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.

Do you have a friend named Joe?

Happy Easter! Christ is risen! Indeed, he is risen!

When someone is our friend, we normally expect that they would help us in our times of need. We, in turn, should find it easy to do favors for them without expecting anything in return. Friends simply do good things for friends. Do you consider Joe to be a friend? If so, do you only expect things from Joe, or do you things for his honor as well?

Today, I want to share a story related by one of the sisters (both biological and Carmelite) of St. Therese of Lisieux that demonstrates this point:
She [Therese] had cast some flowers at a statue of St. Joseph which was in the garden at the end of the chestnut walk, saying in a childish tone of voice:  "Take them!"

I asked: "Why are you throwing flowers at St. Joseph? To obtain a special favor?"

"Ah, no! It's just to please him; I don't want to give in order to receive."
(Taken from: St. Therese of Lisieux: Her Last Conversations, "The Yellow Notebook" June 11)

Joseph in Hades

We enter the most sacred time of year: when we commemorate and reflect on the words of the Apostles' Creed: "He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell, and on the third day, He rose again from the dead." It's a bit long, but today I'm sharing with you one of my narrative reflections on the "descended into hell." It begins with Joe's death and concludes with Christ:


Being sixty years old, thirty from having made the Son of God the Son of man (Mt. 1:25), St. Joseph completed his divinely appointed task of preparing his Son for His divinely appointed task—to make sons of men the sons of God once again (Lk. 3:38). 

Thus, with the blessing of his Son, Joseph was gathered together with his fathers to await that blessed moment when the Gates of Hades would be torn open. He closed his fleshly eyes to this world and opened his spiritual eyes to behold all of his great ancestors. 

Filled with great delight and joy, he exclaimed to all, “He has come! I have held Him! I have named Him! I have taught Him! Rejoice everyone, for He has come!” At this, the Gates of Hades shook a little with fear, and all “were amazed at what was said” (Lk. 2:33), and Satan went off to see whether Jesus was truly the Son of God (Mt. 4:1-11).

Then, one by one, the great prophets and patriarchs approached Joseph to inquire of whom he spoke.

ISAIAH: Of whom do you speak?
JOSEPH: I speak of him of whom you wrote, “Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,” (Mt. 1:23, Is. 7:14).

DAVID: “The virgin shall be with child?” Tell me, how is this possible?
JOSEPH: It is made possible by the Blessed One who once said to you “You are my son; today I have begotten you.” (Ps. 2:7) Unknowingly, you wrote about Him who has come, but I fear that what you wrote in one of your psalms was written of Him too (Ps. 22).

BEN SIRACH: Is it possible that I, too, unknowingly wrote of him in my final canticle (Sirach 51:1-12)?
JOSEPH: Yes, searcher of Divine Wisdom, and this gives me great comfort. Rejoice, because Wisdom will find you soon.

SOLOMON: I too searched for Divine Wisdom, yet in my weakness I could not withstand the allurements of false beauty (1 Kings 11:1-8).
JOSEPH: You sought to be clothed in fine linens and silks. He, instead, prefers to be clothed by his heavenly Father like the wild flowers are (Mt. 6:28-30, 32).

MOSES: If you held him, named him, and taught him, why then are you not called his father?
JOSEPH: Indeed, I was called his father (Lk. 2:48), and so I was according to the flesh but not by the flesh. He has only one Father according to the Spirit and by the Spirit (Lk. 1:35). For according to the Spirit, He received the same Name from the Blessed One Who revealed His Name to you: I AM (Ex. 3:14), according to the flesh, He received the Name ‘Jesus’ (Lk. 2:21).

JOSHUA: “Jesus!” That is a form of my name! But how is it possible that the One who bears the Name ‘I AM’ bears my name as well?
JOSEPH: He bears both because both are what He is. He is the Lord, and as Lord, he shall save us from our sins (Mt. 1:21), and like you, he will lead us into the New Promised Land (Lk. 23:43).

OLD TESTAMENT JOSEPH: My friend, I am sorry, but have we met? For it seems as if I already know you.
JOSEPH: No, we have not met, but we share the same name because, by Providence, you prefigured me in so many ways. Rejoice! For as you were chosen to store and distribute grain in time of famine (Gen. 41:47-49, 53-57), so I was chosen to store and give away the Bread of Life to all of humanity (John 6:35).

ABRAHAM: I was blessed once to have been able to give bread to the Lord, and it was then that the Lord promised me a son (Gen. 18:1-15). Do you think there is a deeper meaning than Isaac in his words?
JOSEPH: O my father in faith! Yes, there is a great meaning. For I believe that the Lord’s command to sacrifice Isaac is the key. The Lord spared your son, and in his place, He gave you a ram (Gen. 22:1-19). The new Ram is my Son and the Son of God. In his Power will change the bread that you gave into the Divine Bread—the sacrificed flesh of the Lamb of God (Mt. 26:26). Rejoice father! For as you were generous in giving bread to the Lord, so now, He will be even more generous in return.

