So let us get the quibbles out of the way. IDS says "I am not a churchman and I am not given to commenting on Christian theology" Since I am and I am, I suppose it is not too surprising that I would take issue with one or two of the comments in the article. I don't hold to the hermeneutic of suspicion in the story of Joseph - the idea that he suspected Our Lady of adultery and that he put her away quietly to save her being stoned to death. As an upright and just man in the culture of his time, he would have been more likely to allow the Jewish law to take its course if he was suspicious in that way. The hermeneutic of reverence is more likely - that he realised that something mighty sacred was going on and felt unworthy to be part of it. However, I can't really criticise IDS for this since some of the Fathers of the Church followed the line he takes. He is also wrong about the betrothal. Mary would not have been an "unmarried mother" since betrothal in the Jewish law was more than our "engagement"; it was a contract of marriage that had not yet been consummated.
Quibus dictis, IDS is absolutely right about St Joseph as a role model for men today:
In parts of our society, too many young men and women grow up without the experience of a loving father. And we seem to have forgotten what an important role a father plays. It’s about far more than earning enough money to provide shelter and place food on the table; it’s about nurturing, support and loyalty, it’s about providing the best male role model that a man can.There is a further niggle in that IDS makes much of "the Christian Church" underplaying the role of St Joseph. This is possibly fair comment since non-Catholic Christians in many cases underplay the role of St Joseph and, let's be honest, the Virgin Mary as well.
In the Catholic Church we have underplayed the role of the Saints in the time between the second Vatican Council and the rise of the blogosphere. However the place of St Joseph in our devotion was greatly increased in the 19th and 20th centuries, leading to the enthusiastic (if liturgically questionable) decision of Blessed Pope John XXIII to insert his name into the Roman Canon.
If IDS and the readers of the Daily Mail were to read the Catholic press and the Catholic blogs, they would find much enthusiasm for the figure of St Joseph. I have only recently submitted an article for the Christmas edition of the Catholic Herald in which I focus on the person of St Joseph.
So yes, the right Honourable Minister is right to highlight the role of St Joseph. I would encourage him to see where support for this view lies. He will find many allies in his sincere and helpful reflection.
H/T for the link to @catholicherald on Twitter
9 comments:
I am quite delighted with the amount of attention St JOseph is getting this year from many sources and not least IDS. One of the reasons for the decline of the Church has been the falling away of men. Women are almost expected to be the role models in religion in many families, and in my parish if it be typical of the nation twice as many women go there as men, who feel more drawn to be `worldy`. Their sons grow up to imitate them. What we need is the husbands to take the lead in the home, to be the one who are the most fervent, real role models for the family. The National Shrine to St Joseph is at Farnborough Abbey and I long to see that place full of men on retreat learning to be husbands and fathers. It is something I hope in the future priests will take more seriously.
Why was it liturgically questionable to include St Joseph in the Roman Canon? (Open question - I'm simply curious.)
A good man, we are lucky to have him in a pivotal government role.
Thank you, IDS, and the Daily Mail.
St John - the canon is the canon, i.e. unchangeable. An extraordinary
Regarding the "hermeneutic of reverence", you may be aware of a book entitled "Redeemer in the Womb" (Ignatius Press) in which Fr John Saward, in his characteristic graceful style, refers to a number of Doctors of the Church and theologians who have upheld this interpretation. I thought it might be interesting to reproduce a quote from a 6th-century hymn by St Romanos the Melodist:
"Then Joseph, who never knew the Virgin, stopped, stunned by her glory,
And, gazing on the brilliance of her form, said:
'O shining one, I see a flame and hot coals encircle you.
It frightens me, Mary. Protect me, do not consume me!
Your spotless womb has suddenly become a fiery furnace.
Let it not melt me, I beg you. Spare me.
Do you wish me, like Moses of old, to take off my shoes,
That I may draw nigh and listen to you, and taught by you say:
Hail, Bride unbrided!'"
St John - I think it is also because the Saints included in the Canon of the Mass are martyrs, and therefore, are specially linked to the Sacrifice of the Cross, as renewed in the Mass itself:
"In the Roman Canon, only martyrs are named before and after the Consecration: this distinction is justly due to them. They have merited it by the bloody sacrifice of their life; they appear as the ripest and most glorious fruit of the Sacrifice of Christ. They resembled the Savior, not in life merely, but also in death. For Christ they lived, for Him they died; in return for the Sacrifice of His love, they offered the sacrifice of the world and of themselves -amid untold torments and sufferings. The virtues of fortitude and patience, of faith and of love which they practiced in a heroic degree shone resplendent in them."
http://www.sanctamissa.org/en/spirituality/saints-in-the-roman-canon.pdf
@ Father Finigan
In my professional opinion IDS is a very nasty bully who enjoys attacking the poorest and most vulnerable in society.
The DW&P under his control has become a monster that tells lies, and steals money at every opportunity from those who can least afford to lose it, while at the same time the rich still enjoy their mega bonuses, and tax havens.
If St Joseph were alive in London today, he, Mary and the baby Jesus would be fleeing persecution, but they would find very little help from IDS and his partners in this ConDem Nation government.
I think Joseph would oppose everything IDS stands for, and in doing so he would set an excellent example to his young son.
Our Lady of the Rosary ( http://the-hermeneutic-of-continuity.blogspot.com/2010/10/celebrating-parish-feast-day.html ) pray for us in BNP leader Nick Griffin MEP's EU/GLA/LDA/ODA NEO-NAZI DEVELOPMENT TIMES Amen
PAPA RATZI ( http://www.thepapalvisit.org ) ORA PRO NOBIS!
How typical of the times that IDS, to my knowledge a practising Catholic, plays this down with his "not a churchman".
I've not long made my own response to IDS' comments.
http://lovefromdaddy.blogspot.com/2010/12/room-at-my-inn-iain.html
IDS's piece was close to being a super article until he dropped the ball right at the very end.
I will attempt to set aside our differences of theology, for I am a Protestant, but I do wonder how you managed to study this piece so carefully and yet misunderstand its' emphasis.
I fear that a preoccupation with the communion of saints has led you to miss the point of this article. It is not about Joseph himself. It is about fatherhood. Joseph is the illustration.
IDS isn't suggesting we pray to St Joseph, elevate his status or visit shrines. He isn't making a specifically pro-Christian point at all. He is suggesting at a purely societal level that the display of fatherhood in the Christmas story - of faith, love, fidelity, honour, fortitude and good old blood-sweat-and-tears is a model for today's society.
A practical expression of Christian faith in this context, to me, is not to be pontificating over the detail of an outsider's understanding of scripture but to have something to say about what we as the church are going to do to support fatherhood in the here-and-now.
You endorsed IDS's conclusion that fathers are good, but failed to comment on his ultimate point - why are so many children without theirs? Neither his piece nor yours offers an answer or a proposed remedy.
The attitude of nit-picking at doctrine whilst society burns feeds the unfair perception which persists, that the Church is too heavenly minded to be of any earthly use, which is sad, because the consensus on family stability which I know you, IDS and I all share would be further advanced if Christians got their hands dirtier.
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