15th Day of Lent: March 19, 2014: Feast of St. Joseph

15th Day of Lent:

     March 19, 2014:

         

   Feast of St. Joseph

Today we honor    

St. Joseph, the patron of the Universal Church and our families, and the spouse of Mary. Joseph has always remained behind scenes, as incarnation of Jesus was unfolding before the world. He has been the “guardian”, foster father, educator and bearer of the will of God in his life. Joseph remarkably paid attention to the whisperings of the Holy Spirit in the four dreams that he had when life presented a deep turmoil and crisis. When he realized Mary was pregnant, when infant Jesus’ life was in danger, when he had to take Jesus and Mary to Egypt and back, when he had to settle in Nazareth, he was brought to his knees and relied heavily on his profound faith and trust in God’s will. In those crisis moments, God spoke to him in his dreams. Joseph surrendered to the divine providence with unquestioning silence and humility.  

As a just man, he showed mercy especially to his spouse never exposing her to shame or embarrassment. He was there for Mary. Joseph thus offered a culture of trust, fidelity and faithfulness. He was always there for the baby Jesus providing him with the education and guidance. As Pope Francis urged all the fathers in his Wednesday audience to “stay close to your children”, we have the Christian vocation to provide a culture of hope, mercy, and faith to the ‘children’ entrusted to our care. We have the magnificent call to create a faith-filled culture as Joseph helped create a faith-filled home. A culture is not built in one grand act but on many fronts such as the family, school, parish and neighborhood. None of us can create an entire culture but we can help build parts of it.

Joseph did his share so well by providing a safe place to grow in ‘age and wisdom’. Joseph accompanied the Son of God in his human development as intimately as a simple, humble, holy, just and wise old man.

I give thanks to my dad who took the name of Joseph and imitated Joseph’s virtues so well in his entire life. In his last days with cancer, he wanted to die on the feast of St. Joseph out of his profound devotion to the patron of families. During this season of lent let us learn to imitate this holy carpenter

God Bless you always!
Sincerely Yours,
Rev. Fr. Cyriac Chandy Mattathilanickal, MS

Wishing you and yours A Holy Lent!

Rev. Fr. Tom Puthusseril, M.S.,Shrine Director