NOAH: How is it that I find what you say to be hard to understand but beautiful, yet when the Lord sent the flood to drown my enemies (Gen. 6-7), I found it easy to understand but ugly?
JOSEPH: That is because, noble Noah, that you have not yet been drowned beneath the cleansing waters of Baptism (1 Peter 3:20-21). Like you, I am a carpenter, and I passed on our trade to my Son. He will drown our wickedness and save us by wood. For this reason we should proclaim, “Blest is the wood through which righteousness comes about!” (Wisdom 14:7).

ABEL: You speak, young Joseph, about wood saving us—wood prepared by the Lamb of God. I offered a lamb as a burnt holocaust to God (Gen. 4:4). How is it possible that the Lamb prepares the altar too?
JOSEPH: Love. Love. Love is the only way. It was Love that caused Him to become like us in all things except sin (Heb. 2:17) It is Love that drives Him to prepare Himself as priest, altar, and victim. It is the Love of God for us that is the answer to all our questions.

ADAM: How could He love me? I fell because I wanted to make myself be like Him (Gen. 3:5-6).
JOSEPH: Rejoice, father of humanity! Yes, you fell because you wanted make yourself be like Him, but now He has fallen from heaven in order to be like you. He has come to take away your sin. He has come to become the new Fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, and He desires that you eat this new Fruit. This time, you will not die, because He is also the Fruit of the Tree of Life. Soon, He will beckon you to partake of this Fruit. You will live and be like Him! You were once driven out of the Garden of Eden; so once again, He will enter the Garden “at the breezy time of the day” (Gen. 2:8), and when He comes out as the new Gardener (John 20:15), He will draw you to a Garden far greater than the one from which you came. He will bring you into His own home (Lk. 23:43). Rejoice, father of humanity, for He is the new Adam, and He will call out for you!

At this point, Hades began to shake and rock. At the same time, blood began to pour down like rain—covering all who were there. At this, Blessed Joseph cried out so that all could hear:

“Now is the hour! Now is the day of salvation! My Son comes as the Paschal Lamb who is slain. Come everyone! Quick, let us greet Him at Hades’s Gates! Do you hear that pounding? I’m sure that it is He in His agony, and He is becoming emboldened. As Hades weakens Him in the flesh, He weakens Hades’s Gates, and when Hades has finished its foul deed, He will cry out, “It is finished!” (John 19:30).

Then, as if they were just pieces of straw swept up by a tornado, the Gates of Hades burst open, and the Light of the World (John 8:12) flooded all of Hades’s dark caves and crevices—illuminating all who were there. At this, Jesus looked in and saw all who were washed in his own blood, and he exclaimed with joy, “These ones, at last, are bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh! (Gen. 2:23), and when the eyes of Jesus and Joseph met each other, tears of joy filled both their eyes. Jesus said to him, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” (Mt. 25:34) With this, Hades was emptied of its prize. 

For, CHRIST IS RISEN! 

Indeed, HE IS RISEN!

Preface of Roman Rite

Yesterday, April 9 marked the 100th anniversary of Pope Benedict XV's promulgation of the Preface of St. Joseph for the Roman Rite Liturgy, which has been kept in the Liturgy since. Here is the current official English translation:


It is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation,
always and everywhere to give you thanks,
Lord, holy Father, almighty and eternal God,
and on the Solemnity of Saint Joseph [or "and in honoring Saint Joseph"]
to give you fitting praise,
to glorify you and bless you.

For this just man was given by you
as spouse to the Virgin Mother of God
and set as a wise and faithful servant
in charge of your household
to watch like a father over your Only Begotten Son,
who was conceived by the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit,
our Lord Jesus Christ.

Through him the Angels praise your majesty,
Dominions adore and Powers tremble before you.
Heaven and the Virtues of heaven and the blessed Seraphim
worship together with exultation.
May our voices, we pray, join with theirs
in humble praise, as we acclaim:

Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God of hosts . . .

House of Loreto

Perhaps you recall last Monday's "incident" when Pope Francis tried to prevent a number of people from kissing his ring, but that is not what interested me that day (you can find a report of the actually important events of that visit here). It was March 25th, the Solemnity of the Annunciation, when we celebrate Mary's miraculous conception of the Son of God by the Power of the Holy Spirit.

By tradition, the house where that blessed event occurred was miraculously transported to where it is now in Italy, (and yes, you guessed it!, that's where Pope Francis was.)

Here is a short documentary about the house:

Here is a more thorough documentary that you can watch on Amazon.
and here is the Basilica's official website.

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!