Spiritual formation

Discover friends – 

Saint Joseph

“Ite Ad Joseph” * (Go to Joseph)

Michelle M. Avila-Vincoy, 35th Generation – San Jose

I have never been so fascinated with a man whose spirituality is so deep yet remains to be very simple and humble like St. Joseph. We simply look at him in the stories we learned from the Scriptures: the foster father of Jesus, the husband of Mary, a hard-working carpenter, a silent worker. But underlying his many responsibilities is a man whose deep faith and trust in God is worth emulating.

His deep trust in God is unshakable. And I was personally awed by this. In the gospel of Matthew, having learned about Mary’s pregnancy, Joseph had a plan of quietly letting her go. Indeed, a manifestation of his deep love for Mary. He wanted to spare her from future pain and difficulties. But when the angel came in his dreams, amidst uncertainty and doubt, he immediately followed the will of God and change his plans. Glaringly, we can sense a pure courage to follow God above his personal choices. Upon following the will of God, life for him and Mary had not been as easy and as comfortable as we thought. They had shares of difficulties and challenges yet Joseph endured and remained steadfast in hope and this made an impact on Jesus’ formation as a human person.

Prior to my formation in Mother of Life, I have not had a deeper appreciation of the life of this saint. But as his life and virtues were unfolded to me, I took him as my favorite saint and slowly developed a devotion to him. I see in him a man of gentle attitude and graciousness—a man who amid confusions and chaos– remained calm, gentle, and peace-loving. He is a man who puts all his passion and affection into the people he loved. Now that I am already married, I look at St. Joseph as an exemplar of a good spouse and parent. In my devotion to him, my eldest son is named after him. I pray that I would follow his example of rearing my children wonderfully and becoming a more faithful and loving wife.

In this time of the pandemic, as our lives are challenged by the virus, we hold on to the example of St. Joseph whose trust and faith in God never wavered until the end. Let us “go to Joseph”, look at him and see that with deep love and faith in God, in the end, everything will fall into its rightful place.