St Joseph is a rather peculiar figure. We know very little of him, and what we do know, we know mostly indirectly. He remains hidden from the main narrative in all the Gospels, and he never says as much as one word. Yet Matthew, in his terse infancy narrative at the very onset of his Gospel, cared to pass a comment on this humble man which should not be glossed over on account of its meaningful significance. St Matthew calls Joseph dikaios, a righteous man.
Anyone familiar with the New Testament would immediately intuit that this notion of righteousness is of no little importance. Indeed, Matthew employs it more than any of the other Gospel authors.
