Pope Francis reflected on Saint Joseph as the father of Jesus in his catechesis this Wednesday, January 5, the first general audience of 2022, and highlighted the importance of biological, spiritual and adoptive fatherhood and motherhood.
“I wish that the institutions are always ready to help in this regard of adoption, seriously monitoring, but also simplifying the necessary procedure so that the dream of so many little ones who need a family, and of so many spouses who wish to donate in love ”, said the Holy Father.
Next, the catechesis delivered by Pope Francis:
Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!
Today we will meditate on Saint Joseph as the father of Jesus. The Evangelists Matthew and Luke present him as the putative father of Jesus and not as the biological father. Matthew specifies it, avoiding the formula “begotten”, used in the genealogy for all the ancestors of Jesus; but he defines him as “the husband of Mary, from whom Jesus was born, called Christ” (1,16). Whereas Luke affirms it by saying that he was the father of Jesus “as it was believed” (3,23). That is, he appeared as a father.
To understand the paternity of Joseph, it is necessary to bear in mind that in the past in the East the adoption institute was very frequent, more than it is today. Let us think of the common case in Israel of the “levirate”, thus formulated in Deuteronomy: “If some brothers live together and one of them dies without having children, the wife of the deceased will not marry abroad with a man from a strange family. Her brother-in-law will come to her, he will exercise his levirate by taking her as his wife, and the first-born that she gives birth will bear the name of his deceased brother; so his name will not be erased from Israel ”(25,5-6). In other words, the father of that child is the brother-in-law, but the legal father remains the deceased, who attributes all hereditary rights to the newborn. The objective of this law was twofold: to ensure the descendants of the deceased and the preservation of the heritage.
As the official father of Jesus, José exercises the right to impose the name on the son, legally recognizing it. Legally he is the father, but he did not generate it.
Formerly, the name was the compendium of the identity of a person. Changing the name meant changing themselves, as in the case of Abram, whose name God changes to “Abraham”, which means “father of many”, “because – says the Book of Genesis – he will be the father of many peoples” ( 17.5). Thus for Jacob, who is called “Israel”, which means “the one who fights with God”, because he fought with God to force him to give him the blessing (cf. Gn 32,29; 35,10).
But above all giving the name to someone or something meant affirming one’s own authority over what was named, as Adam did when he gave a name to all animals (cf. Gn 2.19-20). Joseph already knows that for the son of Mary there is a name prepared by God. The name of Jesus is given by the true father of Jesus: God. The name “Jesus” means “The Lord saves”, as the Angel explains to them: “because he will save his people from their sins” (Mt 1.21). This particular aspect of the figure of José allows us today to reflect on fatherhood and motherhood.
I think it is very important to think about fatherhood today because we live in a time of notorious orphanhood. It’s funny, our civilization is a bit of an orphan, and it feels like this orphan. May the figure of Saint Joseph, who is in the place of the true father, who is God, help us to understand how the sense of orphanhood that today does us much harm is resolved.
It is not enough to bring a child into the world to say that you are a father or a mother. «No one is born a father, but is made. And it is not done just to bring a child into the world, but to take care of him responsibly. Every time someone assumes responsibility for the life of another, in a certain sense he exercises paternity with respect to him “(Letter ap. Father’s heart).
I am thinking in a particular way of all those who are open to embrace life through the path of adoption, which is a very generous and beautiful attitude, beautiful. José shows us that this type of link is not secondary, it is not a file. This type of choice is among the highest forms of love and parenthood. How many children in the world are waiting for someone to take care of them! And how many spouses want to be fathers and mothers and fail for biological reasons; or, even having children, they want to share family affection with those who do not have it.
We must not be afraid of choosing the path of adoption, of assuming the “risk” of fostering. Today with orphanhood there is a certain selfishness. The other day I was talking about the demographic winter that there is today, that it is seen that people do not want to have children, or only one, no more. And many, many couples do not have children because they do not want, or they have one, but no more, but they have two dogs, two cats, dogs and cats take the place of the children. If it makes you laugh, but it is reality. And this rejecting fatherhood and motherhood diminishes us, takes away humanity, and thus, civilization becomes older and without humanity, because the wealth of fatherhood and motherhood is lost, and the country that has no children suffers, And as one said, a bit with humor, and now, who will pay the taxes for my retirement, because there are no children? I was laughing, but it’s reality, who will take care of me? I ask Saint Joseph for the grace to awaken consciences and think about this, having children, fatherhood and motherhood is the fullness of a person’s life. Think about this.
It is true, there is spiritual fatherhood, of those who consecrate themselves to God, spiritual motherhood. But those who live in the world, get married, think about having children, giving their lives, because they will be the ones who will close their eyes, take from you for the future, and also if they cannot have children, think about adoption. It’s a risk? Yes, having children is always a risk, be it natural or adoption, but it is more risky not to have them, denying paternity, denying motherhood, be it real or spiritual, but deny. A man, a woman, who does not develop the sense of fatherhood, of motherhood, is missing something, something main, something important. Think about this please.
I hope that the institutions are always ready to help in this sense of adoption, watching seriously, but also simplifying the necessary procedure so that the dream of so many children who need a family can be fulfilled, and of so many spouses who wish to donate in the love.
Some time ago I heard the testimony of a person, of a doctor important in his task, he had no children, with his wife they decided to adopt one. When the time came, they offered him one, they told him: ‘we don’t know what health will be like, maybe he may have some disease.’ I had seen. He said: ‘If you told me this before going in and seeing it, I would have said no, but I’ve seen it, I’m taking it with me.’ This is the desire to be a father, to be a mother, in adoption as well. Do not be afraid of this.
I pray that no one feels deprived of a bond of parental love. Those who are sick with orphans may go forward without this ugly feeling. May Saint Joseph be able to exercise his protection and his help over the orphans; and intercede for couples who want to have a child. Therefore, let us pray together:
Saint Joseph,
you who have loved Jesus with a father’s love,
get close to so many children who have no family and want a father and a mother.
Support spouses who are unable to have children,
help them to discover, through this suffering, a bigger project.
Make sure no one is missing a home, a link,
a person to take care of him or her;
and heals the selfishness of those who close themselves to life,
so that it opens the heart to love. Amen.
– .
