Year of St. Joseph

The Year of St. Joseph

This liturgical year has been dedicated to St. Joseph by the Holy Father, Pope Francis. There will be several special activities and events to celebrate St. Joseph, as well as prayers, such as the Novena to St. Joseph for Life. For more information on St. Joseph, check out the St. Joseph page under Faith Formation > All Things Catholic > Saints

There will also be weekly reflections on St. Joseph from various sources.

During this Year of St. Joseph, we shall have a lamp burning weekly before his image in both churches. Anyone who wishes to dedicate this votive lamp for a deceased loved one or another special intention, please contact the parish. The suggested offering for this seven-day candle is $15.

Relevant Radio also offers ways to experience the Year of St. Joseph.  

https://relevantradio.com/yearofjoseph/#features

• Traditionally the Church has dedicated Wednesdays to St. Joseph. Thus, on each Wednesday during this year Relevant Radio will offer the Mass at Noon CT in honor of St. Joseph.  

• Access to the monthly "19 on the 19th" speaker series, in which Fr. Rocky, Fr. Matthew Spencer, Patrick Madrid, Cale Clarke, and more offer 19-minute reflections on the person of St. Joseph, covering topics like "The Hidden Life of St. Joseph" and "St. Joseph in Scripture." If you sign up, these will be sent to your inbox on the 19th of each month, as traditionally the 19th of each month is dedicated to the memory of St. Joseph.

Weekly Reflections

May 9, 2021

It was to assure fatherly protection for Jesus that God chose Joseph to be Mary’s spouse. It follows that Joseph’s fatherhood…comes to pass through marriage to Mary, that is, through the family. While clearly affirming that Jesus was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit, and that virginity remained intact in the marriage, the evangelists refer to Joseph as Mary’s husband and to Mary as his wife. And while it is important for the Church to profess the virginal conception of Jesus, it is no less important to uphold Mary’s marriage to Joseph, because juridically Joseph’s fatherhood depends on it…Joseph is not deprived of his fatherly authority from the moment that he is told to name the child. Finally, even the Virgin Mary, well aware that she has not conceived Christ as a result of conjugal relations with Joseph, still calls him Christ’s father.  
                           
St. John Paul II…Redemptoris Custos


May 2, 2021
While it is true that Joseph did not respond to the angel’s announcement in the same way as Mary, he ‘did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took his wife.’ What he did is the clearest ‘obedience of faith.’ One can say that what Joseph did united him in an altogether special way to the faith of Mary. He accepted as truth coming from God the very thing that she had already accepted at the Annunciation…Therefore, he became a unique guardian of the mystery ‘hidden for ages in God.’ …Together with Mary, Joseph is the first guardian of this divine mystery…he is also the first to be placed by God on the path of Mary’s ‘pilgrimage of faith.’

[St. John Paul II…Redemptoris Custos]

April 25, 2021

St. Joseph behaved and felt like a father towards Jesus. He had an ardent love for the Son of God and for the Mother of God. This love was even greater than the natural love a natural father may have for his natural son. This is because Joseph cared for Jesus as a son and at the same time worshipped him as his God…Joseph loved Jesus almost as if he had really begotten him. He concentrated his energies, his time, his greatest concern, his care to Jesus. He sought no compensation other than the opportunity to give of himself. Let us ask the holy Patriarch to teach us how to love and cherish Jesus as he himself did.

[F. Fernandez: In Conversation with God. Vol 6: p. 132]

April 18, 2021

The life of the holy Patriarch was full of work from his time in Nazareth and Bethlehem, in Egypt and then once again in Nazareth. Everyone knew of Joseph because he was such a hard worker. He probably gave great importance to the development of a manly character, the type of character that shines through the episodes of the Gospels. St. Matthew repeatedly shows us how promptly Joseph responded to whatever God was asking of him.

[F. Fernandez: In Conversation with God. Vol 6: p. 132]

April 11, 2021

One of the most important virtues we observe in St. Joseph’s life is humility. We can imagine that Saint Joseph would sometimes glance at the child Jesus and wonder to himself, why did God choose me and not another? What do I have to offer that has earned me this holy charge? He did not receive an answer to these ponderings, since the ways of the Lord are beyond the calculations of man. The humility of Joseph is also shown by his strong sense of gratitude to God. Our Lord wants us to imitate the Holy Patriarch in this disposition. We need to see all the events of our lives with the eyes of faith, with a real determination to live out our vocation in the middle of the world.

