We do not have statements attributed to St. Joseph. We do not have preachings or treatises about the mystery of faith. Not even one liners. We have no quotations from Joseph.
This is not to say that Joseph has not said any advise or reminders to the child Jesus. He must have like any other father to their sons. But what we have today is as eloquent if not more, as any powerful statement. We have are his choices and the consequences of those choices.
Joseph decided to take Mary as his wife. He chose to take care of the child even if it was not his. He chose to believe the angel. He chose to do the will of God. He chose to face what others will say in doing so. He chose to stand up to the judgments of his fellow Jews. He chose to protect Mary and Jesus from the evil plan of Herod and his men. He chose to be a faithful father to his family in Nazareth. And so the scriptures call him, the righteous.
Joseph is the silent servant of God. No words. Only actions - actions that continue to ring out at present. Challenging each one of us to live out what we profess, to be faithful to our words, and to let our works speak for themselves.
Human experience tell us that oftentimes those who have a lot to say, those who speak too much, those who have a lot of complain, they are the least to offer help and act. Maingay pero walang laman. Mareklamo pero wala namang gagawin.
More often than not, choices and decisions are made in silence, in the solitude of the heart. We may choose to consult or to seek advice, but in the end choices are made as an individual; convictions are built in quiet. Choices that are carried out sincerely and faithfully until the end are not made in the marketplace. They are made in retreat houses, in adoration chapels, on mountaintops, in deserted places, in the isolation of each one's heart.
I believe that as God loves a cheerful giver, so does he delight in a silent worker than in a noisy pretender. Amen.
