The Holy Father

Our Holy Father, Pope Francis, is a lighting rod for controversy right now, both inside and outside the Church.  Some in the Church feel he is not standing up enough for traditional Catholic teaching, and are petitioning him to make clearer statements about Church teaching.  I count myself among the latter who would like him to make more of those kind of statements.  Many on the other hand, both in and outside the Church,  feel that he is a breath of fresh air, someone who has a more "open" mind, someone who might, at minimum, change the way the Church does things, and maybe even more, change some of what She teaches.  Out of that latter group, some are disappointed he has not gone further, and spoken more on changing things in the Church, like for example, allowing priests to marry, being more open to alternative lifestyles, and allowing women a greater role in Church governance, maybe even ordaining them.   It seems that everyone has an opinion on the 265th Successor of Saint Peter, who he is, and the job he is doing.   I guess this blog is now entering that foray.

There is something called the World Meeting for Families that is coming up in Philadelphia, a gathering of Catholic families, and there is hope on the part of some that out of that meeting, might come an encouragement on the part of some for change in Church teaching and practice for things like divorce and remarriage without needing to get an annulment, or blessing upon homosexual unions.  The Holy Father will be present for that meeting.  He will be taking his experience at that meeting with him back to Rome, where in October, there will be a Synod on the Family.  A synod is basically a convocation of Bishops from all over the world to discuss a matter of concern in the life of the Church.  After that synod, the Holy Father will then issue an Apostolic Exhortation, a teaching on family life.  
There is a lot of anxiety about that meeting in Philadelphia coming up.  At the Shrine, we have been praying almost daily for it, and there is one celebrant who, when he does the petitions, always includes the petition that the meeting will celebrate marriage as a union of one man and one woman, almost as if there is a concern that it will not.  There have been concerns raised that some of the organizers and leaders have ties to pro-abortion or pro-homosexual groups.
There is also concern about the upcoming Synod in Rome.   There have been reports of high level Cardinals trying to propose alternative ways of doing things that would suggest change in Church teaching on marriage, divorce, and remarriage.

There is a lot of anxiety in the Church these days, in my opinion, and it is justified to an extent.

Here is what I will say now on this matter. 
The Holy Father needs our prayers.  He needs them bad.  He needs our love.  He needs warriors to help him fight for the Church.  He needs the protection of all the angels, all the saints.  He needs the help of the Church Triumphant in Heaven, and the Church Militant here on Earth.  We cannot, as some Traditionalists in the Church have, run away from him.  We should not publically criticize him. 
We rather, need to do the opposite.  We need to run to him.  We need to embrace him.  We need to let him know that we stand with him as he guides the Church.   He is Peter, the Rock.  Our Lord built His Church on Peter.   

The Papacy is an office no man should seek, because it is an impossible job to do.  The spiritual and physical stress must be enormous, to carry the weight of the entire Church before God.   If anyone does seek it, that should disqualify him.  I am sure Cardinal Bergoglio of Argentina did not come to the Conclave seeking to be Pope.  I feel the weight of the office is very heavy on him, and he may not be seeing all the dangers that lurk around him.   He desperately needs our prayers.

Holy Father, we love you.  May Saint Joseph, the patron of the Universal Church, guide you as you make decisions that will guide the Church through these turbulent times.  May you be the best teacher of the Faith you can be, both by word and example.   May Saint Michael, whom we believe works with Saint Joseph to guard the Church, guard and protect you from the evils within and outside the Church.

Joseph, protector of Holy Church, pray for us.   Help us remain in union in love and intense, deep prayer, with and for Our Holy Father.

Joseph, patron of the unborn

Several weeks ago, I made a post about the undercover videos that have begun to surface regarding some of the activity that goes on inside Planned Parenthood.  Today, a seventh video was released and in this one, the person speaking talks about how she heard a heart beating of a baby whose parts were being dissected.  The video is gut wrenching, horrifying, and brings my heart to sorrow.

We as a culture have lost the moral capacity, as well as the philosophical and theological language to be able to deride this kind of activity clearly and forcefully.  Until we get our moral, philosophical, and theological underpinnings back (first in the Church, and then in the greater society), and are able to once again value the dignity of every human life from the first moment of conception, none of our other "issues" will be able to be resolved.   Gender inequality, wealth inequality, sexual exploitation, human trafficking, hunger, lack of medical care, issues with the environment are examples of issues that cannot be fixed until we first fix the foundational disregard for human life that we have, whether we wish to admit it or not.

