'C' Formula of St. Joseph 

"തച്ചപുരയിലെ തട്ടുമുട്ടുകൾ താളമേളങ്ങളാക്കിയും ജോലി വേലകാളാകവേ ഒരു ഗാനമാലികയാക്കിയും 
വാനദൂതർക്കിമ്പമേകിയ ഗാനഗന്ധർവൻ പാവന ഗാനകോകിലം"     

Often I think why this old man, Joseph was selected to be the husband of Mary the young queen of Nazareth? My doubt is clarified by the book of Job 12:12 “wisdom is with the aged and understanding in the length of days.” Joseph was an inevitable personality in Jesus’ life to mold Him as Christ.  St. Joseph was chosen to be the foster father of Jesus but what about others, why were they not? It’s because he had the three C’s in his life as virtues which later turned out to define Christ. As we are religious being in the process of becoming another Christ these virtues of St. Joseph will make our course easy.

Contemplation is the first virtue that we are required to have in our life. I know that I have no moral strength to talk about contemplation for the reason that I am too chatty. Richard Rohr through his book “Everything Belongs” underscores the above opinion, “One always learns ones mystery at the price of one’s contemplation.” Yes, it’s the meditative and reflective life style of St. Joseph that favored God to choose him to be the stepfather of Jesus. The scene is portrayed in the Gospel of Matthew where Joseph had three dreams in different occasions. Dreams are the outcome of contemplation. We do have dreams but it never befall as a reality. Mere nightmares won’t show the way to actuality. It is very much important the constituent of revelation makes dreams bone fide. In simple terms dreams turn out to be vision when the recipe of contemplation is added. “One will enjoy the solitude, if he or she finds time to have contemplation.” says St. Antony the Desert Father. Jesus devoted himself to be in silent places and I believe the source to develop that habit was St. Joseph. Contemplation links one with God. The rapport between God and Joseph directed Jesus to cling on to his Abba. To reinstate Khalil Gibran’s words, “The difference between Jesus and us is nothing but, He lived his life in the vision of God.”

Contemplation delivers God experience and that ecstasy creates commitment. It’s the second virtue commitment by which Joseph formed Jesus as Christ. Commitment is not a simple notion like our FB status as we assume, but it’s a virtue one should acquire through daily observation. Commitment implies that being Loyal 101% to ones responsibilities. Life of St. Joseph displays very clearly the value of commitment. He was dedicated to his job, carpentry. The rule of a carpenter is “Think twice and cut once.”   Precise decision is the benchmark of a committed person. Imagine the situation of Mary, if Joseph had no clear picture of her life ahead, she would be stoned like Suraiah. Yes, devoted character forces God to choose us for His ingenious ploys. And the notion is emphasized by St. Paul to Ephesians 6:8 “Whatever good we do, we will receive the same again from the Lord.”

A Prostitute, owner of a nunnery said to Joseph, “Tell your son to save us from this peril when he becomes the king in future, because we are prostitutes.” This is an imaginary incident written by Sakhariya in his Book titled Arkariyam. The plot behind this episode was that Joseph and Mary hid themselves in a nunnery to save Jesus from the soldiers who were asked to kill the children below two by Herod. We could find this compassionate face in Jesus when he draws the Lakshmana Rekha before Pharisees and others as he stood for the woman caught in adultery. Compassion is getting into the others shoe; so passion to sort out other’s difficulties was inherent in St. Joseph’s life. God did know that only such person could be the foster father of His son. The purpose of Christ’s life was to restore the humanity from its pitfalls.   Revamping a system like humanity which has ups and downs needs a compassionate heart. St. Joseph was the first person to touch and feel Christ. So Christ= Contemplation+ Commitment+ Compassion. Let’s strive in the footsteps of St. Joseph to achieve this simple formula of eternal happiness.

    Jithin Kalan CMI