Illustrious Patriach
by VP
Posted on Tuesday March 19, 2024 at 12:00AM in Prayers
Saint Joseph, Raleigh NC
"On the festival of this saint, let virgins pray for the divine protection against all temptations and snares. Let all married persons pray for conjugal chastity; let all parents pray for grace, for the faithful discharge of all duties towards their children. Let all who have the care of families, pray that they may not be wanting in any part of their charge, that discipline may be preserved by their care, and virtue encouraged by their good example.
St. Joseph was chosen by Almighty God to be the chaste spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary; and under the reputation of father, to have the care of the Son of God made man; to protect him in his infancy, and secure both Mother and Son against the cruel designs of Herod. It was he, whose great virtues were rewarded, even in this life, by his being made an eye-witness of the virtues of the divine Jesus, in possessing him under his roof for many years; and seeing him, whom kings and prophets had desired to see, but it was not granted them. He was recompensed not only in seeing, but in hearing, in carrying him in his arms, in embracing and feeding him, and being made the depository of those divine secrets which were committed to no other. His life has not been written by men, but by the Holy Ghost himself; who has left his most considerable actions recorded in the gospel. And it will be our happiness on this festival, if we can learn some of those great lessons, which we are taught by his example.
Since the care of Jesus was by the Eternal Wisdom left to an humble tradesman, have not here all of that degree, as also all house-keepers, a great instruction, that sanctity and perfection are not to be thought the exclusive property of ecclesiastics and religious, but that their condition also is capable of these, and that in the new Law they are expected of them! In this they see that the daily toil of a laborious life is no exclusion to Jesus; but that He may dwell in the midst of them, while with the sweat of their brows they are working for bread, and the provision of their families. Nay, since they see Him make choice of such an abode, they cannot doubt but in this all their labours are not only approved, but consecrated by Him; and that He has declared a laborious life to be a holy life. Let it be only their care to join innocence with their toil, to season it with daily prayer, and sanctify it by a repeated oblation to Almighty God, in the faithful discharge of the duties of the state to which they are called; and they can have no just reason to complain of their unhappy circumstances, but rather rejoice. For they see their life to be a penitential life, even a performing of the penance enjoined by Almighty God Himself on the sons of Adam at their exclusion from Paradise.
It cannot be questioned but that such persons stand much fairer for the pardon of their sins, in undergoing the punishment, than those others who, living at their ease, feed on the toil of others, and wholly dispense with themselves as to this part of their penance. Nay, since these may observe that those primitive Christians, who studied the greatest perfection, took in this laborious and penitential part, and since the apostle gloried in it, they cannot apprehend their most painful labours and daily employments to be a hindrance to salvation, but rather one part of a Christian life, and very proper for gaining a happy eternity. It is with such that the divine
Jesus delights to dwell. And if He be not always with them, they may be
assured that it is not their labours that drive Him thence, but either
their love of idleness in neglecting these, or because not content to depend on their industry and pains, they make use of lies,
frauds, and injustices, whereby to overreach their neighbour, and
enrich themselves by wronging Him. Were it not for these unwarrantable
methods, no state might be more favoured by heaven than that of labouring Christians. If they would but renounce these practices, be faithful in their callings, observe their times of prayer and spiritual duties, they might be so many families of saints, and have Jesus their companion here, and reward hereafter." The Catholic Year by Rev. Fr. John Gother
Saint Joseph, God has appointed you patron of the Catholic Church because you were the head of the Holy Family, the starting-point of the Church. You were the father, protector, guide and support of the Holy Family. For that reason you belong in a particular way to the Church, which was the purpose of the Holy Familyʼs existence. I believe that the Church is the family of God on earth. Its government is represented in priestly authority which consists above all in its power over the true Body of Christ, really present in the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar, thus continuing Christʼs life in the Church. From this power, too, comes authority over the Mystical Body of Christ, the members of the Church -- the power to teach and govern souls, to reconcile them with God, to bless them, and to pray for them.
You have a special relationship to the priesthood because you possessed a wonderful power over our Savior Himself. Your life and office were of a priestly function and are especially connected with the Blessed Sacrament. To some extent you were the means of bringing the Redeemer to us -- as it is the priestʼs function to bring Him to us in the Mass -- for you reared Jesus, supported, nourished, protected and sheltered Him. You were prefigured by the patriarch Joseph, who kept supplies of wheat for his people. But how much greater than he were you! Joseph of old gave the Egyptians mere bread for their bodies. You nourished, and with the most tender care, preserved for the Church Him who is the Bread of Heaven and who gives eternal life in Holy Communion.
