MARCH 19, SOLEMNITY OF ST. JOSEPH, PATRON OF THE UNIVERSAL CHURCH

Click here to learn about the relic of St. Joseph in Rome: Virtually pray before the cloak of St. Joseph at the Basilica of St. Anastasia (aleteia.org)

MARCH 19, SOLEMNITY OF ST. JOSEPH, PATRON OF THE UNIVERSAL CHURCH

The focus yesterday on “At Home with Jim and Joy, was “What Is St. Joseph’s Role in the Holy Family, the Church, Your life?”

My weekly Monday appearance on At Home does not give me enough time to really answer each aspect of that focus. But I did talk about what I’ve learned about St. Joseph in recent years and what I love about him. I’ve added a few thoughts to those I shared last night with Jim and Joy (AT HOME WITH JIM AND JOY – 2024-03-18 – JIM AND JOY CALL-IN SHOW (youtube.com)

I began yesterday’s appearance by noting that March 18 is a day that has two wonderful bookends – the March 17 feast of St. Patrick and the March 19 solemnity of St. Joseph! When I moved to Italy, I learned that Italians celebrate Father’s Day on March 19. I thought that was SO beautiful and such a perfect way to honor the husband of the Virgin Mary and the legal father of Jesus.

You may remember that Pope Francis declared 2021 A Year dedicated to St. Joseph, calling him “a beloved, tender, obedient, and accepting father who played an incomparable role in the history of salvation.” I decided to learn what I could about Joseph during the year dedicated to him. I mean, I realized how very little I knew about him from the Bible!  We have no words even spoken by Joseph!

This is my favorite representation, the Sleeping St. Joseph, just inches from my keyboard!

To learn more, I slowly read Fr. Don Calloway’s “Consecration to St. Joseph,” a huge source of inspiration. I also pondered each of Pope Francis’ words about Joseph, “a beloved, tender, obedient, and accepting father.” It didn’t take long for St. Joseph to become a big part of my daily prayer life and real life, calling on him often to help me be an obedient, accepting daughter of God!

I find myself, more than I ever thought possible, asking him to be at my side – as he was for years with Mary and Jesus – to help me in a difficult situation. I mean, how much more difficult could life have been for Joseph than to have to flee his native land to an unknown land with Mary and Jesus, find work, provide for his family!

Joseph, strong and faithful, was always there when people needed him. He was the absolute model for fatherhood, then and now!

Doesn’t this image make you smile! And also feel sad at the symbolism of the nails!

To be honest, any time I have visited the Holy House of Loreto I spend a long time inside. The house itself, said to have been the Holy family’s home that was miraculously transported to Italy, is small, walls made of stone and cool.

I always lean against a wall, my hands behind me, resting on that wall. I imagine the entire family being there. Did they lean against that wall?

I see Jesus playing as a toddler or perhaps a bit older, helping Mary fetch water from the well. I see Mary preparing a meal, putting order in the house, smiling as she hugs Jesus. I hear St. Joseph nearby at work, perhaps building a new table or chair for Mary.

I see the Holy Family as faithful Jews, meeting all prayer obligations. Joseph is always there, the provider, the loving, caring, faithful spouse and father.

I try to imagine a “normal” Jewish family of the time in history, what they eat, how they pray and play and work, how three people shared times with friends.

What were their conversations like? What trials and joys did they share? Did they get a cold? Did Joseph ever have to worry how to pay the bills when customers were scarce for his carpentry work?

Most of all, for years actually, I have tried to imagine conversations with and about Jesus, his divine and human nature, his mission in life. Did Joseph and Mary know Jesus would die to redeem mankind?

Remember, when he was 12 and missing for three days and found by Mary and Joseph in the temple?  When they found him, telling Jesus how worried they had been, he says: “Why were you searching for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house? But they did not understand what he was saying to them.

Did Joseph, his legal guardian and putative father, understand?

