Nazareth: The sanctification of daily life

With Mary and Joseph, the sanctification of daily life

Nazareth isn't just a geographical place. It is above all a temple of God's grace.

The longest period of Christ's life unfolded anonymously, but as efficaciously as yeast in the dough. A man among men, in humility and obedience toward established customs and authorities. Jesus shared the everyday life of everyone else, the rituals, the pain and the labor, so as to transform all things, by purifying and sanctifying them by the physical reality of his redemptive presence.  

In all this how could we forget, next to Mary, the action and presence of St. Joseph, whose irreplaceable role of father and master make of him a minister of salvation?

By his obedience to his parents (Lk 2: 51) Jesus willed to sanctify family and work duties - the work which he did with St. Joseph. All said and done, this is really about the sanctification of everyday life. 

What is not assumed is not saved. The truth of the Incarnation is that it demanded Jesus to assume all that is human in order to purify and sanctify it: the development of life from conception until death, through the narrowness of the maternal womb, the weakness of early childhood, the growth of adolescence and youth. Jesus didn't accelerate the times […] rather he submitted to all its laws. 

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Excerpt de T. Stramare, San Giuseppe nel mistero di Dio, Piemme 1992, p. 219