As we celebrate the Solemnity of St. Joseph, we are drawn to reflect on how he lived in relationship to God. The Scriptures call him a just man, righteous before the Lord. He leads by example, not by words. He was a man of faith and trust in the word of God, without understanding. As a righteous man, he sought to divorce Mary quietly. But as a man of obedience, at the word of the angel, he took Mary into his home. He husbanded her in love and providential care. He was the legal but foster father of the child she conceived by the Holy Spirit. Joseph, along with Mary, formed the child Jesus in his early years. He was humble, chaste, docile to the Spirit, always in the background. His many virtues stand as a witness to us how we are to live out our relationship with God. St. Joseph, pray for us.