St. Joseph, ‘Terror of Demons’

“Sagrada Familia del pajarito” (Holy Family with bird) c. 1650, by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo
 

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As I discerned my vocation over the years, I asked myself, “Who could I learn from to be a good man?” In my pursuit of the answer, I joined the Marines, but did not find it there. So, I turned to academia to find the answer. In college, I learned much about the Church and our glorious history as Catholics. 

The Church dedicates the month of February to the Holy Family. As I considered this, one member of the Holy Family stands out to me as an example of a good man – Saint Joseph. He was the earthly adoptive father and protector of Jesus and the virtuous husband to Mary. Although he remains silent in sacred Scriptures, he has accumulated many titles.

One day when I was praying the Litany of St. Joseph, I considered what kind of a person one would need to be to earn the title “Terror of Demons” as St. Joseph has? He would need to be a righteous man and a good man, one who protects his family from the evils of the world and would not allow sinful actions in his home. 

I can only imagine the frustrations of the devil once he knew that it was St. Joseph who would be defending the baby Jesus from the dangers of the world. 

He obeyed the angel when he was told to accept Mary as his wife, and when he was told to flee to Egypt. Most people would not have put as much faith in their dreams, but St. Joseph’s faith allowed him to understand that these messages were more than dreams. 

Imagine a street of houses, and every house has a family living inside. The father of the family guards the gate to the home where the family resides. Now imagine a demon walking down this street looking for a family to corrupt with sin and pain. Upon coming to the Holy Family, this demon would confront the “Terror of Demons” at the gate. The devil would tell himself, “I dare not go into this gate for the guardian of it would have me facing all the powers of Heaven, and I would never enter.” 

For me, this is the kind of man St. Joseph is and the kind of man I want to be in my vocation. The search I began as a child has led me to this understanding, that a man who loves Christ as St. Joseph does will be the good man we all should strive to be. 

(Michael Golla, Jr. is a seminarian with the Diocese of Corpus Christi. He is currently in his second year at Theological College in Washington D. C.)