A man (a person) who can be spoken to…
who is approachable
who can be asked to give
account of himself.
who allows God, his spouse,
his children and others to speak to him
about who he is and what he does. 

A man (a person) who bends his knee
to an authority greater than himself… 
who believes in God, 
who gives his will and his effort to live
the truth God shows him,
who prays to God for the strength
to live in integrity. 

A man (a Person) who can examine himself,
admit that he is wrong when he is,
say that to those he cares for,
ask forgiveness for those he has offended,
and who does not believe that his faults  
disqualify him from virtue. 

A man (a person) who gives himself
who even places himself at risk
for what he knows to be just
and to those he cares for.

Fr. Jim Chelich
St. Thomas the Apostle Parish
Grand Rapids, MI 49506

O St. Joseph, whose protection is so great, so strong, so prompt before the throne of God, I place in you all my interest and desires.O St. Joseph, do assist me by your powerful intercession, and obtain for me from your divine Son all spiritual blessings, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. So that, having engaged here below your heavenly power, I may offer my thanksgiving and homage to the most loving of Fathers.O St. Joseph, I never weary of contemplating you, and Jesus asleep in your arms; I dare not approach while He reposes near your heart. Press Him close in my name and kiss His fine head for me and ask Him to return the kiss when I draw my dying breath. St. Joseph, patron of departing souls, pray for me. Amen.

https://aleteia.org/2018/02/28/this-ancient-prayer-to-st-joseph-has-never-been-known-to-fail/

Attentive Joseph, in Mary and you, the Divine Word
finds a favourable environment in which to carry out
the will of the Father; thus, you become the family of
the Child-God.

In your gentle life together, you experience Love daily.
The unity of your hearts transforms life’s lessons into
growing wisdom and grace.

Open our hearts to the Word that lives within us,
that our actions may bear witness to our connection
to the family of God.

Sustain us in our emotional commitments, where
giving and forgiveness shape our identities.
Grant us your tenderness in the things we do
each day.

 Amen.

https://www.saint-joseph.org/en/spirituality/saint-joseph/prayers-to-saint-joseph/

On 19th March, the Church celebrates with great joy the solemnity of St. Joseph. Spouse of Mary who would become the Mother of the Divine Word, Joseph was chosen to be the ‘guardian of the Word.’ And yet, in the Gospels, we do not have even one word that he spoke. He served in silence, obedient to the Word, revealed to him by the angels in a dream, and by the words and life of Jesus himself.

Even his ‘fiat’, like that of Mary, demanded a total submission to the Spirit and to the Divine will. Joseph believed what God told him; he did what God revealed to him. His vocation was to give to Jesus all that a human father could give: love, protection, a name, a house.

How do we wish to remember this extraordinary saint?

As an exemplary father in these difficult times when the role of a Christian father is so difficult? As a faithful spouse? As a loyal citizen? As a conscientious worker? As a refugee? As the ‘just’ man? So much of greatness, and so much of modesty.

Apparently, not even Jesus spoke of him in the Gospels. About John the Baptist, Jesus said: “Of all born of women, he is the greatest.” Does Joseph come after the Baptist? Probably the greatness of Joseph was such that not even Jesus found the right words to describe him, one of the greatest in God’s eyes.

Maybe Jesus did not speak of Joseph because he was outside of the normal categories of people. When he was exalting the Baptist, someone would have definitely asked Jesus, “where do you put Joseph?” Jesus would have probably replied: “He is a super-saint.”

Celebrating this feast, today we wish to gaze on Joseph, the gentle, quiet, and strong protector of the universal Church, invoking his intercession, so that we can imitate his virtues and welcome Jesus Christ into our lives, as he did.

Father Simon Manjooran
St. Margaret Parish
Otsego, MI

Eucharistic Adoration, or just coming to sit in church before the Eucharist housed in the tabernacle, in doing this, we imitate our patron St. Joseph.  His vocation was one of perpetual adoration.  He kept his eyes on Jesus, first by caring for Mary and watching over her, the first Tabernacle, and then after his birth protecting, housing, feeding, teaching, and loving Jesus. 

