The Year of Joe

Did you know that the Diocese of Charlotte, North Carolina is in the midst of celebrating a year dedicated to Joe? In particular it is in celebration of the 150th anniversary of Pope Pius IX declaring Joe to be the patron of the Universal Church. I highly recommend browsing through the website dedicated particularly to this year: https://yearofstjoseph.org/

Bernardine of Siena

Today, is the Memorial of St. Bernardine of Siena. On March 19th, for the Solemnity of St Joseph, the Husband of Mary, a portion of one of his sermons is used in the Office of Readings of the Liturgy of the Hours. Here is the portion that is included:

There is a general rule concerning all special graces granted to any human being. Whenever the divine favor chooses someone to receive a special grace, or to accept a lofty vocation, God adorns the person chosen with all the gifts of the Spirit needed to fulfill the task at hand.

This general rule is especially verified in the case of Saint Joseph, the foster-father of our Lord and the husband of the Queen of our world, enthroned above the angels. He was chosen by the eternal Father as the trustworthy guardian and protector of his greatest treasures, namely, his divine Son and Mary, Joseph’s wife. He carried out this vocation with complete fidelity until at last God called him, saying: “Good and faithful servant enter into the joy of your Lord”.

What then is Joseph’s position in the whole Church of Christ? Is he not a man chosen and set apart? Through him and, yes, under him, Christ was fittingly and honorably introduced into the world. Holy Church in its entirety is indebted to the Virgin Mother because through her it was judged worthy to receive Christ. But after her we undoubtedly owe special gratitude and reverence to Saint Joseph.

In him the Old Testament finds its fitting close. He brought the noble line of patriarchs and prophets to its promised fulfillment. What the divine goodness had offered as a promise to them, he held in his arms.

Obviously, Christ does not now deny to Joseph that intimacy, reverence and very high honor which he gave him on earth, as a son to his father. Rather we must say that in heaven Christ completes and perfects all that he gave at Nazareth.

Now we can see how the last summoning words of the Lord appropriately apply to Saint Joseph: “Enter into the joy of your Lord”. In fact, although the joy of eternal happiness enters into the soul of a man, the Lord preferred to say to Joseph: “Enter into joy”. His intention was that the words should have a hidden spiritual meaning for us. They convey not only that this holy man possesses an inward joy, but also that it surrounds him and engulfs him like an infinite abyss.

Remember us, Saint Joseph, and plead for us to your foster-child. Ask your most holy bride, the Virgin Mary, to look kindly upon us, since she is the mother of him who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns eternally. Amen.

Holy Family of Fatima

Today, we celebrate Mary under the title “Our Lady of Fatima.” This feast is special for me for a number of reasons, but one of them is because on October 13, 1917 (the last day of the series of apparitions that began on May 13), Joe appeared with Mary. Here is the account: 

After our Lady had disappeared into the immense distance of the firmament, we beheld St. Joseph with the Child Jesus and Our Lady robed in white with a blue mantle, beside the sun. St. Joseph and the Child Jesus seemed to bless the world, for they traced the Sign of the Cross with their hands. When, a little later, this apparition disappeared, I saw Our Lord and Our lady; it seemed to me to that it was Our Lady of Sorrows (Dolors). Our Lord appeared to bless the world in the same manner as St. Joseph had done. This apparition also vanished, and I saw Our Lady once more, this time resembling Our Lady of Carmel. 

May the Holy Family of Fatima intercede on our behalf!

A New Bethlehem

It occurred to me a couple days ago that the Old Testament Joseph made Egypt the world’s house of bread during the great famine of Genesis 41ff. In other words, he made Egypt the first Bethlehem. So, in the same way Joe makes every place where he stays a new Bethlehem—Egypt, Nazareth, even our souls.

Furthermore, both Joseph’s invite others to come and live off the fruits of the earth provided for by God. Neither is selfish. Both transform separation into an invitation to reunification. Perhaps there is someone we need to be reunified and reconciled with. Will we let Joe take charge over the situation and bring about restoration of what was lost?