Thursday, April 3, 2008

The Pope and St. Joseph

Christ is the bridegroom and the Church is His Bride. However, Christ’s work requires that He be physically away from His Bride for a period of time. As a loving bridegroom, He does not wish to leave His bride without a defender during His physical absence. It is for this reason that He established the Pope. The Pope stands in the same place that St. Joseph stood for Mary.

Mary is the Spouse of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit chose her for this role and brought her into the world for that reason. He sent His archangel, Gabriel, as Best Man to bring His proposal to her and to witness her response and their subsequent union. He gave to St. Joseph the task of standing in His place as groom, a surrogate husband to His virgin bride and a surrogate father to the Incarnate Word. Mary was obedient to St. Joseph. She knew that he acted out of love for both her and for her son, a love born of his love for the Lord. She did not argue when St. Joseph led them out of Israel and into Egypt. She did not question when he hid them in Nazareth. She obeyed.

St. Joseph defended Mary’s virtue. He protected her from those who sought to harm her and her child in word and in deed. He defended their faith and held to God’s word even in the midst of the Egyptians. He did not seek to usurp the place of Mary’s true Spouse, he loved her Spouse even more than he loved her and because of his great love for her Spouse, he loved Christ with all of his heart.

St. Joseph taught Christ to know, love, and serve God. In the process of teaching Christ, he helped Christ to reveal His true nature and to live that true nature with responsibility and fidelity. Christ loved Joseph and because of that love for Joseph, trusted that what he was being taught was worth learning and worth emulating. Mary encouraged Christ to love and trust in His surrogate father as much as He loved and trusted His true Father. Joseph was given special gifts by the Holy Spirit to ensure that he would not lead Christ astray with his teachings.

This is the position of the Pope. He is not Christ. He does not seek to take the place of Christ. He is the surrogate bridegroom, defending the Bride throughout the ages from those who would attack Her, from those who would harm Her in word or in deed. He directs the Church to move only when it is necessary to protect Her, and She obeys because She knows of His great love for Her Spouse.

The Pope is the surrogate father of the children born of the union between Christ and His Bride. These Children of God turn to their surrogate father for help in revealing their true nature and for living that true nature with responsibility and fidelity. The Church encourages Her children to love and trust in their surrogate father as much as they love and trust in Christ. The Pope is given special gifts by the Holy Spirit to ensure that he does not lead these Children astray with his teachings.

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