In our Gospel Luke 2: 41-51a, Joseph and Mary find Jesus after three days, they find him in the Temple.  But when we think about it, they had the new Temple with them at all times.  St. Peter Julian Eymard put it this way, “St. Joseph was the first adorer, the first religious.  Although he never adored our Lord under the Eucharistic species and never had the happiness of receiving Holy Communion, he did possess and adore Jesus in human form.”  He goes on to say, “In Joseph, we find the perfect adorer, entirely consecrated to Jesus, working always near Jesus, giving Jesus his virtues, his time, his very life; it is thus that he is our model and our inspiration.”  

St. Joseph was an adorer of great faith.  When he looked at Jesus he saw human flesh, but in his heart he believed, “Here is God!”  We pray to have that same faith, when we look at the Eucharist, we see bread, but in our hearts we believe, “Here is God!”  Under the veil of Bread our faith must see our Lord.  Ask St. Joseph for his lively constant faith.  

In 1997 Pope St. John Paul II conducted a papal visit to the Shrine of St. Joseph in Kalisz in Poland and informed those in attendance that, before each of his Masses, he prayed the following prayer to St. Joseph.

O happy man, St. Joseph, whose privilege it was not only to see and hear that god whom many a king has longed to see, yet saw not, longed to hear, yet heard not, but also to carry him in your arms and kiss him, to clothe him and watch over him!

O God, who has conferred upon us a royal priesthood, we pray to you to give us grace to minister at your holy altars with hearts as clean and lives as blameless as that blessed Joseph who was found to hold in his arms and, with all reverence, carry your only-begotten Son, born of the Virgin Mary.  Enable us this day to receive worthily the sacred Body and Blood of your son, and equip us to win an everlasting reward in the world to come.  Amen

Fr. Christopher J. Ankley
St. Joseph Battle Creek, Mi

Compassionate Joseph, one with us in our human condition,
together with Mary and Jesus you experience exile, hunger
and violence. Refusing vengeance, you choose mercy.
Your forgiveness breaks the circle of violence.
Through your goodness, God’s hope for our humanity is preserved.
Joy is yours, for the Kingdom of God is your inheritance.

Open our compassionate hands in times of war, famine and exile.
Keep us from developing a victim’s mentality, and make our pain a source of growth.
Sustain us in fulfilling our responsibility of cultivating inner peace, joy and serenity.
In your wisdom, counsel us to close all doors to bitterness, so that, watched
over by God, we may dance for joy.

 Amen.

https://www.saint-joseph.org/en/spirituality/saint-joseph/prayers-to-saint-joseph/

Since a man is justified by faith (Rom. 3:28), it is reasonable to consider the justice of St. Joseph after having considered his faith. The justice of St. Joseph is the one virtue of his testified directly by the Gospel, which says “Joseph, her husband, being a just man…” (Mt. 1:19). And we see that St. Joseph possesses this virtue in full measure through the actions of his recorded in the Gospels.

St. Thomas Aquinas defines the virtue of justice as “the perpetual and constant will to render to each one his right” (II-II, q. 58, a. 1). To be just is to be in right relation to others: to your neighbor, to society, to your family, to God. The justice of St. Joseph becomes apparent in his fulfillment of every duty, respecting what is owed in every relation.

With respect to civil society, we see St. Joseph fulfill his obligations as a resident in the Roman Empire, making the several-day journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem to be enrolled in the census of Caesar Augustus (Lk. 2:1). Receiving the warning in a dream, he brought his family to live in Egypt for several years. In order to live peacefully in Egypt, St. Joseph would have learned the customs and laws of that country so to observe justice even there. Though the darkness of idolatry existed in Egypt, St. Joseph would have found ways to bear witness to the one true God, for “the just man is a light in the darkness” (Ps. 112:4).

With respect to the religious law, we see St. Joseph leading his family in the full observance of the laws revealed by God. He takes care that Jesus is circumcised on the eighth day (Lk. 2:21), he brings Jesus to Jerusalem at the time of purification “according to the law of Moses” (Lk. 2:22), he offers the prescribed sacrifice of two turtledoves or pigeons (Lk. 2:24), he “performed everything according to the law of the Lord” (Lk. 2:39), and he “went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of Passover” (Lk. 2:41).

Above all, we see St. Joseph prompt and ready to do whatever is required for the care of his family, for Jesus and Mary. He receives Mary into his home as soon as he knows that this is lawful (Mt. 1:24), he accepts her child as his own (Lk. 3:23), he relocates to protect the life of this child (Mt. 2:13), and he practices a trade to supply for the material needs of Jesus and Mary (Mk. 6:3).