It is moments like this that we can turn to people like Saint Joseph for inspiration.   His whole life he protected and defended life.  After the angel first appeared to him, he "took his wife into his home" (Matthew 8:24).  Mary was pregnant at the time.  Therefore, Joseph took an unborn life into his home.  We are called to do the same, bring life into our homes. We need to welcome the unborn like Joseph did, even if they are not our biological own.   It is fair and just to to be concerned with unborn babies that are not in our own wombs, contrary to what some pro-"choice" advocates may say.

 Later on, Joseph took Mary and the child and fled to Egypt, again at the request of an angel (Matthew 2:13-14) .  Why?  Because Herod was going to destroy him.   Joseph here takes the steps necessary to defend the life of a child who is targeted for execution.   We must do the same for the unborn babies today who are under the same fate due to legalized abortion.

Another interesting aspect of Joseph's mission was that he was the one who was told by the angel to name the child Jesus (Matthew 1:22) .  His example shows us that it is important to give every child a name.  His intercession is used sometimes by groups who assist mothers who have had abortions to give their aborted child a name as part of the grieving and healing process post-abortion.

While the title "patron of the unborn" is not in the official Litany to Saint Joseph, it is a title some pro-life groups have given him today.  It should be clear from these examples why.  A group that has specialized in post-abortion healing came up with the prayer copied below. This prayer can be said for all those babies aborted at Planned Parenthood over the years, ideally by the men and women involved with the abortion as part of their healing process, but if not them, then by us.  I will close this post with this prayer.

O St. Joseph, after your most holy spouse, our Blessed Mother, you were the first to take into your arms and heart the baby Jesus. From the first time you gazed upon him and held him, your heart and soul were forever bonded to him. You caressed the Holy Child with fatherly love and affection, and you committed yourself always to love, protect, and care for this Son.

Look now with similar love and affection upon this child of mine, who has gone from this world. I place my child, as well as my grief and guilt, into the eternal embrace of your arms. Hold and caress my child for me with the love of my arms and sweetly kiss my child with all the tender affection of my heart.

As God the Father entrusted the care of His most precious Son into your most loving and confident hands, so too do I entrust into your fatherly care this child of mine. Please present him to the merciful hands of Our Lord, so that one day, when I too leave this world, my child may greet me into eternal life. Amen

Mary, Joseph, and the Eucharist

This is a picture of the alcove of the Tabernacle at the Shrine.  It is beautifully surrounded by a painting of angels giving due worship and adoration to the King of Kings, who resides in there. Just to the right of it, is a statue of the Blessed Mother, whom we talked about yesterday.   It is only fitting that Mary and the Eucharist are featured so close together.  Today's readings are about Jesus as "the living bread that come down from heaven." (John 6:51)   Yesterday we celebrated Mary going to heaven in her Assumption.  Both Jesus coming down from heaven into the consecrated host and Mary going to heaven are tremendous gifts to the human family from God the Father.

There is a tremendous connection between Mary and the Eucharist.   Saint John Paul II in 2003 in his Encyclical Ecclesia de Eucharistia (Church from the Eucharist)  wrote:

"Mary is present, with the Church and as the Mother of the Church, at each of our celebrations of the Eucharist. If the Church and the Eucharist are inseparably united, the same ought to be said of Mary and the Eucharist" (n. 57).

The Holy Father pointed out three specific ways there is a connection between the two.

1) The Eucharist in an invitation to obedience in faith, and there is no one better than Mary to help us acquire this disposition.   Mary had to take a leap of faith when the angel told her of her pending giving of birth (Luke 1:30).  She also told the people at the wedding at Cana  "Do whatever he tells you." (John 2:5)  (They were doubting that Our Blessed Lord could provide wine, but she told them to have faith.)   It takes a measure of faith to believe in the Real Presence and Mary can help us with that better than anyone.

2) The Eucharist is a sacrifice, a re-presentation of the Passion, and Mary was more intimately tied to the Passion than anyone.   From the beginning of Our Lord's life, when Mary offered him at the Temple (Luke 2:22) , to being at the foot of the Cross (John 19:19), to being a recipient of Our Lord in Communion at the first Eucharistic celebrations of the apostles, Mary lived a life of sacrificial desire and offering, and she can help us more than anyone to unite ourselves with the Sacrifice of the Mass.  On Calvary, Our Lord told John "Behold, your mother!" (John 19:27) .  Since the Mass is a representation of Calvary, you can say He says the same thing to us at every Mass.

