2 Sam 7:4-5, 12-14, 16 / Romans 4:13, 16-18, 22 / Matthew 1:16, 18-21, 24
St. Joseph is the spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the foster-father of Jesus.
His important mission in God's plan of salvation is to be legal father of Jesus and hence Jesus will be inserted into the line of David from whom, according to the prophets, the Messiah would be born.
Most of what is known about St. Joseph comes from the opening two chapters of St. Matthew's Gospel. No words of his are recorded in the Gospels; he was the "silent" man; indeed it is quite a virtue.
There was no known devotion to St. Joseph in the early Church. He was later venerated in the Middle Ages. Pope Pius IX (1870) declared him patron and protector of the universal family of the Church.
About him the Gospel has little more to say than that he was a just man - an expression which indicates how faithfully he fulfilled his high trust of protecting and guarding God's greatest treasures upon earth, Jesus and Mary.
The greatest trial of his life and also the most confusing episode of his life was when he first learned of Mary's pregnancy.
But precisely in this time of trial that Joseph showed himself great. His discernment and his willingness to accept God's plan of salvation showed that he was a man of faith and sensitive to the will of God
St. Joseph was to be, for all times, the trustworthy witness of the Saviour's virgin birth. So this humble title of being the spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a very profound title that has deep spiritual meanings.
Let us ask for his prayers that when the Lord speaks to us, whether in dreams or in whatever means, we will be sensitive to discern the Lord's voice and fulfill His will so that God's work of salvation will be continued in us.