Jesus came into the world to be the “sun of justice” (Mal. 4:2), so it should be no surprise that the man entrusted to care for Jesus should himself be a perfect model of justice. Do you find yourself at odds with others instead of in right relation with them? Go to St. Joseph. Do you struggle to fulfill your obligations to either God or your neighbor? Seek help from St. Joseph. Perhaps you give to each their due, but only begrudgingly or with greater concern for your own interests? Learn from St. Joseph, the just man who placed his entire life at service of the Christ and his Holy Mother.

St. Joseph, most just, pray for us.

Fr. Max Nightingale
St. Joseph Battle Creek, MI

There was a time in Hollywood when the most popular leading men were categorized as “the strong, silent type.” Picture John Wayne, Gary Cooper, or Clint Eastwood. Their characters typically did not have too much to say but they got the job done, nonetheless. St. Joseph didn’t have much to say either and he most definably got the job done.

It’s easy to think of Saint Joseph as the strong silent type after all, not one word of sacred scripture is attributed to him. We only get a passing description of him from Saint Matthew who writes that Joseph was a “righteous man.” Now, righteous is a word that carries a bit of baggage as we often associate that word with self-righteous or the kind of spiritual arrogance that is displayed by certain pharisees. Righteous however is defined as “morally right, justifiable or virtuous.” I like to think of a righteous person as someone having not only virtue but the wisdom that comes with virtuous living. It breeds a confidence and a certainty in following the path of the Lord even when that path seems unintelligible to us. Joseph’s path must have seemed incomprehensible to him, yet his faith and trust in God surpassed his understandable confusion.

Consider Joseph’s disappointment and perhaps heart break when he found out that the young girl he was betrothed to was with child. As the Gospel writers tell us he could have rightly divorced her and according to Mosaic Law, Mary could have been stoned to death of this perceived behavior. It was through a dream that the angel of the Lord comforted Joseph and calmed his fears so that he was able to take Mary into his home as his wife. It was an act of tremendous faith and trust in God’s providential love. This was an unconventional beginning to an unusual family life. One that was filled with glorious moments as well as disappointment and apprehension. Joseph was quite adept at discerning God’s will and he trusted the path that the Lord had laid out for him. It was indeed a difficult path filled with fear, anxiety, and uncertainty. It’s a reminder to us that our paths are similar at times. Being open to God and following the Lord does not mean that our lives will be tranquil and carefree. So often, following the Lord means that we do take the more difficult route. It does mean that we will experience setbacks and hardships and that we will carry our crosses. But it is through these trials that our faith is strengthened and our resilience forged. Saint Joseph is an example for us on how to move forward in our own discipleship. Sometimes we just have to endure and get the job done.

Monsignor Hurley’s reflection
St. Thomas the Apostle
Wilmington, Delaware 19805

In our parish everyone can view on the sanctuary of the church a beautiful statue of Saint Joseph holding the Christ Child. This was loaned to us by a generous parishioner, after we were talking together of the Year of Saint Joseph.  As evocative as it is, I still prefer another statue, one that was there in the Christmas crib or manger.  That Saint Joseph for me is a real hero.  Joseph has become, there in the crib the patron and defender of the Holy Family. St Matthew in the gospel speaks of his deep perplexity in regard to Mary being with child.  By God’s word in a dream he accepts his new mission.  This is the power of Saint Joseph for us today. He is the defender of all our families.  Yes, our families are not often called ‘holy’ families.  They might be so called on the day of one of the children’s baptism, or first Holy Communion.  Then we are emotionally moved by the power of the presence of the Holy Spirit among the family members. However, on ordinary days?  well, the family just feels ordinary.  

With Saint Joseph helping us, though, no family should feel ordinary.  A little prayer to this great Saint will bit by bit convince us of his protection.  How much protection do we need?  Well, reflecting a little on our experience of life will convince us.  How much does mom need strength and protection to carry out all the chores, so many duties which she undertakes, and today so many mothers hold down a professional job as well.  In Covid times the mother is often the chief teacher when the children are engaged in trying to cope with home schooling.  Dad is hopefully at work engaging with the world among his colleagues.  How does he deal with the secular jokes and the attitude that we ourselves are fully in charge of our lives, so that the person of God never gets mentioned all day long.  Our language is secular,  if things go well, we thank ‘good luck’ we do not speak of receiving a blessing.  Too often, our easy going attitude to bad language around us is what we learn from others who have little respect for our divine creator.  Perhaps there is a hostile attitude of criticism at work, of hostile blame of the bosses, of a growing sense of unease and unhappiness.  Such a place of work can get a person down. Saint Joseph does not dispel all this like a super hero, but he is a super hero when he does calm us down. If he can reassure us of our Catholic values which, though not shared by all, remain precious to us and keep us calm and pleasant even in a hostile environment. 

