Novena Day 1

Day 1 of Novena to St. Joseph for the Chapel of Loretto:

O Holy St. Joseph listen to our cry and present them for us to our Heavenly Father. You built a staircase to a choir loft so that human choirs might imitate angelic choirs. We beg you now, inspired carpenter, to build a staircase to heaven for us and for all who do not know the way to paradise.
     We are all sinners and are lost on our journey; so, do not allow us to sit in judgment of those who seek intimate love with those of the same sex. Rather, may we look upon them with eyes filled with sorrow and compassion, and may they look upon us in our sinfulness with the same eyes.
     You did not build the staircase for the honor and glory of your name. So, teach us now to build for each other staircases to heaven for the honor and glory of the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

Alphonsus Liguori and Joseph

Today is the Memorial of St. Alphonsus Liguori, who had a great devotion to Joe. I find it very appropriate to share a part of a homily he gave on the Feast of St. Joseph to continue the theme from last week of St. Joseph's fatherhood. You can read the whole homily here (pg. 599-610).

We should indeed honor Saint Joseph, since the Son of God was graciously pleased to honor him, by calling him His Father. "Christ", says Origen, "gave to Joseph the honor due to a parent". He is also thus spoken of in the gospel, "And His father and mother were wondering at those things which were spoken concerning Him" - Luke 2:33. The Divine Mother also spoke of him under this name, "Behold Thy father and I have sought Thee sorrowing" - Luke 2:48. Since, then, the King-of-kings was pleased to raise Joseph to so high a dignity, it is a right, and a duty on our part, to endeavor to honor him as much as we can. "He indeed should be greatly honored by men, whom the King-of-kings has been pleased thus to exalt". "What Angel or Saint", says Saint Basil, "ever merited to be called the father of the Son of God? Joseph alone was thus called". Hence we can well apply to Saint Joseph the words of Saint Paul, "Being made so much better than the Angels, as he hath inherited a more excellent name than they" - Hebrews 1:4. Saint Joseph was more honored by God, in this name of father, than all the Patriarchs, Prophets, Apostles, and Pontiffs; for all these have name of servants, Joseph alone that of father.

Behold him, as father, made lord of that little family; little in point of numbers, but great on account of the two great personages who composed it, i.e. the Mother of God, and the only-begotten Son of God made man: "He made him master of His house" - Psalm 104:21. Joseph commanded in that house, and the Son of God obeyed, "And He went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject to them" - Luke 2:51. "This subjection", says Gerson, "whilst it shows the humility of Jesus Christ, also shows the greatness of the dignity of Saint Joseph". "And to what greater dignity, to what higher degree of exaltation", continues the same writer, "can a person be raised, than to that of commanding Him Who commands all kings?"
Joshua excited the admiration of the whole world when he commanded the sun to stop in its course, that he might have time to conquer his enemies; and it obeyed, "the Lord obeying the voice of a man" - Joshua 10:14. But what comparison can there be between Joshua, whom the sun, an inanimate creature, obeyed, and Joseph, who was obeyed by Jesus Christ, the Son of God? As long as Saint Joseph lived, Jesus Christ respected him as a father, and until his death, that is for thirty years, always obeyed him as such, "He was subject to them". So that during all those years the constant occupation of the Savior was to obey Saint Joseph. During the whole of that time it was Joseph's charge to command, as the head of the family; and the office of Jesus was, as a subject, to obey Saint Joseph, who had been given to Him by God in place of a father. Hence, on the one hand, Jesus performed no action, did not even take a step, tasted no food, took no repose, but by the orders of Saint Joseph; and on the other, was all attention in listening to and executing all that Saint Joseph imposed upon Him. Our Blessed Lady said to Saint Bridget, "My Son was so obedient, that when Joseph said 'Do this' or 'Do that', He immediately did it". Hence John Gerson writes, "He often prepared the food and drink, washed the vessels, brought water from the fountain, and swept the house". Saint Bernard, speaking of Saint Joseph, says, "He was a faithful and prudent servant, whom our Lord made the solace of His Mother, the nourisher of His humanity, and, in fine', the only most faithful cooperator in the great council on Earth". 

