Someone once suggested that St. Joseph might well be named the patron saint of forcibly changed plans. There’s no question, we could use such a patron saint. God knows often enough our carefully laid plans are wiped out by forces beyond our control, and new situations are created that we never expected. We plan and then illness or job loss or natural disaster or something similar blocks the fulfillment of what we planned.

Joseph chose a lovely young fellow townswoman as his spouse, but before he was to marry her he learned she was pregnant. He concluded that
given this new situation he had best alter his plans: he decided to separate from Mary quietly. Then God spoke to him in a dream, and he changed
his plans again. He would wed Mary.

Undoubtedly Joseph had planned well for Mary’s comfort when the birth of the child would come in Nazareth. The Roman Emperor changed all that with his decree establishing the census. So Joseph and Mary journeyed to Bethlehem where he had to be satisfied with a cave used for sheltering animals as a birthing room for his wife. Before it was time for the family’s return trip to Nazareth, God warned him about the designs Herod had on the child, so once again he shifted gears and instead of returning home, he fled to Egypt where he and his family stayed for several years.

The patron saint of forcibly changed plans! Whether or not the Church ever bestows this title on Joseph, there is much to admire in his behavior. For one thing, he seems to have enjoyed a natural ability to adapt easily in new situations. God is the God of surprises. Often enough he leads us into surprising situations that we never could have foreseen. Happy the person who, when God springs a surprise on him, doesn’t panic but moves smoothly along with the word of the Lord.

St. Joseph, patron of people on whom God springs surprises, patron of those whom he leads into surprising situations, pray for us.