3) The Eucharist means "thanksgiving" and the perfect prayer of thanksgiving is Mary's Magnificat; she can help us with this disposition better than anyone.   The Magnificat refers to that hymn of praise Mary proclaimed at the Visitation (Luke 1:46-55).  It is said every evening by the Church. The most relevant line from that beautiful hymn, in my eyes at least, is "He has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty."   What better thing could He fill us with than His Own Body and Blood?

Devotion to Mary, then, will naturally lead one to the Eucharist.   Going to Mass, and participating in the sacrificial offering that is the Eucharist, can only lead one to appreciate Mary more and more.  If anyone says that he or she has a love for one, but not the other, I ask that you be open to the Lord to develop your faith more deeply, or perhaps the faith you have is not authentic and you need to start over down a better path.

Where is our friend Saint Joseph in all this?  Well, Joseph had his own moment of faith when an angel appeared to him and told him to take Mary as his wife (Matthew 1:20), as we have discussed.   Later on in his life, an angel appeared to him again and told him to take his family and flee to Egypt (Matthew 2:13).  This involved both faith and sacrifice.   He was with Mary at the Presentation when she made her offering of Jesus (Luke 2:22) .  Joseph, we can say, shared in the same sacrificial and faith dispositions as the Blessed Mother.    Therefore, he can be a role model and an intercessor to help us have a greater love and devotion for the Eucharist, the Bread of Life.

Saints, the ones who live closest to the Lord, sometimes come up with the most profound of sayings that can only come from a life deep in reflection and prayer, and close union with Him. Here is a great quote from a Saint that speaks of Joseph and his relationship with the Eucharist.   I will end with these words.

"At Nazareth Joseph's days were filled with work which necessarily took him away at times from his Infant God. During these hours Mary replaced him, but when evening brought him home again, he would pass the entire night in adoration, never tiring, only too happy for the chance to contemplate the hidden riches of Jesus' divinity. For he pierced the rough garments the Child wore, until his faith touched the Sacred Heart. In profound adoration he united himself to the special grace of each one of the events in the life of Jesus. He adored our Lord in His hidden life and in His Passion and Death; he adored in advance the Eucharistic Christ in His tabernacles: there was nothing that our Lord could hide from Saint Joseph. Among the graces which Jesus gave to His foster-father -- and He flooded him with the graces attached to every one of His mysteries -- is that special to an adorer of the Blessed Sacrament. That is the one we must ask of St. Joseph. Have confidence, strong confidence in him. Take him as the patron and the model of your life of adoration."

- St. Peter Julian Eymard

Joseph, diligent protector of Christ, pray for us.

Beyond space and time

Today we celebrated the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into Heaven.

When most people think of Catholic teaching, they generally think of it as old-fashioned, and usually this is meant to imply "outdated" or "irrelevant".     The teaching against same sex "marriage" is an obvious example.  Another issue might be the Church's refusal to admit women to the ordained ministry.   These teachings of the Church have indeed been around for centuries, even if circumstances require a more modern explanation or development of those teachings, such as what Pope Paul VI had to do with birth control in the late 60's in his encyclical Humanae Vitae ("on human life", or what all recent Popes have had to do with abortion.
Infallible Church teaching falls into one of two main categories; faith and morals.  All of the examples I just cited were examples of the latter, morals.  When it comes to the Faith (the things we profess in the Creed every Sunday), most of those formulations have indeed been around for a long time.   Most of the things we believe about Christ, for example, such as that He is true God and true man, and that He is a Divine Person, were formulated by Church councils within a few centuries after His death and resurrection, so almost 2000 years ago.  What makes this teaching about the Assumption of Mary interesting is that it was defined very recently when compared to the rest of the Church's teaching on Faith.  It was promulgated very recently (by Church standards) , in 1950, by Pope Pius XII, in his encyclical Munificentissimus Deus  (the "most bountiful God").  In it, he writes:

"By the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, and by our own authority, we pronounce, declare, and define it to be a divinely revealed dogma: that the Immaculate Mother of God, the ever Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory".^[5]

Here is we see the Holy Father at that time professing something to be Divinely revealed, and thus, it is considered infallible teaching.   There are strict conditions under which something infallible can be taught.  This is a topic to explore in more detail in another post(s).