Therefore, Saint Joseph was not only destined as a relief to the Mother of God, who had so many tribulations on Earth; not only was he the supporter of Jesus Christ, but he was also destined to cooperate, in a way, in the redemption of the world, for this was the work of the great council of the Three Divine Persons. God having also given him to His Son in the place of a father, He at the same time charged him to feed and defend His Son from the snares of His enemies, "Take the Child"; as if He had addressed him in the words of the Psalmist, "To thee is the poor man left; thou wilt be a helper to the orphan" - Psalm 9:14. Joseph, I have sent My Son on Earth; and Ihave sent Him poor and humble, without the splendor of riches or apparent nobility; hence, in the world, He will be despised, and called the Son of a carpenter, "Is not this the carpenter's Son?" - Matthew 13:55, according to thy humble trade; for I have willed that thou shouldst be poor, because I have destined thee to hold the place of a father over My Son, Who is poor; for He is not come to reign in the world, but to suffer and die for the salvation of men. On Earth, then, thou wilt hold My place of father over Him, and be His guardian, "To thee is the poor man left; thou wilt be a helper to the orphan". I abandon Him into thy hands. He will be persecuted, and thou wilt have to share in His sufferings; guard Him with care, and be thou faithful to Me. "Therefore", says Saint John Damascen, "God gave Saint Joseph the love, the care, the authority of a father over Jesus; He gave him the affection of a father, that he might guard Him with great love; the solicitude of a father, that he might watch over Him with care; and the authority of a father, that he might feel sure that he would be obeyed in all that he arranged as to the Person of this Son".

Loretto Chapel Staircase

One of my bucket-list places to go to has been the Loretto Chapel in Santa Fe, New Mexico; there is a famous staircase at the chapel, which many (including myself) believe to have been built by St. Joseph himself (https://www.lorettochapel.com/info/staircase).

I recently learned that the property was sold to a private individual a number of years ago, who has now allowed the chapel to be used for the legal witnessing of same-sex unions (https://www.lorettochapel.com/blog/santa-fe-weddings). My heart hurt when I learned this, and I am now torn as to whether or not I should go in the near future.

So, I ask for your prayers for two intentions: 1) for wisdom and discernment on my part in going, and 2) for the conversion of the minds and hearts of those who have allowed this to happen.

From August 1st (St. Alphonsus Liguori) through the 9th (St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross), I will offer this prayer as a novena to St. Joseph, and I ask you to join me. Quite providentially, both St. Alphonsus and St. Teresa Benedicta had great devotions to St. Joseph. Finally, please feel free to share this with whomever you like.

 O Holy St. Joseph listen to our cry and present them for us to our Heavenly Father. You built a staircase to a choir loft so that human choirs might imitate angelic choirs. We beg you now, inspired carpenter, to build a staircase to heaven for us and for all who do not know the way to paradise.
     We are all sinners and are lost on our journey; so, do not allow us to sit in judgment of those who seek intimate love with those of the same sex. Rather, may we look upon them with eyes filled with sorrow and compassion, and may they look upon us in our sinfulness with the same eyes.
     You did not build the staircase for the honor and glory of your name. So, teach us now to build for each other staircases to heaven for the honor and glory of the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

Hymn to Joe

I know its not Wednesday, but I had some time and thought I would share this newly composed hymn-prayer to Joe. I came across it a couple months back, and since then, it has become one of my favorites. It's in Spanish, so if you need a translation, I've shared my own at the bottom.

I think my favorite line concludes the second verse:
     "Por tu gran virtud, fuiste digno custodio de la luz."
     "Through your great virtue, you were the dignified guardian of the light."

Hymn to Saint Joseph

Today at your feet, we put our life -

Today at your feet, Glorious Saint Joseph.

