I am curious. What do we know about Joseph? Next to nothing is said about him in the Scriptures. I am just wondering the basis for commemorating him.
He was the reputed "father" of the God-Man, Jesus Christ. That's a great responsibility, what if he had failed to be a good father? He taught Jesus his trade, how to speak, he fled into Egypt with him to save his life, what if he had not saved the Lord's life?
He's also great role model for those of us who live ordinary lives, the silence concerning Joseph in the Gospel's tells us how ordinary he was as regards fulfilling daily duties, he did nothing great in the eyes of the world; he was a "Dad" whom Jesus obeyed.
"And seeing him, they wondered. And his mother said to him: Son, why hast thou done so to us? behold thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing. 49 And he said to them: How is it that you sought me? did you not know, that I must be about my father's business? 50 And they understood not the word that he spoke unto them. 51 And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject to them. And his mother kept all these words in her heart. Lk 2: 48-51
Biblically all that is written on Joseph is contained in the gospels of Mathew and Luke.
However, there are other written texts that recorded oral information passed down from the apostles and Jesus’s Mother Mary about Joseph, and about Mary’s childhood with her parents Anna and Joachim. Some of the stories are considered as “legends”, and relate to the holiness of Mary’s parents, Jesus’s grandparents. Also, about Joseph as a just man who was god-fearing in every way, and a descendant of the house of David. Joseph was selected to be the spouse of Mary from a group of men. One legend says that a lily appeared on Joseph’s staff indicating he was the one. For that reason many statues of Joseph show a lily at the top of his staff. The concept of a lily is rather far-fetched, but often such stories have some basis in truth. Perhaps a more realistic sign appeared to indicate Joseph as the preferred spouse for Mary. Such stories become lost in antiquity.