The Church's teaching, like Her Bridegroom, is beyond space and time.  Whether it was formulated 2,000 years ago, or 20 years ago, or 2 hours ago, it is beautiful and glorious.  Whether it is centuries old or just a few decades old, it deals with realities that transcend what we see and hear, and needs to be listened to.
This teaching of Mary's Assumption gives us hope.  The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that Mary's Assumption is "an anticipation of the resurrection of other Christians".  All Christians should think of this reality.   Our lives, like Church teaching, like Our Blessed Lord, like the Blessed Mother, have a dimension beyond space and time.  The way we live our lives have eternal ramifications.   Are we living our lives gloriously so that we can be raised to the glory of heaven like Mary was?   Are we living our mediocre lives that we will be in heaven, but perhaps on the outskirts?  (I do believe there are different degrees of glory in heaven.)  Or, are we living our lives in sin, and risk not being in heaven at all? 

Joseph was the husband of Mary and is patron of the Universal Church.  He was intimately involved in the life of Mary, and I believe he is intimately involved in the life of the Church as its patron.  I am confident he plays a role in ensuring the teachings of the Church always reflect the Truth.  When the Popes down through the centuries, as well as the Councils have discerned how to formulate Church teaching,  I am sure they prayed to Saint Joseph, that like him, they could listen to Christ, and learn from Him, and also be recipients of the intercession of the Blessed Mother (as Joseph I am sure was the benefactor of her prayers during their marriage)  as they deliberated and pondered what to say to the world.

Joseph, chaste guardian of the Virgin, and protector of Holy Church, pray for us.

Confession

This is the narthex of the Shrine.   Narthex is a fancy classical church architecture term for the lobby of the church, kind of an in-between between the front doors and the main part of the Church.  You will see here that what dominates this narthex are Confessional booths.  The Shrine has a handful of them in this area.   There are opportunities in each one for face-to-face confessions, or anonymous ones. 

You can perhaps see on the white sign on the right hand side all the different times they have priest(s) available to hear confessions.   They have them late morning and late afternoon M-F, and mid-day for three hours on Saturday.   Not many churches are able to offer that many hours.  If you are in the Merrimack Valley area, I absolutely urge you to come and go to Confession here, especially if you have not been for some time.   You may not feel comfortable going in your home parish for whatever reason.   You may not have a home parish, which is the case for many today.  Then, this is your place!   Before and after you make your Confession, you can pray in the beautiful Shrine church itself, which is open 7-6 M-F, 7-5 Sat, and 7-1 Sunday. 

There is nothing quite like the feeling one has after having gone to Confession, and received absolution from the hands of a priest who is "Alter Christus" (another Christ).  I can speak from experience.  The priest acts in the person of Christ.  Yes, it is true to say the priest forgives sins, but only because Christ has given him that authority. 

If you have not been to Confession for some time, please consider going today or very soon.  It will make your day, your week, even your year!  You will feel light as a feather, the weight of the world will be off your shoulder, and you will be able to cope with things, even what seems in daily life overwhelming challenges, with the grace of an angel because of the peace Christ has given you.  No sin is beyond God's mercy.   There is nothing you can say the priest has not heard before.  (And remember, the priest is bound by the laws of the Church never to reveal anything he has heard in the Confessional, no matter what.  He can be excommunicated from the Church if he does.  He can only speak about it with the permission of the penitent, and very rare are those cases they will seek that.)

Recently, we celebrated the Feast of Saint John Vianney, the patron of parish priests, who spent hours upon hours hearing confessions in his small parish church in France.   He did not have to bring reading material with him like some priests do today  into the confessional because he had no time because so many people come.  I am sure at least some of our priests today are burdened with a sadness that so few people come to Confession.  They see people at Mass come up to receive Communion whom they have never seen come to Confession.   They are sad because they have the most awesome gift to share, one they have been given to them by God, the ability to hear and forgive sins in Jesus' name, and so few people want to receive that gift!   Let's make ourselves happy, let's make our priests happy, let's make the Lord happy, by going to Confession today!

Joseph, you are the solace of the wretched.   The wretched in sin (which is all of us)  need the grace your child Jesus provides in the Sacrament of Confession.   As you presented him to the Lord at the temple, so present him to us in this Sacrament so that we, too, can be consecrated to the Lord, and be free from the wretchedness of sin.

Joseph. solace of the wretched, pray for us.