Hear our prayer and through your intercession
     we will obtain peace of heart.

In Nazareth next to the Holy Virgin -

In Nazareth, Glorious Saint Joseph,

You took care of the child Jesus because through your great virtue
     you were the dignified guardian of the light.

With simplicity humble carpenter - 
With simplicity, Glorious Saint Joseph,
You labored well, worker of the Lord
     offering work and prayer.

You had faith in God and His promise -
You had faith, Glorious Saint Joseph.
Teacher of Prayer obtain for us the gift
     to listen and follow the voice of God.

Who do you say that I am?

I have heard it often said that Joe never said anything in the Scriptures. I disagree.

The first chapter of Matthew concludes with the Joseph waking from his first dream. St. Matthew tells us, "When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home. He had no relations with her until she bore a son, and he named him Jesus" (Mt. 1:24-25). "He NAMED him Jesus," or perhaps better from the Vulgate, "vocavit nomen eius Iesum" ("He CALLED his name Jesus"). You see, Joe spoke only one thing, or rather, one Word: "Jesus."

It has largely been a part of our Catholic Tradition that God the Father only speaks one word, the Word. Yet, we never receive an account of the Father speaking the Word, only indications. Why? Because the Word of the Father is not an audible word, it is a silent Word. Breathed and spoken, yet never heard with the ears of the head. For the Word can only be heard with the ears of the heart.

Now, comes the juicy part... The Word of the Father and the Word of Joe are one and the same Person: Jesus, the Word of God! "And the Word became flesh." (Jn. 1:14). Joe is the Living Icon of God the Father, Who breaths out the most precious Name! And only in this Name, we are saved (Acts 4:12).

A Little Heads Up

It's funny how God acts in our lives. The last couple days, I've been struggling to decide what I should write about next: the pretty interesting lineage of Joe, Joe: Terror of Demons, or perhaps the many prefigurements of Joe in the Old Testament, but all that changed yesterday when I was helping a friend do some housework.

On my way out the door, I happened to notice a statue of Joe lying down in the flowerbed. My first reaction was to go help a brother out and stand him up, and when I did I realized why he was lying down - his head was broken off. Then, I was settled. Joe: Head of the Holy Family.

Someone once told me that the husband may be the head of the wife, but the wife is the heart of the husband. How true this was for Joe and Mary! It is no coincidence that Mary kept memories in her heart (Lk. 2:19, 51), and it is Joe who was having dreams. The two go together.

So, by now you're probably asking yourself, "What about Jesus?" Well, it's pretty simple. Jesus is the neck of the Holy Family. He's the one who connects the head and the heart. He's the one that make the head and heart possible. He's like the glue between intellectual faith and heart-felt faith. One without the other is lacking, both together are a force to be reckoned with.

Do you find yourself laking intellectual faith? Go to Joe; he might just teach you in dreams. Do you find yourself laking heart-felt faith? Go to Mary; she'll teach a mother's faith in a child. But in all things go to Jesus, for he'll join the two together, and with this faith we will move mountains (Mt. 17:20).

(By the way, I did my best to repair the broken statue.)

Where is Waldo?

If you are like me, you grew up looking for Waldo. In some ways, it was difficult to find him because he was either hiding behind somebody or something. I can remember sometimes spending countless minutes looking for Waldo, but one thing was always certain, Waldo always looked the same. He never changed his cloths (even on a hot summer beach, he was wearing his winter hat). He always had the same pair of glasses. He never aged over the years.

Some time after High School, I began looking for St. Joseph (aka "Joe"). Like Waldo, he often was hiding behind somebody or something. But unlike Waldo, Joe has often "changed" his appearance. Sometimes he was dressed in vibrant colors. While other times, he was dressed in earth-tones. And goodness, his age seems to fluctuate back and forth as if he is out of time! Sometimes, he's old, other times he's young. This makes Joe very difficult to find sometimes.

With this blog, I hope I can share with you where I have found Joe, and I hope that together we may find him in even more pages of history.