The Chaste Heart and the Love for the Holy Innocents

How St. Joseph Impacted Christ's Ministry (Part 1)

We Are Shaped By Those Placed in Authority Over Us

I by no means claim to be a theological expert. I couldn’t break down the two natures of Christ- human and divine- like saints and theologians have done at expert levels. Even they would admit, however, that they have only cracked the surface of the mystery that is the “Hypostatic Union”- the co-existence of Christ’s human and Divine natures.

I don’t claim to put forward any new, ground-breaking theological piece in this post. All that I want to do in this article is write about our spiritual father, St. Joseph. As many who have read the Gospels know, St. Joseph has no recorded dialogue in the Sacred Scriptures. He is completely silent, and Sacred Tradition teaches us that Joseph died before Christ began His public ministry.

What I propose to do here is put forward a realization that I had during my prayer time recently. While reflecting on the ministry of Christ, I realized that, while he was silent throughout the Scriptures, St. Joseph’s fingerprints were all over everything that Jesus did.

Think about it- if Christ has a human nature, then that human nature would be formed like ours. There have been numerous studies, writings, and just lived experiences on the impact that fathers have on their children and their development. This is especially true when we examine the relationships between a father and his son. The ways that Christ looked at poor sinners in need of mercy, showed love and reverence to His mother at Cana, spoke clearly on the danger of sin, taught about the life of prayer and virtue, etc- there had to be an influence and inspiration on the human nature of Christ while He did all of those things. Most likely, that inspiration was from St. Joseph.

This led me to reflect on my own teaching experience. More often than not, we educators teach in the ways that we most effectively learned. I can think of very concrete experiences where my teachers’ impacts “bled through” into my own style of instruction.

If all of this is true, the impact of fathers on sons and teachers on students, then how Christ teaches, heals, and acts in His public ministry will reveal something about the Chaste Heart of St. Joseph. We only need “ears to hear” (Matthew 13:9).

The Chaste Heart Had a Special Place for the Holy Innocents

There were multiple times that Christ sternly rebuked His Apostles. In fact, the most famous is probably when He told St. Peter, “‘Get behind me, Satan’” (Matthew 16:23). However, there is something to be learned from when Christ demanded that His Apostles step aside and “‘Let the children come to [Him]’” (Matthew 19:14).

Understandably, this is often cited to defend infant Baptism and the practice of having children come to Mass, even if they scream and cry, but it goes much deeper than that. Why would Christ show so much compassion towards little children? It would have been enough for Jesus to merely teach, “‘Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven’” (Matthew 18:3). So, why the extra emphasis on the little children, their guardian angels, and the blessing that Christ gives at the end of His preaching?

For starters, children are made in the image of God. Sure, they don’t have the mental capacity or physical capabilities of an adult, but that’s not what Christ is worried about! He wants us to become saints so that we can spend eternity with the Trinity. Children, being little, trusting, and dependent, are in exactly the right space to be transformed by the grace of God. A necessary, vital spiritual lesson by all means!. . . but there is an opportunity for even deeper reflection on what Christ teaches about the little children.

We know that St. Joseph had to abruptly uproot his family shortly after Christ was born and flee to Egypt. Why? Because a bloodthirsty maniac of a king, Herod, ordered the slaughter of thousands of Hebrew male babies in hopes of preserving his own kingship over Judea.

Naturally, St. Joseph had his priorities in order. He had to protect his Son, the Messiah, and that required fleeing to foreign territory to ensure Jesus’ protection.

Of the little that we know about St. Joseph, we do know this- God had a reason for choosing him as the earthly father and protector of His only begotten Son. (Ya know, that’s kind of a big deal!) This is a man who is called to the heights of holiness, which means that Joseph would have a proper, holy understanding of the absolute sanctity of life. The heartache that St. Joseph felt about leaving behind the only land that he’d ever known and his Son being hunted down by the government was most likely only matched by the knowledge that thousands of innocent baby boys were being killed during that time.

A traumatic event like that is sure to stick with a man for the rest of his life. This was a man deemed powerful, yes, but also tender and gentle enough to be entrusted with holding the sleeping Son of God, play with Him, and teach Him valuable spiritual lessons. A man like that is sure to sympathize and feel the pain of those parents who lost their children.

Since Christ had a human nature that needed formation, “he had to become like his brothers in every way” (Hebrews 2:17), I highly doubt that it was lost on St. Joseph to teach Christ about the slaughter of the Holy Innocents. Not only that, but a man like St. Joseph was likely to offer prayer and fasting on behalf of the heinous crime that was committed during the Holy Family’s flight into Egypt.

Surely, Christ saw the way that his father felt the pain and weight of that slaughter. Perhaps that was a beautiful, formative experience that Jesus carried into His public ministry. As his father understood the sanctity of life and the need to treat children with tenderness and mercy, so Christ instructed others with that in mind. Therefore, we see St. Joseph’s love for children in Christ’s compassion and care in calling them to be with Him during His preaching.

We know that crowds would surround Christ to just have a chance at touching the edge of His tunic (Matthew 9:21). Just imagine the astonishment of the crowd and the privilege that was bestowed on the children when Christ not only called them forward, but gave them all a special blessing by, “[placing] his hands on them” (Matthew 19:15). To make contact with the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity is no small deal. There’s a care and tenderness that Christ carried with Him into His public ministry. I believe that has a lot to do with the example of St. Joseph.

I Pray That You Understand. . .

I am by no means trying to say anything controversial or heretical in these articles. Understand that it is with reverence that I tread this most holy ground of the life of Christ and his earthly father. I merely want to put forth that behind Christ’s actions, there is a human element. Perhaps that human element was impacted deeply by the life of his father, St. Joseph. If that’s the case, there’s much to be learned about the Silent Protector of Christ and Head of the Holy Family.

In part 2, we will examine another example of a teaching from Christ’s public ministry further revealing the Chaste Heart of St. Joseph. When we learn about one member of the Holy Family, we learn about all 3 members.

St. Joseph the Glory of Domestic Life, pray for us!