Dominican friars in formation within the Province of Saint Joseph are introduced to a special custom for praying to St. Joseph. The prior rings a small bell to bring dinner to a close. The friars then rise from their places at table and the cantor intones “Ecce,” the first word of a brief antiphon to St. Joseph: “Ecce fidelis servus et prudens, Quem constituit Dominus super familiam suam”—“Behold, a faithful and prudent steward, whom the Lord placed over His household.”
This antiphon reminds friars that the Lord has providentially placed a particular protector over our province. St. Joseph serves as a unique intercessor on our behalf and a supernatural protector for our houses.
These roles that St. Joseph plays are real and important. The antiphon also highlights how St. Joseph, as a man responsible for others, models the Christian life to friars and all the faithful.
So often, St. Joseph can seem like a benefactor very distant and far different from us. After all, St. Joseph lived two thousand years ago, he spoke a language very different from ours, and he was tasked with providing for the Incarnate Word of God. Who could be more foreign to us than a person like St. Joseph!
But still, St. Joseph truly is like us. To see why, we need to see that St. Joseph was entrusted with the life of another, the life of the child Jesus. As a true father, St. Joseph watched over, provided for, and raised his son Jesus. Yet, paradoxically, this son that St. Joseph watched over was none other than the Living God who created St. Joseph, held St. Joseph in being, and watched over St. Joseph with the care of divine providence.
While it may seem strange at first, this very paradox of St. Joseph’s life relates us to him. We, too, have been entrusted with a life not our own: a share in God’s divine life by grace. Upon our baptism into the Lord Jesus, this divine life is poured into our hearts as a pure gift. In no way could we earn it, increase it, or even keep it alive in us on our own, and yet we are tasked with nourishing and protecting it. The child Jesus’ life was such an unearned gift to St. Joseph: a gift to be received at the Incarnation, to be provided for throughout his childhood, and even to be protected when Herod sought the infant’s life.
So the paradox of St. Joseph’s life isn’t so foreign to us. We can thus look to St. Joseph, not only as intercessor and protector, but also as a model who speaks to the paradox of our lives as Christians. May St. Joseph guide us in giving thanks for this divine life we’ve received, in seeking its increase within us, and in responding with courage to every danger that seeks to extinguish this life of Jesus within us. In short, may we too receive the gift of being faithful and prudent stewards of the life entrusted to us by God.
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Image: Gerrit van Honthorst, Childhood of Christ
