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.
