Doing Justice to St. Joseph, by Michael Pakaluk

The Sovietization of California, by Dennis Prager
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ICYMI: We Were Made for This Fight, by Austin Ruse
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*Image: The Dream of St. Joseph by Luca Giordano, c. 1700 [Indianapolis Museum of Art]

By Michael Pakaluk, The Catholic Thing, Dec. 22, 2020

Michael Pakaluk, an Aristotle scholar and Ordinarius of the Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas, is a professor in the Busch School of Business at the Catholic University of America. …

Michael PakalukAs we’re beginning the Year of St. Joseph, and Christmas is near, consider with me the role of St. Joseph in the Annunciation. This verse in particular: “Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly.”  (Matt. 1:19)  If you attended Mass last Friday, you heard this verse in the Gospel.  And perhaps like me, you heard a homily that gave a common interpretation of this verse.

That common interpretation begins by assuming that Joseph believed Mary had relations with another man. It’s natural to assume this.  But is it really true? This is the premise I wish to challenge.  …