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/

Old Feast, Still Celebrated

Today is the 3rd Wednesday after Easter. Up until the revision of the Roman Missal by Pope Pius XII in 1955, this day was dedicated as a celebration of the patronage of Joe over the Universal Church. I can’t say why it was removed from the Roman Calendar, but even though this celebration may not be in the calendar, we can still celebrate his wondrous patronage. How will you celebrate?

Don’t forget, May 1st (this Friday) is the feast of St Joseph the Worker, and this celebration is on the calendar, and how wonderful that on this day, America will be rededicated to Mary under the title “Mother of the Church”! How fitting too. As Mary was the mother of the domestic church of Nazareth and from this the Mother of the Universal Church, so Joe as the protector and guardian of the domestic church of Nazareth is also the Protector and Guardian of the Universal Church!

This song may be appropriate for today as well:

"Hard Hat And A Hammer" by Alan Jackson 

 

200 Men Consecrate Themselves to Joe

A couple days ago I came across this article about 200 college men who consecrated themselves to Joe. How awesome would it be if we could get another 200 young men to do the same!

St. Joseph on Fire

I'm sure that Joe must have felt as if his own house was on fire when he found Mary to be pregnant. This past May 1st (coincidentally, Feast of St. Joseph, the Worker), the church of St. Joseph Parish in Phoenix, Arizona caught fire. You can check out pictures here. But very much like their patron, the did not allow the fire in their life to extinguish their worship of God. Now, they continue to celebrate the Mass and other sacraments.

If you are willing and able, you can donate to help with the reconstruction of their church in honor of Joe. You can do that either online at the parish website, or I'm sure that you could mail them a check:

St. Joseph Catholic Church

11001 N. 40th Street

Phoenix, AZ 85028

As in all things every little bit counts... most especially prayers!

Joe and the Priest

Last Saturday, I had the privilege of witnessing the priestly ordination of nine men. During which, I was reminded of a short section of St. John XXIII’s Apostolic Exhortation, Sacrae Laudis:

The recent Christmas festivities brought us during those holy days closer, not only to the Mother but to her spouse, dear St. Joseph, both on their way to Bethlehem, towards the accomplishment of the great mystery of the Word that was made flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14). Who is more worthy than the priest to be on familiar terms with St. Joseph 'to whom was given not only to see and hear God but to carry him, kiss him, dress him and guard him'? Therefore, on the occasion of his feast, on the nineteenth of March last year, we entrusted also to St. Joseph the supreme task of protecting this Council (Le Voci), as he had already been proclaimed Patron Saint of the Universal Church by the first Vatican Council on 8 December 1869.***

Let us pray for our priests, seminarians, and for an increase of men answering the call to discern priestly ministry!


***Interestingly, this decree was actually published on 8 December 1870 (not 1869) as Pope St. John XXIII wrote in his encyclical Le Voci (which by the way is a great summary of the 19th-20th century papal decrees regarding Joe).

Joe comes to Theology on Tap|Heights

If you are able come on out for this talk on Joe by Fr. Boniface Hicks, O.S.B. It'll be well worth it!
Click here for the Facebook event page.