SAINT JOSEPH: IN THE LIFE OF THE DOMINICAN MISSIONARY SISTERS OF THE ROSARY PART I

What does Saint Joseph mean or has he meant to your life?

 My first memory of Saint Joseph is that as a teenager I liked to collect prints of virgins and saints. I remember one of Jose carrying the Child Jesus. He is dressed in green and brown, and the child in white. He was the father of Jesus, a carpenter, quiet, I knew little else about him.

Already at the congregation, studying the Bible and the texts where Joseph appears, I discover a man who has a tough mission: to be part of the family that will welcome the Messiah. But this will not be a mission of privileges, it will be marked by discredit, doubt, and minority, but also by the centrality of God and his justice, trust, and acceptance.

Joseph teaches me to discover the will of God, even, to the detriment of our image, he is pointed out as a “righteous man” and another type of justice is asked of him, to welcome Mary in complex circumstances for the Jewish morality of that time.

Joseph passes this request through the schemes and values that have guided him in life, so it has been valid for him up to now. The angel clears up his doubts, “do not be afraid”, “welcome Mary”, “she is going to give birth”. The life and welcome, vanishes fears and doubts.

Finally, Joseph has to flee from the persecution, he has to hide; but then, when he returns, he is not to be the protagonist either, he learns from Maria to discover the path of God by listening and attentively watching the daily life of her family.

Sister Marisa Folgado-Dominican Republic.

Saint Joseph is the icon of my Perpetual Profession. He is the man of trust, even without tangible evidence. He is the man of faith, capable of changing plans and trusting in God’s Providence. He is the man of dreams; dreams as space, situations in which God is whispering what He wants. He is the man who believes even without seeing.

Sister Estebania Felipe-Nicaragua.

The life of Saint Joseph lights on us as women who are aware of working with women. He is one of the few men who can be rescued from the Bible who has a human attitude towards the situation of women in Jewish society.

The Gospel of Matthew says that, in order not to discredit Mary, he thought to secretly sign the divorce act, as the law says (Dt 24, 1) and that many times went unnoticed.

He faced many laws of Leviticus and Deuteronomy that dictated that someone who committed adultery should be stoned and put to death. For example, Dt 22, 22. In Joseph we find a righteous human being who respects human life before the law. A countercultural and anti-patriarchal man who did not let himself be carried away by the “normal” attitude of other men in a situation like María’s.

Sister Yaneth Averruz-Mexico.

Saint Joseph is a righteous person, open to God’s will. He was a prudent, human and supportive man, with great faith in God and in his salvation project. One of the characteristics of Saint Joseph is his humility and his obedience to God’s plans. In the Gospels not much is said about the person of Joseph, but it can be highlighted, his silence, he does not say a word, however, he goes to action and at key moments he acts, we see him accepting and welcoming with faith the project of God in his life.

Sister Yomaira Valenzuela-Puerto Rico.