Joseph, lover of poverty, model for us

In today's First Reading from the Book of Kings, Elijah felt defeated and worn out, so much so that he began praying for death.  He laid down and hoped he would die in his sleep.  However, an angel (there those angels are again!) woke him up, and ordered him to get up and eat; cake and water miraculously appeared nearby.   After that, however, he laid back down again.  However, the angel appeared again a second time, and this time, Elijah got up, ate, and drank; then strengthened by that food, he walked forty days and forty nights to the mountain of God, Horeb.
We have spoken in previous posts about gifts God has given us.   Certainly one of them is the gift of food.  Food gives us strength for the journey, as we saw in this passage from the Old Testament.   Food is fuel.  I think we sometimes today see food as end in itself, as opposed to something that helps us do greater things besides eat.
Along the same lines, there are many other things that we often today see as ends in themselves, instead of means to an end.   I am thinking of sex and money.  Some of us may be blessed with an abundance of these gifts of food, sex, and money.   We need to always remember, though, that everything we have is a gift from God and like our own lives, we will have to someday give an accounting of how well we have used those gifts.   Did we hoard these gifts, or did we use them for something greater?
We only need to look to the world around us to see that many of us are hoarding gifts.  Our own American culture has an obesity crisis, while other parts of the world are starving.   We have a large gap between the lives of the rich and the poor within our own country, and then there are even bigger gaps between what we consider poor, and true gut-wrenching poverty that we see in underdeveloped nations.  We have sex without considering the consequences.  How many people use birth control, and/or have abortions, because they lack an understanding of sex as a means to something else, and not an end in and of itself?
Our ultimate end is God.   God is a relational being in His essence, Three Divine Persons.  If in His essence, God is relationship, that is what we must be striving for as our end, relationship; relationship with God foremost, but also with our family, friends, Church, and all mankind.
 Everything else is a means to that end.  Food is given to us to strengthen us and to be a vehicle for fellowship with our fellow man.  Money is given to us, like food, to strengthen us for our journey by allowing us to invest in the resources we need to move forward on that journey to God, and others to do the same on their journey .  However today, many of us spend our lives focusing on just getting money, and not seeing that money is meant to serve ours and others lives, not the other way around.  Finally, sex is given to us to grow the human family and to strengthen the marital bond.  It is not something that exists for its own sake.   Sadly, many of us spend our lives seeking to have more and more sex just for the enjoyment of it.
Yes, there is a certain pleasure associated with all these things.  Pleasure is a gift  from God, as well.  Since they are gifts from God, they should be pleasurable.  Yet, the gift is primary, the gift comes first, not the pleasure.  We need to remember that, and how often we do not.

One of the titles of Joseph in the Litany to him is "lover of poverty".   I think that he loved poverty because it made it easier to love God, instead of being focused on material things.  Being a lover of poverty, in my mind at least, wipes out the possibility of loving food, money, sex, or power inordinately.   If any of us are struggling with inordinate attachments, we can turn to Joseph to help us.

Joseph, lover of poverty, pray for us.

