Comments for Music to Our Ears: a Review of the Pope’s New Book at http://www.thecatholicthing.org , comment 1 to 4 out of 4 comments http://www.thecatholicthing.org Thu, 23 May 2013 05:44:48 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.3 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/music-to-our-ears-a-review-of-the-popes-new-book.html#comment-14538 Thanks for the review. I look forward to reading the book. Joseph as the "stepfather" of Jesus? I have heard foster father, legal father, even human father, but not "stepfather". I do not think it is wrong to use terms like "foster father" but I think all these terms lessen Joseph's role and status in the family. And isn't a stepfather a man who marries a woman already with children that are not his? On this, I like what Frs. Garrigou-Lagrange, M-D Philippe, and Federico Suarez say about Joseph's fatherhood: he is Jesus' father. In his book on Joseph, Suarez has an excellent section on "What true fatherhood is". Basically, if we evaluate fatherhood according to human fathers, then we are mistaken. God the Father is the source of fatherhood and so how He fathers should be the rule from which we view other fathers, especially St. Joseph. To add, in his encyclical on St. Joseph, Pope Leo XIII said: "because he is the spouse of Mary and the father of Jesus Christ he holds, as it were, a paternal authority." (Quamquam pluries, 3) As well, Bl. John Paul II said of him: "And in this mystery, as in the Incarnation, one finds a true fatherhood: the human form of the family of the Son of God, a true human family, formed by the divine mystery. In this family, Joseph is the father: his fatherhood is not one that derives from begetting offspring; but neither is it an 'apparent' or merely 'substitute' fatherhood. Rather, it is one that fully shares in authentic human fatherhood and the mission of a father in the family. This is a consequence of the hypostatic union: humanity taken up into the unity of the Divine Person of the Word-Son, Jesus Christ. Together with human nature, all that is human, and especially the family - as the first dimension of man's existence in the world - is also taken up in Christ. Within this context, Joseph's human fatherhood was also 'taken up' in the mystery of Christ's Incarnation. "On the basis of this principle, the words which Mary spoke to the twelve-year-old Jesus in the Temple take on their full significance: 'Your father and I...have been looking for you.' This is no conventional phrase: Mary's words to Jesus show the complete reality of the Incarnation present in the mystery of the Family of Nazareth. From the beginning, Joseph accepted with the 'obedience of faith' his human fatherhood over Jesus. And thus, following the light of the Holy Spirit who gives himself to human beings through faith, he certainly came to discover ever more fully the indescribable gift that was his human fatherhood." (Redemptoris Custos, 3) St. Joseph, the father of Jesus, pray for us. - William Sat, 24 Nov 2012 19:32:09 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/music-to-our-ears-a-review-of-the-popes-new-book.html#comment-14515 @Aeneas: Yes, it's the final book in the series -- that, in any case, is the publisher's understanding and the word from the Vatican. But with this great man, who knows? In any case, I suspect this won't be his last book. - Brad Miner Wed, 21 Nov 2012 18:26:54 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/music-to-our-ears-a-review-of-the-popes-new-book.html#comment-14514 Already pre-ordered off Amazon! :) But...this was a great review, and reminds me what a good choice it was to get this book, thanks Mr. Miner. I've read that this is B16's last book in his "Jesus" series, thus capping it off in a trilogy (and what a trilogy it was!). Is this true? Or will there be more? - Aeneas Wed, 21 Nov 2012 18:12:41 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/music-to-our-ears-a-review-of-the-popes-new-book.html#comment-14512 The arrival of this book is very timely, certainly not a moment too soon. And I say that for various reasons not least the general neglect, in the western church of the post-modern era, of St. Joseph. So very much remains to be unpacked of this quiet man, chosen by the Holy Spirit to be, as it were, His 'best man' - entrusting his very spouse to the carpenter. To Joseph of old, an earthly kingdom was entrusted; to Joseph of the ever-new holy family, the heavenly kingdom was entrusted. More even than the steward praised for raising ten talents from one, Joseph was faithful in a 'very little thing' -- adding his 'fiat' to Mary's (and to Jesus' final (pre-resurrection) speech: "it is finished") -- and is entrusted with a very great: to be patron of the universal church. And no-one with a desire to deepen devotion to the Blessed Mother can bypass Joseph as teacher, because no-one had or has a greater devotion to her. And if anyone wonders what relevance Joseph has to the modern malaise, it is direct: he is a terror to demons of impurity, which lies at the root of modern moral heresies - from contraception, premarital sex and divorce, to sodomy and abortion -- each infecund in its own way. Thus Mary's chaste fertility is our life, and Joseph's chaste infecundity, chosen for her, is our hope. So all prayers for continued vocations that neglect to call on Joseph's prayers are destined to fail. Ite ad Joseph. - Gary Knight Wed, 21 Nov 2012 14:05:07 +0100