[F. Fernandez: In Conversation with God. Vol 6:  p. 132]

April 4, 2021

When one thinks of St. Joseph, one usually pictures a figure in the nativity scene standing next to Mary and watching over the infant Jesus in the manger. Joseph has been far overshadowed through history by his wife and and the Marian devotion accorded her as the Mother of God. Not much is known about his life—he left no words behind for hagiographers to study, and he apparently died before the crucifixion because he was not at Calvary with Mary. Still, to this day, he continues to attract the faithful in a quiet way, some to churches bearing his name, devoted to him for his fidelity to family and home. In fact, it is said that in the Roman Catholic Church, next to Mary, he and St. Jude are the most popular patrons.

[Jenny Schroedel: The Book of Saints, Fall River Press, 2007]

March 28, 2021

Fathers are not born but made. A man does not become a father simply by bringing a child into the world, but by taking up the responsibility to care for that child. Whenever a man accepts responsibility for the life of another, in some way he becomes a father to that person. Being a father entails introducing children to life and reality. Not holding them back, being overprotective or possessive, but rather making them capable of deciding for themselves, enjoying freedom and exploring new possibilities. Perhaps for this reason, Joseph is traditionally called a “most chaste” father. That title is not simply a sign of affection, but the summation of an attitude that is the opposite of possessiveness…A possessive love ultimately becomes dangerous: it imprisons, constricts, and makes for misery. God himself loved humanity with a chaste love; he left us free even to go astray and set ourselves against him. The logic of love is always the logic of freedom, and Joseph knew how to love with extraordinary freedom. He never made himself the center of things. He did not think of himself but focused instead on the lives of Mary and Jesus.

Pope Francis, “Patris Corde,” 2021


March 21, 2021

Saint Joseph was a man who listened. Let us learn from him the capacity to be attentive to God so that we might be attentive to the children of God. Saint Joseph was a man who allowed himself to be guided by God with great docility. Saint Joseph was a simple laborer not one who lived amid riches. True riches are not to be found in what we possess but in who we are. The example of Saint Joseph points us to a different road:  one that is more human, more beautiful, wiser, and happier.

Angelo Cardinal Comastri, “100 Omelie” pp. 85-86

 

March 14, 2021

We do not know when exactly the Holy Patriarch passed away. Joseph’s final appearance in the Gospel narrative occurs when Jesus had turned twelve years old. It seems likely that he died before Jesus began his public life of preaching. When Jesus returned to Nazareth to preach, the people asked one another: “Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary?” It was customary in the East to refer to sons through their father. People spoke of the mother only in the case of the father’s demise…Following the same line of reasoning, the fact that Jesus entrusted Mary to his beloved apostle Saint John, presupposes that Joseph was dead…Saint Joseph could not have wished for a happier or more peaceful death, attended as he must have been by Jesus and Mary. Jesus and Mary would have closed the eyes of Joseph and prepared his body for burial. It is perfectly fitting that Saint Joseph has been proclaimed as the “Patron of a Good Death.”…Let us go to Joseph whenever we are helping someone to prepare for death. Let us ask his help when our time arrives to go to the House of the Father. Joseph will lead us by the hand to Jesus and Mary.

Francis Fernandez “In Conversation with God,” Vol 2, pp 157-159

March 7, 2021

Even though St. Joseph does not say a word in the Gospels, no one has ever been a better teacher. In human life, Joseph was Jesus’ master in their daily contact, full of refined affection, glad to deny himself in order to take better care of Jesus. Isn’t that reason enough for us to consider this just man, this holy patriarch, in whom the faith of the old covenant bears fruit, as a master of the interior life? Interior life is nothing but continual and direct conversation with Christ, so as to become one with him. And Joseph can tell us many things about Jesus.

