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On 8th December 2020, Pope Francis issued his Apostolic Letter ‘Patris Corde’, marking the opening of the ‘Year of Saint Joseph’.2020 seems like an age ago now, especially when we consider the events that have elapsed since! Indeed, the whole world is changing rapidly. It can sometimes seem like we are being tossed from crisis to crisis. The phrase, ‘out of the frying pan into the fire’ comes to mind.
While the Year of Saint Joseph has passed, we can see that his fatherly, holy help is still needed. We need a foothold, a place to steady ourselves and the best way to steady ourselves is to seek Saint Joseph’s help and make room for God.
Saint Joseph made room for God. He was self-effacing. His silence in the Gospels is evidence of this. Nevertheless, while he was verbally silent, his actions resonated. He always took his difficulties to prayer first before acting. He was never impetuous nor was he indecisive but serene and attentive to the promptings of God.
There is a real freedom to life when we let God in, when we make space for Him and live our lives with Him and for Him. Only then do we begin to witness His grace and act on His inspirations. Whole new horizons open up and things naturally begin to find their proper place and order. In a sense, our faith begins to live, it permeates every sphere of our lives and sheds light, helping us to see the world through the eyes of faith.
Here are some ways in which St Joseph can help us.
Saint Joseph fulfilled the will of God perfectly.
We can say that he was predestined from all time to be the spouse of Mary, but this did not remove his agency, he responded to God freely and faithfully. He had a loving diligence, in going to synagogue, in saying his prayers, and in his reading of the Torah. Nevertheless, such diligence was not confined to the sphere of religious observance, it permeated his entire life.
Another of Saint Joseph’s titles is ‘model of artisans'. The foster father of Jesus sanctified his day through attention to the little things, as an expert craftsman, a creator. In this manner he can be our model. By fulfilling the will of God according to the duties of our respective states of life, we find an effective way to grow in holiness.
Many may think, “well, I go to work, I pick the children up from school, we eat together, I have a couple of hours in front of the television then read a book in bed and where is God’s will in all this?” In as much as you offer the actions and sufferings of your day to God, as soon as you wake up, you have already begun to sanctify your day.
Whilst at work you can make an extra effort to go the extra mile with people, carry out the tasks of your work cheerfully, make yourself more available to help others with their work, or even just smile more. Do everything as if it were done for Jesus himself.
St John of the Cross writes, “at the end of our lives we won’t be judged on what we’ve done but how much we’ve loved.” To carry out our daily responsibilities with great care and attention, like Saint Joseph, is to faithfully fulfill the will of God. May everything we do or say be prefaced with a Hail Mary or a Glory Be!
St Joseph and blessed Mary lived in virginal union together meaning that their love for each other was pure and untainted by the lower nature of the flesh. Unfortunately for us today the world is awash with impurity, contraception, and cohabitation. It ruins marriages and families and multiplies sin and divisions in society. We live in a throwaway culture which is heavily sexualised and where technological advancements are geared towards instantaneous gratification, where every soul is seen as dispensable.
Many souls are corrupted at every turn, every swipe of their smartphone, every channel on television. Children, and dare say I, their parents too, are lulled into trading their esteemed dignity as sons and daughters of God for worthless idols.
Is virtue not worth striving for? It is, but it is only by God’s grace that we strive after virtue. St Joseph and Mary lived lives of perfect virtue, perfect chastity and perfect fidelity before marriage, following marriage and unto death. Though coitus never took place because the Child in her womb was conceived by the Holy Spirit, therefore their love remained pure.
Our Lord Jesus tells us, “where your treasure is, there will be your heart also,” so let our heart be with the Holy Family and detached from the passing shades of this world because they cannot truly satisfy, for they do not last! We are finite beings with a capacity for the infinite, do not sell yourselves short!
Dear friends, it takes great courage to want to follow God but draw close to Joseph under the title of ‘most courageous’. Take him as your advocate and protector and he will help you become a father, as our father. He knows how much we need fathers in our day, as heads of families, the domestic church. Call upon St Joseph under one of his many titles: as the Pillar of Families, the Glory of Domestic Life, Hope of the Sick and Patron of the Dying.
Also, for priests and bishops especially. St Joseph will forge our hearts after his own if we show our love for Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament by the way we reverently celebrate the sacraments and bind up wounds in the sacrament of penance and teach the eternal truths of the Faith. Call upon St Joseph as Diligent protector of Christ, Terror of Demons and Protector of Holy Church.
The month of March, and also each Wednesday, is dedicated to St Joseph. You might take the time to conclude your rosary in March or on a Wednesday with the litany of St Joseph. It is one of the few saint’s litanies with approval from the Holy See for public use. You could also offer up a voluntary penance in honour of the poverty of St Joseph.
Alternatively, get to know him better. Talk to him in prayer, ask him to become your advocate to help you in your struggle to live out your Christian vocation cheerfully and with great generosity. Ask him to help you to overcome a particular sin or vice that hinders you in your relationship with his foster son, Jesus.
You can offer your Communion to God the Father through St Joseph in honour of his virtues and ask St Joseph to intercede for a particular virtue of his you would like to imitate.
There are also private devotions, novenas, the Memorare of St Joseph, the seven Sundays devotion and the consecration to St Joseph on the Marian Press website. Even just lighting a votive candle each week at a statue of St Joseph: anything to help you draw closer to him.
Most importantly we need to know our faith and what the Church teaches. We need to be frequenting the sacraments as often as possible, going to adoration, making visits to the Blessed Sacrament, making spiritual communions, doing our best to live charitably and praying the rosary every day. The Church, now more than ever, needs holy souls and I offer St Joseph to you as a model in the Communion of Saints in heaven to call upon in these uncertain times. Remember where sin abounds, grace abounds all the more!
There has never been so great an opportunity to have so many saints. Not just priests and religious but mothers and fathers, consecrated virgins and widows, we all need to sanctify our lives by living out our vocation in truth and love, that we may take St Joseph as our patron, our Lady as our Mother and Jesus as our King.