Fasting and Hardship with the Holy Family

Only a more than a month before she died (on August 20, 1897), St. Therese of Lisieux shared this little reflection on the Holy Family:

"How charming it will be in heaven to know everything that took place in the Holy Family! When little Jesus began to grow up, perhaps when He saw the Blessed Virgin fasting, He said to her: 'I would really like to fast, too.' And the Blessed Virgin answered: 'No, little Jesus, You are still too little, You haven't the strength.' Or else perhaps she didn't dare hinder Him from doing this.

And good St. Joseph! Oh, how I love him! He wan't able to fast because of his work. I can see him planing, then drying his forehead from time to time. Oh, how I pity him! It seems to me that their life was simple...

What does me a lot of good when I think of the Holy Family is to imagine a life that was very ordinary. For example, [the apocryphal Infancy Gospel of Thomas, 3 says] that the Child Jesus, after having formed some birds out of clay, breathed upon them and gave them life. Ah, no! little Jesus didn't perform useless miracles like that, even to please His Mother. Why weren't they transported into Egypt by a miracle which would have been necessary and so easy for God. In the twinkling of an eye, they could have been brought there. No, everything in their life was done just as in our own.

How many troubles, disappointments! How many times did others make complaints to good St.  Joseph! How many times did they refuse to pay him for his work! Oh, how astonished we would be if we only knew ho much they had to suffer!"

(Taken from St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Her Last Conversations, ICS Publications, 1977, page 159)

Transfiguration of Joe

This week is awesome! Last Sunday we celebrated the Sunday of Transfiguration, yesterday was the Solemnity of St. Joseph, next Tuesday will be the Solemnity of the Annunciation. Today, I'd like to take some time and talk about last Sunday.

Everyday, the Church prays the Liturgy of the Hours, which consists of praying the Psalms five times a day (seven times for some). The first of the "hours" is called the Office of Readings, and in the Office of Readings, we pray three psalms, and two other spiritual readings (one scriptural and the other not). The scriptural reading for last Sunday's Office of Readings, was the exodus of the Israelites out of Egypt (Ex. 13:17-14:9).

Why do I bring this up? because verse 19 says, "Moses also took Joseph’s bones with him." I've already made the point that many theologians and saints believe that this passage offers a reason to believe that Joe was resurrected and assumed body and soul into heaven already with Jesus and Mary (First Rule of Engineering: Make Good Assumptions).

So next question: Why this reading on this day? Last Sunday's Gospel reading was St. Luke's account of the Transfiguration (Luke 9:28-36), where we learn that Jesus, whose body was glorified, was talking with Moses and Elijah about his own exodus.

Furthermore, in the Office of Readings we read from a sermon by Pope St. Leo the Great:
"The whole body of Christ was to understand the kind of transformation that it would receive as his gift. The members of that body were to look forward to a share in that glory which first blazed out in Christ their head.
The Lord had himself spoken of this when he foretold the splendor of his coming: Then the just [righteous] will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father (Matt. 13:43). St. Paul the apostle bore witness to this same truth when he said: I consider that the sufferings of the present time are not to be compared with the future glory that is to be revealed in us (Romans 8:18) In another place he says: You are dead, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, your life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory (Colossians 3:4)."

If Joe is a "just/righteous man," (Matt. 1:19) then will he not "shine like the sun..." too?
Did he not suffer greatly? Imagine then the greatness of his glory.
Joe was dead, and his life was hidden with Christ in God. So he too was revealed with Christ in glory.

Solemnity of Joe

Today is the Solemnity of St. Joseph in the Roman Catholic Church. I encourage all of us to pray today (and every day!) the Litany of St. Joseph:


Lord, have mercy.
                Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
                Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
                Lord, have mercy.

Christ, hear us.
                Christ, graciously hear us.

God, the Father of Heaven,
                have mercy on us.
God, the Son, Redeemer of the world,
                have mercy on us.
God, the Holy Spirit,
                have mercy on us.

Holy Trinity, One God,
                have mercy on us.
Holy Mary,
                pray for us.
Holy Joseph,
                pray for us.

Renowned offspring of David,
                pray for us.
Light of Patriarchs,
                pray for us.
Spouse of the Mother of God,
                pray for us.
Chaste guardian of the Virgin,
                pray for us.
Foster father of the Son of God,
                pray for us.
Diligent protector of Christ,
                pray for us.
Head of the Holy Family,
                pray for us.

Joseph most just,
                pray for us.
 Joseph most chaste,
                pray for us.
Joseph most prudent,
                pray for us.
Joseph most strong,
                pray for us.
Joseph most obedient,
                pray for us.
Joseph most faithful,
                pray for us.

