The Holy Week Shadows of St. Joseph: Holy Tuesday
National Catholic Register, 30 March 2021
Reclining at table with his disciples, Jesus was deeply troubled and testified, “Amen, amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me.” The disciples looked at one another, at a loss as to whom he meant. One of his disciples, the one whom Jesus loved, was reclining at Jesus’ side. So Simon Peter nodded to him to find out whom he meant. He leaned back against Jesus’ chest and said to him, “Master, who is it?” Jesus answered, “It is the one to whom I hand the morsel after I have dipped it.” So he dipped the morsel and took it and handed it to Judas, son of Simon the Iscariot. (John 13:21-26)
The Gospel for Tuesday of Holy Week brings to the fore some of the key players of the Passion – Judas, who betrays Jesus; Peter, who first defends, but then denies Jesus; and John, who stands with the Blessed Virgin Mary at the foot of the Cross.
The Apostle John refers to himself as the “beloved disciple.” It is mark of modesty – he does not use his own name – and also a profession of his identity. He is loved with a special love.
St. John was the virginal apostle, the one especially beloved by Jesus. Here we see him reclining close to the heart of Jesus. In a few days he will witness that same heart lanced open. Jesus from the cross will entrust Mary to the care of the virgin John, as she was earlier entrusted the care of the virginal Joseph.
Continue reading at the National Catholic Register.
In his apostolic letter for the beginning of the Year of St. Joseph, Pope Francis cites Polish author Jan Dobraczyński. The Holy Father explains that his novel, The Shadow of the Father, “uses the evocative image of a shadow to define Joseph. In his relationship to Jesus, Joseph was the earthly shadow of the heavenly Father: he watched over him and protected him, never leaving him to go his own way.” (Patris Corde 7)
Nevertheless, Joseph is not present in the Lord’s public life. Yet we might find St. Joseph during Holy Week, if we allow ourselves to imagine where his “shadow” may have fell upon Jesus in those most sacred days.