Saint Joseph the Worker versus Communism

The Feast of Saint Joseph the Worker is May 1.   That date has a history.  In some ancient cultures, it was typically associated with the beginning of summer.  Down through the centuries, it has been celebrated by different cultures with song, dance, and food.   It was chosen by labor groups in the late 1800's as International Workers Day, sort of a "rebirth" so to speak of worker's rights, specifically the 8 hour work day.  The Communist Party adopted this day to fit their own platform, and it was in response to this, that Pope Pius XII designated this day in 1955 to be forever celebrated in honor of Saint Joseph the Worker.
The Holy Father saw the pitfalls of communism and was quick to recognize that a Catholic response was needed.   Many of you remember the talks given by the Venerable Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen who spoke a lot on this topic.  Communism may have seemed attractive.  It may have been seen as a legit response to the extremes of unbridled capitalism.   Communism may have had noble aspirations in the beginning, but it was doomed to failure because some of its central underpinnings went against the truth of man.
1)  In denying man the ability to own property, communism denied man one of his most basic freedoms.   This goes against the truth of Christianity that God freely gave His Son to die on  the Cross for us and that we are called to freely respond to that grace.  Everything in Christianity is done freely, not so in communism.  Christianity reveals the truth that just as the gift of salvation is free from God, so all of His other gifts to us; life, family, friends, food, to name just a few, are free gifts from Him, as well.   The state cannot take that away.
2) Since religion in communism's eyes was seen as being for private property, they decided it needed to be abolished.   Take a look at the definition of religion according to Dictionary.com (emphasis mine)  a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, especially when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs.   Does anyone honestly think that it would help, not hurt, a society to remove anything that promotes a moral code?  Does anyone honestly think that it would help, not hurt, society to remove anything that promotes man wondering about his or her ultimate end?   What kind of life would we live if we could not wonder what we are all about, what the universe is all about?   If we had to keep all that to ourselves, and not be able to fellowship with other men and women about those things, we would be denied the ability to achieve our ultimate end.   A society set up to remove religion from the public domain would guarantee that awful reality.  The state does not need to endorse any religion, but in removing religion, in a sense, it does just that, the religion of atheism.
3) Communism destroyed freedom of the press.  Whenever man's ability to speak publicly and freely, from the most important matters like one's faith,  to the most trivial, like asking where his socks are, bad things happen.  Think of all those Christians persecuted for their faith today.  Think of the Tiananmen Square massacre.  Information sharing is critical to a free society, for the flourishing of ideas and culture.  Culture is most healthy when people get to participate in it, and determine it, not when some ideas are suppressed, and others are forced upon people.
4) Communism abolished the free ballot.   The Communists only allowed one ruling political party, themselves.  They wanted to make everyone the same, and not treat workers as individuals with unique personalities.  They did not want to hear different ideas, and certainly not give people the right to vote on them.

It is clear that in Communism, every right was subjected to the state.   A just society, on the other hand,  while recognizing the state does need some things from us, and we need the state, will not give the state total power.   God created man in his own image and likeness (Genesis 1:27) .  He created man first before He made a government.  Society needs to think in the same order; man first, government second. 
God created man free to choose good and evil.   Despite the fact that we will sometimes do bad, we must still be allowed freedom to speak (freedom of the press), to worship (freedom of religion), to have dominion over the world around us (right to own property).  A society that has an understanding of man in this way is the only one that has a chance to be a healthy one.


One of Archbishop Sheen's most memorable quotes about communism was the following  "The Soviet Union is like the Cross without Christ, while American culture is like Christ without the Cross."  I think there is truth to that still today.  The Soviet Union does not exist anymore, thankfully.  It made its people suffer in body and spirit, without giving them the freedom to seek the Christ who could guide them in their suffering, and give them healing and strength.   In America, however, we still like the Christ without the Cross.  We like the Christ who feeds the poor and heals the sick, and who calls us to do the same.   (We like it especially when we think our government can do that. )  We don't, however, want to suffer like Christ, especially when we, in imitation of Him, preach unpopular truths.   
We must remain vigilant in America that we do not respond to the ills of capitalism in the extreme like the Soviet Union did.  Yes, there are wrongs with capitalism, and our current Holy Father Pope Francis has spoken about them.  However, the other extreme is just as bad,  as I have discussed here.  I personally believe the other extreme is worse because it denies freedom; even in the worst of capitalism, human freedom, one of our most basic God given rights, is not denied. 
Let us not make the same mistake.   Let us not even allow us to go down that path.  Let us not let the government get too big, and too all-encroaching in our lives that it tramples our freedom.

Joseph most just, pray for us.

Joseph and the Child Jesus

I came across a beautiful reflection today.   Joseph presents the Child Jesus to the world.  In other words, he presents a God who, like a child, desires to be held by us, desires to smile at us, takes great delight in simply being there with us, and can make us ever joyful.   Meditate on the following words, clearly written by someone with a deep interior prayer life.

So to wipe away my tears, to hush my sobs, to smooth my face and bring the sunshine of laughter into my life, Jesus is a baby in the arms of St. Joseph. Joseph's business is to present this great Child-God to the world, that the world may be won by His beauty and leave everything for Him.

Now, if God looks for my approving smile, and is soliciting me for my praise, day by day, it is no harm for me to hunger after His smile, and to feel lonely and wretched about it. He won't blame me for that! But that is the meaning of a life of prayer. Prayer is simply trying to see His face and catch a glimpse of His smile, out of love. It is the lover's pining after his beloved-we serenading God (as B. Suso serenaded Our Lady). The world loses its firm solidness for God's lovers. To them it is a barrier and a hindrance, because it obscures their view of Him, as daylight effaces the stars.