Mirror of patience,
                pray for us.
Lover of poverty,
                pray for us.
Model of artisans,
                pray for us.
Glory of home life,
                pray for us.
Guardian of virgins,
                pray for us.
Pillar of families,
                pray for us.
Solace of the wretched,
                pray for us.
Hope of the sick,
                pray for us.
Patron of the dying,
                pray for us.
Terror of demons,
                pray for us.
Protector of Holy Church,
                pray for us.

Lamb of God, who take away the sins of the world,
                spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, who take away the sins of the world,
                graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, who take away the sins of the world.
                have mercy on us

He made him the lord of his household.
                And prince over all his possession

Let us pray,
O God, in your ineffable providence you were pleased to choose Blessed Joseph to be the spouse of your most holy Mother; grant, we beg you, that we may be worthy to have him for our intercessor in heaven whom on earth we venerate as our Protector: You who live and reign forever and ever. 
Amen!

Joe, the Protector

Last week, I had the blessed opportunity to travel to Rome on pilgrimage, and it truly was amazing how many churches were there. But what surprised me more was the number of images of Joe throughout the city!

One of my favorites is in the Basilica of St. Andrew of the Valley. It is an altarpiece entitled: La Vergine con il Bambino Gesù e san Giovanni Battista; San Giuseppe vede l'angelo annunziargli la fuga in Egitto by Ercole Antonio Raggi (1675). I love this image because of the significance of the gazes between the figures. At the bottom left we see Mary holding the Christ-child with the young John the Baptist. Mary is looking to Jesus while Jesus and John are looking at each other. On the bottom right, we see Joe alone looking to the heavens, and more specifically to God the Father and the Holy Spirit, Who are looking at him along with the angels. Joe is holding out his hands as if to receive the message and to pass it on to Jesus, Mary, and John the Baptist. This is the unique role of Joe in the holy family.

I recently heard someone make the comment that God sent angels to the Joe, only as messengers, even though they could have easily have acted as the Holy Family's protectors as well, but God chose to use Joe as the defender and protector of Mary and Jesus. Joe not only does the Lord's will, but he does it well. We too can be like Joe. There are many things that we are called to do in this life that God could easily do for us. Instead, He prefers to allow us to cooperate (co-operate/work-with) with His plan. The question is are we as eager and quick to do so as Joe was?

As a side note, did you know that Pope Francis placed the Vatican under the particular patronage of Joe on July 5, 2013 - less than half a year in his pontificate?

Lent: Our Journey to Bethlehem

Today, we begin lenten journey of fasting, which I would like to suggest is our annual journey to Bethlehem. The name 'Bethlehem' literally means 'House of Bread', and why would anyone go to a house of bread, if one had plenty of bread? We lack bread—not just any bread, but the "living bread that came down from heaven" (John 6:51). In other words, we are running short on the life of Christ, and we need to travel year after year and replenish ourselves; this is one reason why we as Catholics need to receive Communion at least (frequently is encouraged) once during this time of Lent and Easter.

I'm reminded of a scene from The Nativity Story, one of my favorite movie renditions of the Infancy Narratives (you can watch it here). There is a scene (01:02:20 - 01:06:00) that demonstrates the role Joe has in our journey to Bethlehem. At the beginning of the scene, there is another traveling family whose donkey stumbles and falls. Joe says to Mary, "Their animal is weak."

Following this scene, Mary and Joe break for the night, but before sleeping, they partake of the simple meal of bread. Joe prays a traditional Jewish prayer that can be translated as "Blessed are you, Lord God of all creation, for through your goodness we have received the bread we offer you: fruit of the earth and work of human hands, it will become for us the bread of life." (If this prayer sounds familiar, it's because the priest prays this prayer at every Mass; although, you might not hear him all the time.) Then Joe breaks the bread and gives half to Mary, he takes a bite from the other half and then puts the rest of his half into his satchel bag.

We then take a quick break to watch the three magi re-find their bearings (which is what we do in the Mass), and then we're back to the Holy Family. In this part of the scene. Joe takes that piece of his half of the bread and gives it to their donkey. Joe feeds the donkey from his half of the bread! He's probably been doing this the whole trip, which is why Mary and Joe's donkey is not weak, like the other family's.

This scene is significant because it visualizes what happens at every Mass. Joe is the priest, we are the donkey, and Mary is the whole Church. We are only able to travel through Lent with the difficulties of our lenten practices (indeed, all of life), because we are fed the Bread of Life by the hand of the priest, who took bread, broke it, and gave to us some from his part.

So, as we begin and enter into this Lenten Journey—our journey to Bethlehem—let us turn to Joe who does give to us the nourishment that gives us strength to continue to encounter the Lord face-to-face!