Under the Patronage of St. Joseph

Baccalaureat Mass
Ateneo de Naga High School
15 March 2008

Fr. Joel Tabora, S.J.

Your graduation falls on the eve of the most holy week in the liturgical calendar, the week in which the Passion, Death and Resurrection of the Lord is solemnly commemorated.  As this season commenced with ashes on our foreheads to remind us  that we are but dust, and to dust we return, the Holy Week celebrates our redemption from being mere dust and dirt through the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, our Lord.  The preparation for this Holy Week is shrouded in the purple of the season, marked by penance and sacrifice, and our desires and efforts to return to our Lord.

This year, however, through the fortuity of the lunar year, the celebration of the Solemnity of St. Joseph is rescheduled from the middle of the Holy Week to this day.  I think we may take it as a special grace that the celestial bodies and Heavenly powers colluded to provide you on your graduation a special Patron.  Today, the somber colors of Lent are shed, the white colors of celebration are donned, and the Father provides you as your graduation patron the same good man, protector and provider that He provided his own Son while on earth. 

The Scriptures do not say much about St. Joseph. But what is said is enough to give us inspiration for the rest of our lives. 
First, St. Joseph was a “just man.”  He was a man who did justice to others.  He was a craftsman.  In rendering his service to others, he did not cheat his customers; he wronged no man, maltreated no woman.  He worked hard and well, and so was a delight to those who sought his services.  He was also a man who did justice to himself.  He did not cheat himself.  He did not live nor act beneath himself.  He did not disobey the commands within himself to do good, to avoid evil.  He did not disregard the interior call to love his God and his fellow human beings.  With his mind, he was open to the mysteries and challenges of life in creation and human society.  With his will, he was open to achieving good, to rending service, and the genuine human love. In a word, St. Joseph, the just man, was a good man.

Isn’t the challenge for us from St. Joseph on graduation day clear?

Second, St. Joseph was a man of love, compassion and kindness. Joseph loved Mary.  He loved her so much, he entered into a formal engagement with her.  He wanted to marry her, have children with her, and live with her happily.  All this changed, however, when Joseph suddenly found Mary with child.  They had not yet married, they had had no sexual relations,  she was already pregnant.  One can imagine how shocked, hurt and disappointed Joseph was.  He must have felt embarrassed, cheated and betrayed.  Yet, loving Mary, and not wishing to shame her publicly, as legally he could have, he resolved to “put her away privately.”  It was his personal goodness, his compassion, his justice his response to her was exceedingly kind.  However, he was yet to face a deeper challenge from God.  In a dream, it was revealed to him how it was through the Holy Spirit that Mary was with Child.  “Fear not to take her as your wife,” the angel said, “for what is conceived of her is of the Holy Spirit.”  The message itself must have been difficult for Joseph, challenging him in relationship to God to the core.  But his response was a response of faith, not of skepticism, of courage, not of cowardice, similar to the response Mary made to the angel upon learning her role in salvation, “Be it done to me according to your will.”  To the extraordinary revelation, Joseph said, “Yes!”- saying yes then also to the extraordinary role he would play in salvation’s unfolding – as foster father of Jesus, companion of Mary, protector of Mary and the Child, and loyal Provider. 

For it was Joseph who stood by Mary and assisted her as she gave birth to the Child in the stable, because there was no room for them in the inn.  It was he who helped her care for the Child in the manger.

It was Joseph who was the intimate companion of Mary in raising the Child and seeing him develop into the preacher and miracle worker that would call all to the Kingdom of God.

It was Joseph who protected Mary and the Child against the murderous designs of Herod, ably bringing the Child to safety in Egypt until Herod had passed away.

It was Joseph who quietly labored day in and day out to provide Mary and the Child with sufficient food, shelter, and clothing until Jesus was ready for mission.  It was Joseph who taught Jesus the skills of his trade so that Jesus himself became a carpenter, a craftsman, able to work with his hands. 

On this day, you graduate under the special aegis of St. Joseph.  Through God’s grace and under St Joesph’s patronage,  as fruit of the years you have spent here at the Ateneo de Naga:

May you be just persons, as St. Joseph was just. May you be persons who give others their due.  That is no small prayer in our world of endemic corruption, manipulation and thievery.  May you be persons who do justice to yourselves, not shortchanging yourselves in self-respect, but outdoing yourselves in goodness. 

May you be persons of love, compassion and kindness – as Joseph was in his hour of crisis.  May you love deeply, powerfully and passionately.  But may your love be filled with insight, understanding and compassion as you accept your beloved in truth.  With St. Joseph, may you be filled with exemplary kindness. 

As St. Joseph, may you be specially intimate with Jesus and Mary. 

As St. Joseph, may you be deft and heroic in protecting Jesus in a world that continues in hostility to plot his death, rather than accept the challenge of his Father’s Kingdom.

As St. Joseph, may you work hard – in your college, in your areas of interest, in your fields of special engagement – to co-labor with Jesus – Resurrected, but still carrying His Cross.

With Jesus, Mary and Joseph, then, may this graduation celebrate what has hopefully become a cornerstone imperative of your lives:  Primum regnum Dei!  First, not the will of your parents, nor that of your friends, nor that of the world.  Primum regnum Dei.  First, the Kingdom of God!