On the Solemnity of St. Joseph, Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle reminded parents to take their obligation seriously as role models of their children.
In his homily on March 19, the cardinal said ideas about righteousness, justice, and charity are grasped firmly through the example of parents.
Cardinal Tagle, prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, expressed hope that the virtues of St. Joseph will be transmitted in the family.
“Let us avoid making the family a haven of corruption,” he said at the Pontificio Collegio Filippino in Rome. “In many cultures, the family is the excuse for corruption,” added the cardinal.
He said people have so much to learn from Jesus’ foster father on how to value the family.
Planning for the family in terms of budget and other needs is good, “but it is not enough,” he said.
“In St. Joseph, we see that faith is a pillar of a family that God wills us to form,” Cardinal Tagle said.
“So we ask our fathers, our mothers, our children, ‘Does faith play a role in your being one family especially when there are difficult moments?’” he said.
The cardinal said that at the time when Joseph was confused and planned to divorce Mary, he was ready to let the whole matter drop quietly, while still thinking of the best for others.
Unfortunately, some of the “most bitter wounds and conflicts” happen in the families, said the cardinal, adding that “the most painful shaming happens within the family.”
“Righteousness and justice but pursued with charity” are “beautiful blending” that people can learn from St. Joseph, he added.
“It’s not justice, righteousness against charity,” he said. “You exercise justice, in the spirit of charity. And very concretely you don’t expose someone to shame.”
