Joe and the Holy Spirit: The Desert

We're all familiar with Matthew's quote of the prophet Hosea, "Out of Egypt I called my son." (Mt. 2:15, Hos. 11:1). He very well could have said, "Out of the desert I called my son." Even though not all of Egypt was desert-like, in order to get from Egypt to Israel, one needed to pass through the desert wilderness of the Sinai Peninsula. 

God sent the angel to Joe in the dream to "take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt..." and so it was Joe who "rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed for Egypt", and again, it was Joe who led them back away from Egypt. It was Joe who led Jesus into the desert, a prefigurement of the time after Jesus was baptized and He "was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil." (Mt. 4:1)

Throughout our lives, God calls us into spiritual deserts, when prayer feels dry and God seems distant. He does this in order to test the quality of our faith to see if we go to Him to feel good or because we love Him. But if we go into the desert not recognizing our identity as beloved children of the Father, we will not be able to withstand the temptations of the enemy. 

When we are in these desert periods of prayer, do we call on the Holy Spirit and Joe to lead us through it? Do we believe that they will provide for our needs? Do we trust that they will bring us out? Perhaps right now, you are in the desert. Call out to the Holy Spirit and Joe. They will journey through this time with you.

Joe and the Holy Spirit: The Incarnation

So, what started my intrigue into considering Joe as an icon of the Holy Spirit is the scene of the Annunciation (Luke 1:26-38). The Archangel Gabriel said to Mary "The holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.” Isn’t this what Joe was called to do - to come to Mary and overshadow her in his protective mantle? Just as the Holy Spirit is not the Father of the Son yet remains intrinsic to the mystery of the Incarnation, so is Joe as well. I believe that we all are invited to receive the Joe's protection just as we are invited to receive the Gift of the Holy Spirit, and all just like Mary received. In this way, Mary can rightly be said to be Joe's spouse as well as the spouse of the Holy Spirit. May the same be mystically said about us!

Modeling the Trinity

A couple weeks ago, the thought occurred to me that Joe models in a number of ways the Person of the Holy Spirit. To be honest, I really haven’t completely thought it through, so I’m sure that as I continue to reflect on this and share, there will be some retractions.

Let me begin, not with the Holy Spirit, but rather, with the Father and the Son. Jesus once told His disciples "Whoever has seen me has seen the Father... Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me...” (John 14:9,11). Thus, to see either the Father or the Son is to see the other as well, and to model one is to model the other as well. So, when we say that Joe models well the Father,1 we can say that he models well Jesus, too. This explains why there are so many parallel images between Jesus and Joe: righteousness, called out of Egypt, etc. Yet, the Trinity consists in three Persons, not too.

Jesus also said of the Holy Spirit, "He will not speak on his own, but he will speak what he hears, and will declare to you the things that are coming. He will glorify me, because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you. Everything that the Father has is mine; for this reason I told you that he will take from what is mine and declare it to you.” (John 16:13-15). So, to model the Son is also to model the Holy Spirit. 

The Greeks have a good word for this mystery of the Trinity: perichoresis. It refers to the Divine “dance” of the Trinity as if They are always twirling about making it impossible to fully distinguish one from the other. This idea is captured well in Andrei Rublev’s Icon of the Trinity (or The Hospitality of Abraham). Each of the angels depicted has the same face as the other two. To see the face of one is to see the face of the other two. So, too with Joe (indeed anyone who faithfully remains in God). To be like one is to be like all Three. In the weeks ahead, I’ll be sharing some reflections on the perichoris of the earthly trinity as the mirror of the Heavenly Trinity. 

Joe’s Candles

Last Sunday, Catholic Churches celebrated the Feast of Pentecost and next Sunday the Orthodox Churches will do so. The image of fire always stands out to me when Pentecost comes around. Imagine one hundred and twenty people in a room with fire hanging over them. That truly must have been a sight! 

Yet, we know that while there was an external fire burning over them, there was a far longer lasting internal Fire burning within them. How true this must have been with Joe. How many times did he light a candle or a lamp to give light to the eyes? Yet, how brightly the Fire must have burned within him to give light to his heart! 

I am reminded of encountering online a group of Orthodox nuns who support themselves by making and selling beeswax candles, and they put their work under Joe’s patronage (link is below). I would recommend checking out their stock and consider buying a candle or two to assist your prayer—or perhaps to be prepared in case of an emergency. I’m sure Joe did both.

https://www.saintsmaryandmarthaorthodoxmonastery.org/candles.html

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?

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 

 

Walkin' with Joe

I realized a couple days ago that I have not yet shared my Joe socks. I wear them on days that are associated with Joe and they tend to be good conversation starters in introducing others to him. I've seen them in many Catholic bookstores, or you can purchase a pair directly online at Sock Religious. I even find them to be a great reminder that I should walk with him all the time.