Homily for the Fourth Day of Christmas, Holy Family Sunday, December 28, 2025. Gospel of St. Matthew 2:13-15, 19-23. Theme: Joseph, the Unsung Hero of Christmas
Christmas is full of so many supernatural events that are the very heart and soul of the Nativity story that we all know so well. We hear of Mary and the miracle of a Virgin Birth. We are told of angels announcing the Messiah’s arrival to shepherds. And we follow Magi who are guided by a miraculous star to pay homage to the Newborn King. But in all of this, St. Joseph remains the man behind the scenes and so he has often been called the “over-looked member of the Holy Family”. But on today’s feast of the Holy Family, I would like to propose that it is actually Joseph who is the unsung hero of Christmas. And I say this because If we take a good look at the entire story we can see that this hidden, silent and dependable man is in fact someone who made Christmas as we know it possible.
Today's Gospel shows Joseph doing what he did best: going into action for the sake of Jesus. You see, when the Magi came to pay homage to the Newborn King, they had innocently and inadvertently revealed the Messiah’s birth to Herod which sent him into a frenzy. And then, after they had secretly returned to their homeland and Herod realized that he had been tricked, he ordered the slaughter of all male infants of the region in order to eliminate the threat and nuisance of a Newborn King. But thanks to Joseph’s quick and obedient response to a heaven-sent dream, the Baby-Messiah was already on the road to Egypt by the time Herod’s henchmen arrived in the little town of Bethlehem. So we can honestly say that St. Joseph literally saved Christmas!
However, that wasn’t the first time that he had stepped up to the plate to save Jesus and Mary. Many months before, he ignored the village gossipers of Nazareth, and boldly took Mary into his home as his wife. Now, he could have played the victim and made a big deal out of the socially humiliating situation of her pregnancy, but he wasn't that kind of guy. Enlightened by an angel-dream, he reaffirmed the love that had drawn him to Mary in the first place, and with this very same love he embraced her child as his child, as their child. He gave both Mary and her unborn Son the care and protection they needed in that culture, and so we have here another piece of the puzzle as to how St. Joseph made Christmas as we know it possible.
Soon after this, Joseph was called into action once again for the sake of his budding family. He had to travel to Bethlehem in obedience to the Roman census and this wasn’t an easy task back then. But he knew that if he ignored this duty they would face strict fines and Roman justice. So Joseph traveled with his 9-month pregnant wife on a 10-day long, 90-mile journey by donkey and on foot, from Nazareth to Bethlehem. Then once there, he had no choice but to accept shelter for them among the animals in a stable-cave. But you see, Joseph's commitment to always doing the right thing even when it’s difficult, brought about the fulfillment of the prophecy which foretold that the Savior would be born in Bethlehem. And so, we can chalk up another one to Joseph for making Christmas as we know it possible!
And then 8 days after Jesus was born, Joseph again publicly stood up for the Christ Child. He proudly named him at his circumcision ceremony, which may not seem like a big deal to us today. But back then this was not just a religious ritual. It was also a binding legal action. Joseph was in fact declaring by this action that Mary’s baby was now his very own son, with every right and every claim to his family line and family name. This was a huge thing in ancient Israel, because the paternal bond of adoption was considered stronger than that of biology since the child was intentionally chosen by the father and not just a product of happenstance. And so Jesus became a true member of the House of David and thus once again, through Joseph, a Christmas prophecy was fulfilled which foretold that the Savior would be a royal Messiah, a descendent of the great King David.
Now as if all of this itself wasn’t enough, there is still another very important reason why St. Joseph is the unsung hero of the Nativity. And it has to do with the very meaning of Christmas itself and not just with events surrounding it. Christmas means that the Savior was born a man so that he could show us, by word and example, how to live as children of the Father and reach Heaven. But here’s the thing: both the Bible and the Church teach that even though he was God, Jesus had to learn what it was like to actually BE a man, which is something very different from being the Creator of man. BEING a man was something that he could only learn through lived experience. And so God the Son needed a male role model who could show him exactly what being a man looked like. Just as he had found the perfect mother for himself in Mary, so he found the best of fathers for this very purpose in Joseph and personally chose him.
Jesus lived under the daily gaze and direction of Joseph, who gave him a shining example of virtuous masculinity. He learned from him how to grow into a good and honest man of God, who met his responsibilities and thought of others before himself. This means that the Man Jesus, whom we meet and see in the Gospels as our Savior and Teacher, was very much the product of Joseph of Nazareth. And it’s because of this, because of Joseph’s nurturing, that we ourselves can now turn to Jesus with confidence because, as we say, “like father, like son”, and Christ had the very best of examples to follow! So, we can thank St. Joseph in great measure for giving us the Jesus we know and love today.
Joseph was totally and truly a father and role model to Jesus from his conception and birth and then beyond as they lived out their daily family life in Nazareth. And so to me, this is the best reason we can have for being devoted to St. Joseph ourselves, just as Jesus was, and for honoring this silent, strong and dependable man as the unsung hero of Christmas.
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