I once told a priest how much I had appreciated a beautiful homily he had given on Our Lady. He smiled mischievously and replied: ‘Well, I am the rector of a Marian shrine. It wouldn’t say much if I couldn’t preach on her!’
As well as having the care of a church dedicated to St Joseph the Worker, I have always been struck by him in the Gospel narratives. Could there be a better example of actions speaking louder than words? He is there at the most important and intimate moments of Our Lord’s hidden life, and yet he says little. Nothing, even. Not a single word he spoke is recorded. Yet we need no pretty speeches to understand why the Church places the figure of St Joseph before us. The collect for today reminds us to ask for St Joseph’s intercession so that the ‘Church may constantly watch over the mysteries of human salvation, whose beginnings you [God] entrusted to his faithful care’. Actions indeed speak louder than words, and it is St Joseph’s actions which should serve to encourage us and inspire us.
