We have it on good authority that today being a solemnity has trumped the Friday fast... Little Sister Hallel called and told her dad that he can even have
"steak" today! It is Pat's feast day too in that his patron saint is St Joseph. I think that we will probably go a local fish fry and not hold back... in other words pig out!
How I love St Joseph and really have started praying to him and including him in my daily prayers every day! Back a few years I thought that it was important that I add Pat in my rosary prayers and meditations daily. I have shared how I pray for each of my 5 kids using the 5 decades of the rosary beads, so I pondered which of the mysteries would remind me of Pat and help me to lift him up daily. I came upon the first joyful mystery... the Annunciation. Behind the scenes in this one, Joseph is showing me the wonderful faithfilled and great provider and protector that Joseph was to Mary in her humble and vulnerable state... and of course later the child Jesus... God come down to Earth. I love the way Joseph listens to the Lord and is a gentle and holy man. Being Pat's patron saint... and a intelligent laborer like my husband... a man who worked with his hands to create things for people and was there working in his home, and teaching his son over the years how to also join him. That teaching of our children is so important, and the way that he protected the Blessed Mother and the child Jesus...that is an important thing for a father to do this day and age!
Pat has always done an excellent job including the kids in "work" at the differnet seasons of the year... Fond memories of him taking all 7 of us out in the early spring to fix the fences in the pastures... getting them ready for the cows and calves to safely frolic in the sweet grass. Nancy and John have special times when they helped dad put up a new fence around some new pasture land... There is a pasture across the road that Nancy looks at and drives around on the 4 wheeler remembering the hot summer days that she and her dad put it up. For the most part good memories and some pride in seeing the cows out there enjoying the new grass and space... It has carried over now to the next generation as he had Simon and Mary in the trailer and I on the 4 wheeler as he put in some new fence a few years ago... So good for them to see Grandpa model for them the work and responsiblity he has to care for the animals of this world!
I have shared how Pat is such a wonderful interested husband and father... He loves and listens to the Lord in his life and has valued the Church and the faith of his parents and has made it his own. He has always upheld strongly that we will worship as a family... people have been amazed to see us come to church within the first week of a new arrival of a baby... Pat has always juggled the new baby and unless I had to go out to nurse the baby... handles them gently and lovingly... we also sit in the front of church and always have so that the kids can get as much as possible out of it. Yes, we have had to go out from time to time, but less than you would think. Now we are there with the grandkids... such a delight to have the family filling up the pew and the kids smiling and interested faces throughout the mass! So relaxed and good in the familiar beautiful church that they have attended every week of their lives! My two grandkids in St Paul have been to mass practically every day of their lives even in utero!
Today some reflections on ST Joseph by Fr Alfred Delp (1945) who was condemned to death in Germany during WWII. "Jospeh is a man who sets aside all thought of self and shoulders his responsiblity bravely - and obeys..... His message is willing obedience, He is the man who serves. It never enters his mind to question God's commands, he makes all the necessary preparations and is ready when God's call comes. Willing, unquestioning service is the secret of his life.... The prayer of St Paul - do with me according to your will - the quiet and willing readiness to serve of the man Joseph, could lead us to a truer and more genuine freedom."
Thank you for such a wonderful father figure that we have in a honored place in heaven to look to. That father image is so necessary today with all that the family faces... St Joseph we look to you and ask you to intercede for the unity and blossoming of the family in love of God and each other. Jesus we trust in You!
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