"We must be convinced that, in consideration of his great merits, God will not refuse St. Joseph any grace he asks for those who honor him.”
-St. Alphonsus Liguori
Jesus chose to enter the world through the human family. He came as an infant born into the marriage and home of the two holiest people who ever lived: Joseph and Mary.
Although Jesus was God, He was obedient to Mary and Joseph as a child. Scripture says that under their watchful care “Jesus advanced in wisdom, and age, and grace with God and men” (Luke 2:51-52).
In this Jesus gave us an example. We too as His disciples are meant to entrust ourselves to Joseph and Mary, learning from them how to grow in holiness.
As Christians we are blessed to have Mary as our spiritual mother and Joseph as our spiritual father. Just as Mary guides us from heaven with loving devotion, so too St. Joseph diligently provides for the needs of the family of God, the Holy Catholic Church.
Because of his special role as foster-father of the Child Jesus, St. Joseph has merited singular privileges in heaven unmatched by any saint excepting the Blessed Virgin Mary.
The Catholic Church has always honored St. Joseph as the Head of the Holy Family; yet he has become increasingly prominent in the spiritual life of the Church over the last 150 years, as Fr. Donald Calloway, MIC, lists in his new book, Consecration to St. Joseph: The Wonders of Our Spiritual Father:
This providential sequence of events shows how the Holy Spirit is at work teaching us the importance of devotion to St. Joseph at this moment in salvation history. “Now is the time of St. Joseph!” writes Father Calloway, “In our day, Jesus wants the Church to know, love, honor, and seek refuge in the spiritual fatherhood of St. Joseph.”