Another fascinating source of information for me – and this might surprise you, unless you’ve read it! was “The Life of the Blessed Virgin Mary – From the Visions of Venerable Anne Catherine Emmerich.” In particular, Chapter IV, The Early Life of St. Joseph, and Chapter VI Marriage of the Blessed Virgin Mary to Joseph, while other chapters speak of him as well, including the flight into Egypt and the return of the Holy Family from Egypt.

SO much to ponder and learn and love about St. Joseph!

By the way, March 19 is a Vatican holiday! In 1870, Pope Pius declared Joseph Patron of the Universal Church.

EPISCOPAL ORDINATIONS MARK THE SOLEMNITY OF ST. JOSEPH

EPISCOPAL ORDINATIONS MARK THE SOLEMNITY OF ST. JOSEPH

Today is the very beautiful solemnity of St. Joseph, a holiday in the Vatican, and the onomastico, or name day, of Pope emeritus Benedict XVI, né Joseph Ratzinger. And, as I wrote yesterday, this is also Father’s Day in Italy!

In addition to being a day off for Vatican and Roman Curia employees, it was a very special morning for two priests who work at the Vatican and for large numbers of people whom they count as friends, yours truly included. You see, Pope Francis conferred episcopal ordination on two monsignori this morning in an always beautiful and moving ceremony that took place during Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica.

I do not know Bishop Miguel Ángel Ayuso Guixot, secretary of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, but I’ve known Oklahoma-born Msgr. Peter Wells for many years and he has graced my table for dinner a number of times. Peter now has a standing invitation to dinner whenever he returns to the Eternal City from his new assignment as Apostolic Nuncio to South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, and Namibia. Until February 9, he was the Assessor for General Affairs of the Secretariat of State, essentially a deputy to the Substitute for General Affairs, or deputy chief of staff.

Pope Francis embraces the new Archbishop Peter Wells –

The General Affairs section handles the normal operations of the Church such as organizing Roman Curia activities, making appointments to curia offices, publishing official communications, including papal documents, and handling diplomatic matters such as the concerns of embassies accredited to the Holy See and the concerns and activities of the Holy See embassies around the world.

Apostolic nuncios or papal ambassadors have the rank of archbishop.

I enjoyed the Pope’s homily so much this morning but cannot find the full text on the Vatican websites – probably because it is a holiday and few people are in the trenches.

Pope Francis spoke a number of times off the cuff, as is his wont on many occasions, and his words were so heartfelt and touching about the duties of a bishop. Three points were important for me: his insistence that a bishop’s ministry is to serve, not be served or seek favor or honor; that a bishop’s best friends and closest collaborators are his priests and he should always be close to them; that behind every piece of paper, every letter, every document that falls into a bishop’s hands there is a person, a human face. Be sure to see the person, said Francis, not the piece of paper

The only reference to the ordination and the papal homily that I found came from the ever faithful Vatican Radio personnel – there is always a small number in the trenches at VR. Here is a report Christopher Wells:

In Saint Peter’s Basilica on Saturday morning, Pope Francis ordained two priests to the episcopate and, in his homily, he reminded the new bishops that they are called to be servants to all.

Pope Francis based his homily on the sermon given in the Roman Pontifical for the Ordination of Bishops. He emphasized that when a bishop exercises his ministry, it is Christ Himself who acts: “Christ who preaches, Christ who makes the Church, Christ who makes the Church fruitful, Christ who leads.”

The Pope reminded the new bishops that they are “servants to all, … the great and the least, always servants, always at the service of others.”

“Do not forget,” he said, “that the first duty of the Bishop is prayer… the second duty, the proclamation of the Word.” Everything else follows. If a Bishop does not pray, Pope Francis said, he can do nothing.

The Pope also emphasized the importance of loving those the Lord has entrusted to their care, and especially the priests and deacons. They are the closest collaborators of the Bishop, his first “neighbor.” If the bishop does not learn to love those closest to him, he will not be able to love everyone.

And Pope Francis called on bishops to really look at the faithful – not obliquely, but looking them in the eye, so they can see them with the heart.

The Holy Father concluded his homily with the prayer that the Lord might accompany the new bishops, and be close to them on the new journey that they have begun.