God has appointed you patron of the Church because the glorious title of patriarch also falls by special right to you. The patriarchs were the heads of families of the Chosen People, and theirs was the honor to prepare for the Saviorʼs incarnation. You belonged to this line of patriarchs, for you were one of the last descendants of the family of David and one of the nearest forebears of Christ according to the flesh. As husband of Mary, the Mother of God, and as the foster-father of the Savior, you were directly connected with Christ. Your vocation was especially concerned with the Person of Jesus; your entire activity centered about Him. You are, therefore, the closing of the Old Testament and the beginning of the New, which took its rise with the Holy Family of Nazareth. Because the New Testament surpasses the Old in every respect, you are the patriarch of patriarchs, the most venerable, exalted, and amiable of all the patriarchs.
Through Mary, the Church received Christ, and therefore the Church is indebted to her. But the Church owes her debt of gratitude and veneration to you also, for you were the chosen one who enabled Christ to enter into the world according to the laws of order and fitness. It was by you that the patriarchs and the prophets and the faithful reaped the fruit of Godʼs promise. Alone among them all, you saw with your own eyes and possessed the Redeemer promised to the rest of men. Saint Joseph, I thank God for your privilege of being the Patron of the Church. As a token of your own gratitude to God, obtain for me the grace to live always as a worthy member of this Church, so that through it I may save my soul. Bless the priests, the religious, and the laity of the Catholic Church, that they may ever grow in Godʼs love and faithfulness in His service. Protect the Church from the evils of our day and from the persecution of her enemies. Through your powerful intercession may the Church successfully accomplish its mission in this world -- the glory of God and the salvation of souls! Amen.
Preparing for Lent (Quinquagessima)
by VP
Posted on Sunday March 03, 2024 at 12:00AM in Sermons
“Thy faith hath made thee whole.”—Luke Chapt 18. verse 12.
"Which of us, dear brethren, has such perfect spiritual health that he does not need to call upon Christ, our all-merciful physician? We are all crippled, blind, and sick. The great remedy by which we must be healed is faith. We see how the blind man in to-day's Gospel was made whole by faith. In another place we read of the woman with an issue of blood made well by faith. And in many other parts of Scripture faith is put down as our great healing remedy.
Thank God, we have received the great blessing of the Catholic faith! But is our faith what it ought to be ? Is it a living faith? If we have a living faith it will show itself by our deeds. Let us examine ourselves today as to our intentions for the coming Lent. How much practical faith shall we find in ourselves? “ Faith without good works is dead.” How can we expect that such faith will make us whole? Are you dreading the approach of this season of penance? Are you calculating the easiest terms upon which you can get through it? Do you look upon it as an evil time, which must be borne with, but out of which you expect to get nothing but discomfort?
If you look upon Lent in this spirit, you are no true follower of Christ and the Cross—your faith is not a living faith. And a dead faith is worse than useless, for such a faith can abide only in the lukewarm, of whom the Holy Ghost speaks thus : “Would thou wert cold or hot. But because thou art lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will begin to vomit thee out of my mouth." Beware lest your present lack of the Christian spirit of penance be the beginning of your casting forth !
But do not misunderstand and think that we must relish this coming season of penance, in our lower natures, just as a hungry man relishes his dinner. That is not the kind of relish we are bound to have. Although we may have an involuntary horror of penance, if we, nevertheless, appreciate our need of mortification, and are determined to make the most of this opportunity, all the more because we instinctively dread it, we show that God has at least a large part of our hearts.
He wants the whole of them, saying : “My son, give Me thy heart." But if we keep a part for our miserable selves, in His mercy, though grieved, He will not condemn us.
But if any one has not at least a determination to try, he may well tremble at his condition. If he thinks he can safely put off his repentance to his death-bed, he deceives himself. The odds against such a man's being saved are tremendous. Does it not stand to reason that an ordinary man who has spent his life in sin cannot, unless by a miracle of grace, accomplish in a short hour, or perhaps less time, what it has taken good men a lifetime to do? The dying sinner may persuade the priest that he has repented, but is it not because he has deceived himself in his fear of death? If we could test his repentance by offering him ten years more of life, would he persevere in his good intentions? If he has resolved not to sin any more for the sole reason that he has no chance left him for doing so, his repentance is a sham, and all the absolutions of all the priests that have ever lived cannot save his soul. " As a man lives, so shall he die." Is it not easier to repent now, while you are able, than upon your death-bed, when disease and sin have almost robbed you of reason ?
Have a living faith which will show itself by deeds! And let the prayer of the blind man be the prayer of each of us, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy upon me.” And let us not cease until Jesus answers us, “Thy faith hath made thee whole."
Source: Five minutes sermons for Low Masses for every Sundays of the Year by the Priests of the Congregation of Saint Paul 1893
