Any man who God would have chosen to raise His Son, and protect the most precious woman ever created, would have been a young, strong man.
Any man to get up in the middle of the night and flee to Egypt would have been more like a resourceful Midwest Man than a goopsy 1960s hippie type. Hey, these guys trust in God and keep their powder dry.
(I claim that phrase for the Cavaliers, btw).
If St. Joseph were alive today, he would be wearing Carhartt.
A carpenter must be strong to lift wood, saw, and work all day in the heat and cold. St. Joseph was also an descendant of King David, who was Mr. Macho King of Israel, as we know.
We need new paintings of this great Foster-Father of Jesus which show St. Joseph as he most likely was-a real man, a protector. Maybe artists made St. Joseph look weak because he was chaste his entire life.
But a chaste man is not necessarily a wimpy man.
Look at the strong, celibates, like Padre Pio, Pier Giorgio Frassati, and all those kings, like David mentioned above, like SS. Wenceslaus, Edward, Edmund, Louis, and Stephen. These men rode horses, fought, speared, shot arrows, led other men into battle. And, they prayed.
Iconography should reveal the characters of the saints, like St. Joseph being a great protector.
Not a wimp, he.......
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| Joseph and Baby Jesus, by Jason Jenicke |