ!
This year dedicated to St. Joseph allows us to consider his virtues as a model husband to the Blessed Virgin Mary as written of by Father Donald H. Calloway in his book Consecration to St. Joseph (Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception, 2020). Sacred Scripture calls St. Joseph the “husband of Mary” (Mt. 1:16,19). If God chose St. Joseph to marry Our Lady then he must have been the best of husbands.
St. Joseph “took Mary his wife into his home” (Mt. 1:24). In obedience to the angel, St. Joseph received Mary with great humility as his wife. He provided a home for her and the Incarnate Son of God. He sacrificed willingly and joyfully for his wife and foster Child. He loved Mary and would do anything for her. He accompanied Mary to the census in Bethlehem, made provisions for the birth of the Christ, accompanied his wife to the circumcision, the presentation in the temple and was at her side constantly until they found the 12 year-old Son of God in the temple. Wives flourish when their husbands support them. St. Joseph is an excellent model of constancy in love for his wife.
St. Joseph is also a model of purity and complete command of his appetites. Tradition tells us that he was a virgin before marriage and, certainly, during his marriage with the ever-virgin Mary. St. Joseph is a model for husbands in safeguarding the virtue of their wives. Even though married Christians do not take vows of virginity they nonetheless are responsible to guard their spouse’s dignity in dress, language, courtesy and sexual relations. St. Joseph teaches husbands how to be pure, chaste, modest and sacrificial toward their wives.
We owe God (and our wives) pure love. Ask St. Joseph to help you as a husband to love your wives like he did and to love Jesus and Mary with similar constancy and devotion.
God bless you,
Fr. Geary
Saint James Catholic Church 