Jesus was familiar with the human condition. Nazareth did not protect him from the state of fallen humanity. Rather it afforded him concrete observations of that condition, the condition he came to redeem. Although Joseph would not witness the cross of his son, he participated in it by the sacrifice of his life, the toil of his daily work. He undertook this work in order to properly care for Mary and Jesus. In this Joseph experienced in his life a glimmer of the resurrection. Through the toil uniquely associated with the work entrusted to him by the Father, Joseph began in his unique way to build the new heavens and the new earth.
— from the book Jospeh, the Man Who Raised Jesus by Fr. Gary Caster
