The document discusses the holiness of the Holy Family home in Nazareth. It describes Nazareth as a paradise on earth where Jesus, Mary and Joseph lived in holiness. It says the home reflected the paradise described in Revelation, where nothing unclean can enter. It discusses the holiness of Jesus as the Word Incarnate, and Mary as the Immaculate Conception. It argues St. Joseph must have been sanctified and free from original sin and its effects to be a worthy spouse of Mary and guardian of Jesus. The document suggests St. Joseph's mission was to express God the Father's purity, love and wisdom on Earth. It claims the Holy Family transformed through seeing God's face and living in
2. Last week we saw that the home at Nazareth was
born of St. Joseph’s opened heart. To enter more
deeply into the mystery of St. Joseph, we must
consider the home at Nazareth more deeply.
3. The Home of St. Joseph at Nazareth
• “Jesus went down with Mary and Joseph
and came to Nazareth, and was obedient
to them them” (Luke 2:51).
• The Holy Family “was a heaven, a
paradise on earth, endless delights in this
place of grief; it was a glory already begun
in the vileness, abjection and lowliness of
their life” (Monsignor Jean Jacques Olier).
Source: Doze, Fr. Andrew, “Saint Joseph: The Shadow of the
Father,” Trans. Audett, F., Alba House, New York, 1992, p. 52.
4. The Holy Family is not so much a reflection of the
Paradise in Eden, but of the Paradise in the Book
of Revelation.
5. The Paradise in Revelation
“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth …
‘Behold, the dwelling of God is with men. He will
dwell with them, and they shall be his people,
and God himself will be with them; he will wipe
away every tear from their eyes, and death shall
be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor
crying nor pain any more … But nothing unclean
shall enter it, nor any one who practices
abomination or falsehood, but only those who are
written in the Lamb’s book of life.’”
Revelation 21:1-27
6. One of the chief characteristics of the Paradise in
the Book of Revelation is that nothing unclean can
enter into it. We need to consider the holiness of
the Holy Family very carefully.
7. The Holiness of Jesus and Mary
• Jesus is the Word Incarnate: “Holy, holy, holy,
is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and
is to come” (Revelation 4:8).
• Mary is the Immaculate Conception: “The most
Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment
of her conception, by a singular grace and
privilege of almighty God and by virtue of the
merits of Jesus Christ, Savior of the human
race, preserved immune from all stain of
original sin” (Pope Pius IX, Ineffabilis Deus,
1854).
8. St. Joseph: The Second Greatest Saint
“In truth, the dignity of the Mother of God is so lofty
that naught created can rank above it. But as
Joseph has been united to the Blessed Virgin by the
ties of marriage, it may not be doubted that he
approached nearer than any to the eminent dignity
by which the Mother of God surpasses so nobly all
created natures.”
Pope Leo XIII, Quamquam Pluries, 1889
9. The Holiness of St. John the Baptist
• “I tell you, among those born of women none is
greater than John; yet he who is least in the
kingdom of God is greater than he” (Luke
7:28).
• “Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and
you shall call his name John. And you will
have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at
his birth … he will be filled with the Holy Spirit
even from his mother’s womb” (Luke 1:13-15).
• “For behold, when the voice of your greeting
came to my ears, the babe in my womb leaped
for you” (Luke 1:44).
10. The Holiness of St. Joseph
• We do NOT have a definitive teaching from the
Church.
• Many saints and theologians have postulated
that St. Joseph was sanctified in his mother’s
womb – in a manner more eminent than St.
John the Baptist.
• The stain of Original Sin was removed the
second after it had been contracted.
• Further, they postulate that the effects of sin –
the triple concupiscence – was totally destroyed
in St. Joseph or at least minimized so that it did
not hinder the exercise of his responsibilities.
11. A Great Mystery of the Spousal Bond
• “Marriage is the most intimate of all unions which from its
essence imparts a community of gifts between those that
by it are joined together. Thus in giving Joseph the
Blessed Virgin Mary as spouse, God appointed him to be
… a participator in her sublime dignity” (Pope Leo XIII,
Quamquam Pluries, 1889).
• “It is therefore logical that Jesus is but of one heart with
Mary; as a result, we can say that Mary is but of one
heart with Joseph, and Joseph consequently is but of one
heart with Jesus and Mary” (St. John Eudes, Le Coeur
Admirable, v. 8, Chapter 3).
