God’s plan for our good began with a family. He created Adam and Eve to support each other, to be fruitful and multiply, and to render him worship. Unfortunately, this union under God between man and woman was disrupted by the entry of sin, leaving Adam and Eve broken and fallen away. This brokenness is still with us today, and the consequences of this first sin are dramatically visible in the tragedy of abortion. In place of God’s plan for the good of mother and child, we find the terrible severing of this bond.

God did not mean for Eve to face temptation alone, but, unfortunately, Adam failed to stand by her when the serpent tempted her. Instead, he went along with the sin. When questioned by God afterwards, Adam avoided responsibility; he blamed Eve and even blamed God for having given him Eve. He is the first to fall in his responsibility as a husband, although he later managed to become a worthy husband and father. Since Adam, many men have taken up the task of being a husband and father; many have done well, but many have also failed.

Pregnancy and motherhood are not challenges that God intended for a woman to face alone. He intended children to come in the context of a loving family, even a loving extended family. This makes pregnant women especially vulnerable if they are left without support. It can even make the sin of abortion seem like a good option. For example, many who have a complicated pregnancy are encouraged to have an abortion. Unwed mothers, for their part, often face uncertainty about their future and shame if their situation becomes known. Many women in such difficult situations are able to choose life, but this sometimes requires great virtue. Men are able to make important and sometimes heroic contributions in these cases if they stand by and support women, but they are frequently tempted, like Adam, to shirk their responsibilities. Children need both a mother and a father. Sadly, if either withdraws or refuses to meet this responsibility, abortion may follow. The original plan of God then becomes obscured by a terrible rupture.

Yet God works to repair this broken world. One of the ways he does this is by raising up saints who heroically live out certain virtues. If we want to find a heroic husband and father, we can look to St. Joseph, the husband of Mary and foster father of Jesus.

Joseph took Mary, a consecrated virgin, as his wife and forewent the legitimate pleasures of marriage so that his bride could give herself fully to God. When he found her pregnant before their wedding, he sought to resolve the situation quietly in order to protect her reputation. When in a dream he learned of God’s plan, he did not hesitate to take upon himself the responsibility of raising the Son of God. When a bloodthirsty king killed many children in the hopes of killing Jesus, Joseph took his small family and fled to a foreign land. Through poverty and pain, he remained the faithful father of Jesus and husband of Mary.

Joseph succeeded where Adam failed. He remained at Mary’s side amid all threats to her child; she did not have to face these hardships alone. Furthermore, he never did anything to hurt her or to cast blame upon her. When she became pregnant, a lesser man might have tried to publicly shame Mary. This never occurred to Joseph, who sought to resolve the situation without questioning Mary’s honor. Joseph turns Adam’s negligence and betrayal to solicitude and fidelity.

Joseph is not just an example of authentic manhood and fatherhood; he is also a powerful intercessor in heaven. God has given us Joseph as a sign and instrument of the redemption of the world, in cooperation with the redemption wrought by Christ. This redemption has rewritten the story of sin. In this year of St. Joseph, we ask for his protection of the unborn, and his intercession for all the men, women, and children who are victims of the tragedy of abortion.