 I know of a young man finding all these obstacles to peace in his place of work.  He did not have the seniority to easily change his job, so he took himself to prayer each morning for fifteen or even thirty minutes, and was then conscious of Saint Joseph’s presence during the day.  What it did for him was to retain his peace of mind. What it did for his work companions was to amaze them,  and quietly ask him why he did not get riled and easily angered as all the others?  So his quiet answer was a moment for him to mention God’s presence in his life, so at work, he became an evangelizer.

The children need a family father and also a spiritual father. Just think how Saint Joseph meets the thoughts of children, for he is the one, along with our Blessed Mother, who taught Jesus to pray and how to behave.  Saint Joseph is the example of the man whom Jesus looked up to.  What a thought to have, that Jesus himself as a youngster looked up to Saint Joseph who was given the sacred duty of bringing up Jesus as St Luke tells us – Jesus increased in knowledge, and in favour with God and man.

I personally look to Saint Joseph for spiritual strength. Of course we know that to live out our faith is costly for all of us. To be a champion of protecting life, being pro-life in what we say and practice, is part of our Catholic response to the faith we have been given.  Here I rely on Saint Joseph to give me the spiritual strength to say and do those things. When they are counter cultural, it is so easy to ignore or play down these truths. Saint Joseph protects the family also in the call to chastity.  It was his special calling in marriage to our Blessed Mother and he only wants us to call on him to help us receive that grace in our lives too. Yes, Saint Joseph is a hero. Let us all permit him to be our spiritual hero.

Fr Chris Fuse
St Peter’s Parish
Cardiff, UK

“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1)

“Blessed are those who have not seen, and have believed.” (John 20:29)

Since March is the month in which we celebrate St. Joseph, I will write each week on a different one of his virtues. The saints are not merely those who do good, but those who are good through the gift of God’s grace and through dedicating their lives to him. Each virtue is a quality in the soul that makes it excellent, and the virtue that comes at the beginning of our life in God is faith.

Faith is the virtue by which we place our trust in God and assent to all that He has revealed for our salvation. Oftentimes it is not obvious what sort of impact our beliefs have on our life. How is our life affected by the truth that God is a Holy Trinity? What is the impact of our faith in the Immaculate Conception? This is not always obvious for us. But for St. Joseph, faith had immediate consequences. St. Joseph’s belief in the perpetual virginity of Mary is not an abstract matter to him: His entire life hinged on his belief in this mystery of faith.

St. James teaches that “faith without works is dead” (Jas 2:17) and that “faith is perfected by works” (Jas 2:22). And so we see in St. Joseph a faith that is fully alive and perfect, a faith that is perfected by his works. Just to name a few of these: by faith, he took his wife Mary into his home (Mt 1:24); by faith, he gave Jesus his name (Mt 1:25); by faith, he fled to Egypt with his family (Mt 2:13); by faith, he brought his family to Nazareth and was as a father for the Messiah (Lk 2:51).

All of this came by faith. We do not hear in the Gospels that St. Joseph would have witnessed the miracles worked by Jesus, rather it seems that he died before the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry. In this way, even though he lived with Jesus for many years, he is like us who have never seen the works of Jesus, but believe from the words we have received. St. Joseph only heard in a dream that the child born of Mary is the Savior and conceived by the Holy Spirit (Mt 1:19-20). He only heard from Simeon that the child would be “a light for revelation to the nations” and that he would cause “fall and rise of many” (Lk 2:32-34). Though he only heard these things by words and dreams, he placed his entire life at the service of these mysteries that he would not witness in his own lifetime.

Let us ask St. Joseph to increase our faith. Are there any divinely revealed teachings that you find difficult to believe? Remember how St. Joseph believed in the miraculous conception of Jesus, and ask for his help. Do you find it difficult to trust God, especially when suffering loss? Remember how St. Joseph left his home and all his possessions, having faith that God would provide what is truly essential.

St. Joseph, most faithful, pray for us.

 Fr. Max Nightingale
St. Joseph Battle Creek, MI