Francis Fernandez, In Conversation with God, Vol 2, pp. 167-168

February 28, 2021

Joseph’s great joy at the visit of the Magi did not last long. He had to abandon his newfound home and business to flee to a foreign land. Herod wanted to kill the Child. Joseph’s joy was changed to dread. Once again, God was testing him. Joy and sorrow are never far from one another in souls that love God. Heeding the message of the angel the Holy Family set out at once for Egypt. They could take with them only the bare essentials. St. Joseph had little idea of how he was going to make ends meet…from one day to another. He had to rebuild a home and a clientele in a strange country. The Holy Patriarch surely suffered…but he humbly submitted to the divine plan which he could not understand.

Francis Fernandez, In Conversation with God, Vol 6, pp. 149-151

February 21, 2021

By the example of their life in Nazareth, Jesus and Mary invite us to seek Joseph’s assistance. They frequently went to Joseph for his help in all kinds of needs. When we go to Joseph for help, we should have no fear at all. With the exception of God himself, Our Lady loved no one more than she loved St. Joseph her husband. The Church asks from St. Joseph the same support and protection as he gave to the Holy Family in Nazareth. ‘I am sure Joseph knew how to lend a hand in many difficulties…His skilled work was in the service of others; to brighten the lives of others in the town; and with a friendly word, a passing quip, he would restore confidence and happiness to those in danger of losing them.’ [J. Escriva, Christ is Passing By, 51]

Francis Fernandez, In Conversation with God, Vol 6, pp. 165-166


February 14, 2021

Painters have traditionally depicted Joseph as an elderly man in order to emphasize the perpetual virginity of Mary. Yet it is more likely that Joseph was not much older than his wife. ‘You don’t have to wait to be old or lifeless to practice the virtue of chastity. Purity comes from love; and the strength and joy of youth are no obstacle to a noble love. Joseph had a young heart and a young body when he married Mary, when he learned of the mystery of her divine motherhood, when he lived in her company, respecting the integrity God wished to give the world as one more sign that he had come to share the life of his creatures.’ [J. Escriva, Christ Is Passing By, 40] Let us ask the holy Patriarch to teach us how to live this kind of love in the circumstances to which God has called us.

Francis Fernandez: In Conversation with God, Vol. 6: p.141

February 7, 2021

This week's reflection is from Carlo Maria Cardinal Martini

Even before Jesus was born, Joseph was a believer mature in faith. The events surrounding the conception and birth of Jesus reveal how differently he behaved and struggled as he moved towards a greater knowledge of God. His holiness and mature faith do not exempt him from the anxiety that comes with difficult situations. However, having taken upon himself the decision to do the honorable thing, which was the fruit of an attitude of charity, his maturity of faith is summarized as an openness to the power of divinely illuminated grace. In fact, the angel of the Lord arrives to resolve the situation: ‘Be not afraid.’ The angel reveals to him the deeper meaning of the event, thus overcoming his anxiety. The figure of Joseph allows us to grasp a fundamental teaching: we need to have a hope that is patient, that can wait as Joseph did, a hope that knows how to suffer with a humble spirit through difficult situations, sure that God will answer.

January 31, 2021

From “Joseph the Silent” by Michel Gasnier, O. P.

Certainly, Joseph was considered to be not only a fine workman noted for his skill, but a man of integrity. Everyone in the neighborhood knew the work given the carpenter would be carefully and conscientiously done…Before God, labor is not only a necessity; it calls for pride, nobility, a spirit of reparation. There is nothing slavish about it. On the contrary, it is a kind of prayer, a way of finding God, a means of salvation…Joseph understood perfectly that a work done in love goes straight to God.

January 24, 2021
From “Joseph the Silent” by Michel Gasnier, O. P.

Joseph chose to become a carpenter. Perhaps his father was a carpenter before him. Perhaps it was by personal preference. We simply do not know. In any case, this occupation was to stand him in good stead when he opened his shop in Nazareth. Here it is enough to say that though it was so unassuming, so humble, it was far from humiliating, and the carpenter workman could look upon it as a badge of honor. At Nazareth, then, Joseph without worldly goods or station, lived uncomplainingly by the labor of his hands. Happier in his poverty than Augustus on the most powerful throne in the world, he was more than content with his lot since it was God’s will…he was satisfied to be where God had placed him, to do what God asked of him with as much care and ardor as if he ruled a kingdom.