Thank God for St Joseph

The magazine of the budget airline Ryan Air, a retired bishop informs me, tells of a Franz Seelos who makes cribs in the Tyrol. His house and shop beneath caught fire and his immediate response to his wife was "I'll take the cribs. You take the kids." The bishop then uses the story to preach guilt to other retired clergy regarding their possible neglect of family whilst they worked for their churches during their active years. The message - "the care of near and dear should be a priority, let someone else look after the cribs".

I disagree.

The crib maker's instincts were God given. Let's have none of this contemporary politically correct approach to marriage and family life. The man's role is first of all to protect and provide. That is how he shows his love and care.

Thank God for the example of St Joseph. It was Mary's vocation to give birth to Jesus and to nurture him as a child. Joseph's vocation (which he fulfilled splendidly) was to protect them and provide for them. It was God's plan that our Lord should have these gifts of love from his father and that they should play a unique part in the formation of his own character.