12. A Theological Stretch
“[Monsignor Olier] thinks, like St. Francis de Sales,
that the light illuminating the soul of Joseph was of
the same nature as the one illuminating Mary’s
soul. But, in contrast with other authors, he does
not think he should set up degrees … he grants that
Joseph had a kind of beauty and wisdom that knew
no limitations since he was Christ’s guardian on
earth.”
Fr. Andrew Doze
Saint Joseph: Shadow of the Father, p. 51
13. The dogma of the Immaculate Conception was
proclaimed in light of Mary’s role relative to Christ
in the mysteries of salvation.
What was the role of St. Joseph?
14. The Mission of St. Joseph
“The admirable St. Joseph was given to the earth to
express the adorable perfection of God the Father in a
tangible way. In his person alone, he bore the beauties of
God the Father, his purity and love, his wisdom and
prudence, his mercy and compassion. One saint alone is
destined to represent God the Father while an infinite
number of creatures, a multitude of saints are needed to
represent Jesus … Hence, the majestic St. Joseph must be
considered as the greatest, the most famous and the most
incomprehensible person in the world. The Father, having
chosen this saint to make of him his image on earth.”
Monsignor Jean Jacques Olier
Saint Joseph: Shadow of the Father, p. 51
15. The mission of St. Joseph takes us back to the
mystery of Paradise. We are called to be
transformed by the vision of God.
16. To See the Face of God
• “There shall no more be anything accursed, but the
throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and
his servants shall worship him; they shall see his
face, and his name shall be on their foreheads”
(Revelation 22:3-4).
• “See what love the Father has given us, that we
should be called children of God; and so we are …
Beloved, we are God’s children now; it does not
yet appear what we shall be, but we know that
when he appears we shall be like him, for we shall
see him as he is. And every one who thus hopes
in him purifies himself as he is pure” (1 John 3:1-
3).
17. A vision that transforms. Suddenly, we are in a
very familiar place … but it is inside the Holy
Family at Nazareth.
18. • “Except for a few cognitive instincts, newborns pretty
much just perceive and react … Cognitive
development is the product of two interacting
influences – brain growth and experience.”
• “The brain continues to change in response to
experience throughout the lifespan. We are in lifelong
development, as reflected in the ever-changing
structure of the brain throughout our lives …
attachment relationships are the major environmental
factors that shape brain development during its period
of maximal growth.”
Intellectual Formation and Communion
Source: Eliot, E., “What’s Going on in There?
How the Brain and Mind Develop in the First
Five Years of Life,” Bantam Books, New
York, 1999, p. 392 and pp. 412-414.
Siegel, D., “The Developing Mind: How
Relationships and the Brain Interact to Shape
Who We Are,” 2nd Edition, The Guilford
Press, New York, 2012, pp, 35 and 112.
19. The Human Intellect of Christ
• Jesus Christ has a divine and human intellect.
• “This human soul that the Son of God assumed
is endowed with a true human knowledge. As
such, this knowledge could not in itself be
unlimited … This is why the Son of God could …
‘increase in wisdom and in stature, and in favor
with God and man,’ and would even have to
inquire for himself about what one in the human
condition can learn only from experience”
(Catechism #472).
20. Harmony in Jesus Christ
• The human nature of Christ must be in harmony
with the divine person of the Word.
• The intellect of the divine person of the Word
beholds the Father: “No one has ever seen God;
the only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father,
he has made him known” (John 1:18).
• The Father is “rich in mercy” (Ephesians 2:4).
• The human intellect of Christ must have formed
in it the image of fatherhood that is rich in mercy.
• This is the mission of St. Joseph.
21. The Spiritual Reality of Fatherhood
“Some propagate and conserve the spiritual life in a
spiritual ministry only, and this belongs to the
sacrament of orders; and some belong to the bodily
and spiritual life simultaneously, which takes place in
the sacrament of matrimony where a man and a
woman come together to beget offspring and to rear
them in divine worship.”
St. Thomas Aquinas
Summa Contra Gentiles, 4.58.6
22. To be a Father
• Your children are both physical and spiritual.
• As a father you are called to give life to both.
• The physical begins at the moment of conception
and gradually lessens as the child matures.
• The spiritual begins at the moment of conception and
increases throughout the life of the child.
• With the passage from this world, the physical comes
to an end while the spiritual reaches its fulfillment.
23. Your fatherhood is more amazing than you could
ever image.
Men relive and reveal on earth the very
fatherhood of God.
24. Next Week
A Home Filled with Joy
Small Group Discussion
Starter Questions
1. In what ways can you better focus on the
spiritual reality of your fatherhood?
2. Where has evil entered your home and how
can you get it out?
