If you are completing residential addiction treatment with St. Joseph Institute in Port Matilda, you may be looking for sources of inspiration and hope to sustain you as you return home. At St. Joseph, we approach recovery with evidence-based methods, and we help our residents foster faith and spirituality.
Our facility is named after the biblical figure of Joseph—foster father to Jesus and husband to his mother, Mary–and Joseph’s story could be the motivation you’re looking for to carry on your sobriety journey.
His life lessons, experience, and virtue provide profound parallels to starting fresh, accepting yourself, practicing compassion, finding peace, and achieving understanding.
Who Was The Man Who Chose Faith Over Fear?
Saint Joseph serves as a literary, spiritual, and historical example of trusting in a higher power despite societal stigmas and inner turmoil. Joseph is portrayed in the Bible as a humble carpenter—a working family man who sticks to a routine. One day, he discovers his soon-to-be-wife Mary is pregnant with Jesus, a baby that he didn’t father. We can only imagine his thoughts and feelings.
Rather than punish Mary with societal shame and legal condemnation, Joseph set aside anger, spitefulness, and judgment in favor of compassion and mercy. In his time, he could have easily requested a public divorce, which could have led to Mary’s execution. Instead, he leaned into kindness and understanding.
As the story goes, an angel later came to Joseph in a dream, guiding him to marry Mary and raise Jesus as his own. He did just that with full trust and commitment to a higher power and a larger life plan.
By supporting Mary and raising Jesus, Joseph acted as the backbone of one of the most important family units for billions of future Christians. He was an ordinary person with an ordinary job and common aspirations: living a good life and having a family. He became extraordinary when he accepted his situation and made the best of it.
What Does Saint Joseph’s Story Mean For Recovery?
Saint Joseph has many causes, one of which is leaving behind the old to explore the new. Leaving addiction behind is like entering a new dimension of experience with unique challenges and high stakes.
Like Joseph, those entering recovery must often leave behind familiar patterns and trust in a new path. His example teaches us that the choices we make matter more than the past or what others have done or chosen for us.
He shows us that humility and a willingness to change are strengths, not weaknesses. Here are a few key parallels from Joseph to encourage you when your sobriety is tested:
- Recovery requires us to leave familiar environments, even when it’s difficult. Protecting our sobriety may require radical but necessary changes.
- Like Joseph, people in recovery can maintain dignity in the face of adversity, work consistently for stability, and nurture and repair meaningful relationships.
- Just like Joseph accepted what he couldn’t control, you can embrace your recovery journey no matter how many steps backward it may have forced you to take.
- Like Joseph, you can learn to depend on yourself and exist in sobriety with grace and humility.
- Joseph’s past circumstances didn’t dictate his life’s outcome. This is true for you as well.
Seek Support For Addiction Recovery in Pennsylvania
Joseph didn’t live his story alone. A higher power always surrounded him. He also had a community to lean on—a wife, a child, and other family members. St. Joseph Institute is prepared and honored to be that community support for you and your loved ones.
From family services to trauma-informed care, we’re here to help you win the battle against substance use disorder. Contact us today to learn more and start your recovery journey.
