St Joseph looking for accommodation

It was not always easy for St Joseph to understand God’s plan for him, yet he still managed to obey God nonetheless! It might have been difficult for St Joseph to understand the angel’s message that Jesus was going to be the saviour of all of humanity, as we read in the Gospel according to Matthew (1:20-21). Yet St Joseph was strong enough to attend to the needs of others, and he obeyed God.

In the Gospel according to Luke (2:4) we read that St Joseph was not afraid to travel from Betlehem to Nazareth so as to be registered in his family’s town of origin in the census of the Emperor of the time. St Joseph and Our Lady, who at the time was pregnant, walked for more than 145 kilometres in order to obey the Emperor’s command: it is like walking from Birżebbuġa to Mellieħa for five times! 

St Joseph was an important figure in the life of Jesus not just for teaching Jesus how to obey religious laws but also how to obey civil laws. Despite being God, Jesus – as a common human being – was expected to fulfil his duties as a citizen. St Joseph was not proud, and he did not pretend that the Son of God should be exempted from this; he taught Jesus how to show respect to everyone.

When St Joseph and Our Lady arrived in Betlehem, Our Lady was very close to giving birth to Jesus. We all know that St Joseph looked for an accommodation all throughout the town, and yet there was no place for them in a hotel. This story (Lk 2:6-7) shows us yet again that St Joseph was always willing to do whatever God asked of him, to the point of helping Our Lady to give birth to the Son of God in a manger!

These stories show us that St Joseph was chosen by God to take care of Jesus. Let us therefore thank God for all those people who take care of us and who love us, even if we do not always understand them or even appreciate all that they do for us. Let us pray for them so that they too, imitating what St Joseph did for Jesus, help us to become good Christians and responsible citizens. 

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