When that is our state of soul, fear disappears; death is merely an incident, and the whole material world and all its attractions a passing gift of Him.

St. Joseph must help us to see this point of view. We want him, who held Jesus so firmly in his arms, to let us hold Him, too; to get us audiences frequent and close with the Divine Child, that we may see His smile and live for Him alone. 'The health of the soul consists in the love of God. (St. John of the Cross.)

 

I really do not think anything more needs to be said.   These words are so rich and beautiful, and they show why devotion to Saint Joseph can only help us get close to Christ.

 

Joseph, hope of the physically and spiritually sick, pray for us.

 

Saint Michael the Archangel and Saint Joseph; partners in protecting the Church

Saint Joseph is the patron and protector of the universal Church.  Saint Michael the Archangel (pictured in this statue from the Shrine) is the guardian.   I think they work together and know each other well, in my humble opinion.   I imagine Michael standing guard over the door to the Church and fighting to keep the evil out of it.  I imagine Joseph overseeing the entire Church, and when he sees Michael standing at its door ready to slay the dragon when he tries to enter , it gives him confidence that the Church he loves will persevere and even thrive despite the challenges She faces.
In addition to protecting the Church as a whole, Michael is also known as someone who protects each individual member of the Church from those same forces of evil.   Hence, the popular prayer to Saint Michael

Saint Michael the Archangel
Defend us in battle
Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil
May God rebuke him we humbly pray
And do thou O Prince of the heavenly host
By the power of God
Cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls, amen

Parents, say this prayer over your children every night as they fall asleep.   Children, say this over your parents, especially during their final days as they get ready to meet the Lord.  We need to say this prayer every day.
Authentic Christians, who seek to live their Faith , know it is a battle we fight, and when we need to fight a battle, we need angelic powers there to protect us, and the best of those is Saint Michael.     We battle against our own personal sin first and foremost.   We battle against a culture that has forgotten or ignores God.   We battle against a culture that devalues human life.  We battle against a culture that refuses to acknowledge sin, and often, promotes it as a good.  We battle, above all, to stay holy in the midst of a culture that seeks to promote the profane and desecrate the sacred.  To persevere in and win these battles for ourselves and for the Bride of Christ, we need to call on Saint Michael and we need to call on Saint Joseph.

Joseph, most strong, terror of demons, and protector of Holy Church, pray for us.

Joseph the Dreamer

This stained glass window from the Shrine depicts the scene where the angel appears to Joseph in a dream.   I have mentioned this scene previously.

(By the way, before I continue, some of you astute observers may have noted the dual small images beneath the scenes from the life of Joseph in this, and in the other pictures that I have shared with you.  They are symbols of the different professions that made up the workforce in Lowell when this Shrine was dedicated.  These are very appropriate for a Shrine named after Saint Joseph the Worker.  I will speak more of them probably in future posts.)

Getting back to my original point, I heard someone say once that God has to speak to us in dreams because that is the only time we will shut up and listen.  There is some truth to that, I guess.  When the angel appeared to Joseph was a challenging time in his life.  He had found out Mary was pregnant, not by him.   I am sure he had all kinds of thoughts, and it disturbed him.   He was so disturbed probably that that is why the Lord could not come to him in the daylight, but rather had to wait until he was asleep, when he was calmer.

I think nowadays,  though. God has difficulty even speaking to us in dreams because both in our conscious and our subconscious (which is what gets expressed in dreams, in my opinion), we have so much going on nowadays that it is hard to get either settled down to be able to listen to the Lord.   Having a place within us where we can rest and settle down and listen to Him is very important, but I think a lot of people have not found that place yet.   If we do not cultivate that inner silence, it will be hard for the Lord to speak to us, and for us to hear Him, be it in dreams, or anytime else.

We hear talk a lot nowadays about our dreams in the sense of a lofty goal we want to achieve or have happen to us.   Our dreams are important, we should acknowledge them, and bring them to the Lord in prayer.  However, we need to also realize God has a dream for us.  God wants us to be with Him, to share His inner life as Three Persons, and He wants us to come along the path He has led us to achieve that dream.  I think by appearing to Joseph in a dream, God got Joseph dreaming again.  He had probably given up on his dreams, but God stepped in and gave him a new dream.

Dream big things, spend time with God sharing them with Him, and He will give you an even bigger dream.   If you have lost your dreams, as perhaps Joseph did, ask Him to give you a new one.

Joseph, solace of the wretched in spirit, pray for us