March is not only for St. Patrick

March has come and with it we observe the Lenten season. As Catholics we are told to fast (no meat) on Ash Wednesday and on Fridays.

In March we have the observance of St. Patrick’s Day which comes on the 17th. Throughout some of the major cities in the US the day is celebrated with an annual parade and merriment consisting of eating and drinking. We witness and join in if we choose in the “wearing of the green.” Corned beef and cabbage is the repast du jour. This year St. Patrick’s Day lands on a Friday, a day of fast (no meat). The last time this happened, the Cardinal gave special dispensation and lifted the fast.

I wonder if the same would have held true if St. Joseph’s day (March 19) landed on a Friday. I doubt it, but there’s no need to worry about it because traditionally the people that celebrated St. Joseph’s day would eat fish respecting the Lenten season.

Two saints whose feast day is only two days apart, yet the notoriety given to one over the other is mind boggling. It seems like St. Patrick benefited from a better public relations firm than St. Joseph. The Irish immigrants made sure that their saint was given the distinction that they thought he deserved.

But what about St. Joseph? It seems that he was always in the background. Not much is mentioned of him in Scriptures yet wasn’t he Jesus’ step father? Wasn’t he the one when hearing that Mary was with child made the decision to stay married to her in a time when most would have left? We hear that angels appeared to him and advised him what to do and he readily obeyed. Wasn’t he there at the birth of Jesus? Wasn’t he there to help them flee to Egypt when Herod ordered the slaughter of each first born son?

Here’s what Pope John Paul II had to say about St. Joseph:

What emanates from the figure of Saint Joseph is faith. Joseph of Nazareth is a "just man" because he totally "lives by faith." He is holy because his faith is truly heroic. Sacred Scripture says little of him. It does not record even one word spoken by Joseph, the carpenter of Nazareth. And yet, even without words, he shows the depth of his faith, his greatness. Saint Joseph is a man of great spirit. He is great in faith, not because he speaks his own words, but above all because he listens to the words of the Living God. He listens in silence. And his heart ceaselessly perseveres in the readiness to accept the Truth contained in the word of the Living God.

Joseph is the patron of the dying because, assuming he died before Jesus' public life, he died with Jesus and Mary close to him, the way we all would like to leave this earth.

So this year when we celebrate St. Patrick’s day let’s not forget about St. Joseph. He should at least be raised to the same pedestal that’s been given to St. Patrick.