St Joseph the Worker & Parish History

Feastday
st joseph: March 19
st joseph the worker: May 1

patron universal church�

Everything we know about the husband of Mary and the foster father of Jesus comes from Scripture and that has seemed too little for those who made up legends about him.

We know he was a carpenter, a working man, for the skeptical Nazarenes ask about Jesus, "Is this not the carpenter's son?" (Matthew 13:55). He wasn't rich for when he took Jesus to the Temple to be circumcised and Mary to be purified he offered the sacrifice of two turtledoves or a pair of pigeons, allowed only for those who could not afford a lamb (Luke 2:24).

Despite his humble work and means, Joseph came from a royal lineage. Luke and Matthew disagree some about the details of Joseph's genealogy but they both mark his descent from David, the greatest king of Israel (Matthew 1:1-16 and Luke 3:23-38). Indeed the angel who first tells Joseph about Jesus greets him as "son of David," a royal title used also for Jesus.

We know Joseph was a compassionate, caring man. When he discovered Mary was pregnant after they had been betrothed, he knew the child was not his but was as yet unaware that she was carrying the Son of God. He planned to divorce Mary according to the law but he was concerned for her suffering and safety. He knew that women accused of adultery could be stoned to death, so he decided to divorce her quietly and not expose her to shame or cruelty (Matthew 1:19-25).

We know Joseph was man of faith, obedient to whatever God asked of him without knowing the outcome. When the angel came to Joseph in a dream and told him the truth about the child Mary was carrying, Joseph immediately and without question or concern for gossip, took Mary as his wife. When the angel came again to tell him that his family was in danger, he immediately left everything he owned, all his family and friends, and fled to a strange country with his young wife and the baby. He waited in Egypt without question until the angel told him it was safe to go back (Matthew 2:13-23).

We know Joseph loved Jesus. His one concern was for the safety of this child entrusted to him. Not only did he leave his home to protect Jesus, but upon his return settled in the obscure town of Nazareth out of fear for his life. When Jesus stayed in the Temple we are told Joseph (along with Mary) searched with great anxiety for three days for him (Luke 2:48). We also know that Joseph treated Jesus as his own son for over and over the people of Nazareth say of Jesus, "Is this not the son of Joseph?" (Luke 4:22)

We know Joseph respected God. He followed God's commands in handling the situation with Mary and going to Jerusalem to have Jesus circumcised and Mary purified after Jesus' birth. We are told that he took his family to Jerusalem every year for Passover, something that could not have been easy for a working man.

Since Joseph does not appear in Jesus' public life, at his death, or resurrection, many historians believe Joseph probably had died before Jesus entered public ministry.

Joseph is the patron of the dying because, assuming he died before Jesus' public life, he died with Jesus and Mary close to him, the way we all would like to leave this earth.

Joseph is also patron of the universal Church, fathers, carpenters, and social justice.

We celebrate two feast days for Joseph: March 19 for Joseph the Husband of Mary and May 1 for Joseph the Worker.

There is much we wish we could know about Joseph -- where and when he was born, how he spent his days, when and how he died. But Scripture has left us with the most important knowledge: who he was -- "a righteous man" (Matthew 1:18).

In His Footsteps

Joseph was foster father to Jesus. There are many children separated from families and parents who need foster parents. Please consider contacting your local Catholic Charities or Division of Family Services about becoming a foster parent.

Prayer

Saint Joseph, patron of the universal Church, watch over the Church as carefully as you watched over Jesus, help protect it and guide it as you did with your adopted son. Amen

HISTORY ST JOSEPH'S CHURCH, NARRABEEN

The original church/school at St Joseph's Narrabeen was started when the cornerstone was laid on 6th February, 1938 and was officially opened by His Grace, Most Rev Norman T. Gilroy, Archbishop of Sydney on 22nd January 1939.

The very original St Joseph's church (a very small timber building) was founded in Careel Bay by Father John Therry and it was physically moved to the Narrabeen site in 1917 where it stayed as a Parish Church/Hall till 1939.

The Church (now the present parish hall) doubled as a school, with large partitions being removed on a Friday to prepare for Sunday Mass. Two sisters from the Good Samaritan Order travelled daily from Dee Why to teach at the school. The Narrabeen area�remained a�part of the Dee Why Parish until 1946.

The parish of St Joseph's Narrabeen was formed on 27th November, 1946.

Father Amiel Joseph Sobb was appointed the first Parish Priest on 27th November 1946 and he remained Parish Priest of St Joseph's until his death on 6th November 1982.

The first Assistant priest was Father John Haseler who was appointed on 24th May 1949.

In 1948 the property next to the present parish hall was purchased and the presbytery was completed in 1952, two years after the foundation stone was laid in 1950.

The Good Samaritan convent across the road from the church (presently Woolworths and Units) was opened on 21st January 1951.

Father Sobb recognised the need to plan for the future and in 1950 he bought two blocks of land in Central Avenue, Avalon, now the site of Maria Regina Church and school.

Father Sobb also bought land at Collaroy Plateau in the 1950's in anticipation of a church being necessary there. The Church at Collaroy Plateau was opened in 1967 and was given Parish status in 1971.

The present St Joseph's Church was built and officially opened by Cardinal James Freeman on 6th August 1972. It was dedicated as a War Memorial Church.

On July 1st, 2006 the St Joseph's Parish was amalgamated with St Rose of Lima Collaroy Plateau, taking on the name The Lakes Catholic Parish of St Joseph's St Rose, Narrabeen and Collaroy Plateau.