By Michael Pakaluk, The Catholic Thing - St. Joseph was certainly not alive when Jesus began his public ministry. This, the tradition has always maintained, for four reasons... First, after the public ministry begins, Joseph is never mentioned in the Gospels in connection with Jesus or Mary, or with the broader family of the “brothers” or more properly “cousins” of the Lord. There is even some suggestion in the way people refer to Joseph that he is no longer alive: “Isn’t this the son of the carpenter?” (Mt. 13:55)