It was important to us to share the mass and some hugs after the weeks of pain and loss their family had been through. It was important for us to be there, pray with them, and then share a meal and family time with them. They have been so much on my heart after I was gifted with time there and a night vigil as Amy came home on hospice for the last 24 hours of her life.
Fr spoke about the Faith and Trust of this Saint Joseph. "Joseph had a plan in mind, but he listened to the Lord's plan and acted on it even though it wasn't his own." The Lord has a plan and we are called to act upon it in our lives. Father prayed for any big decisions that we need to make in our lives. I think of my going out to help Maria as Captain Joseph will be gone and she is going to have her 7th child. It is in the Lord's hands and He will show me His perfect plan! I find that I get excitement welling up in me to meet our new granddaughter, and our love grow more!
There are many times over the years that our children have been expecting together and it is our total JOY to now have them as cousin friends! Even the older ones - Mary and Therese, Therese and Big Dave, Big Dave and little Dave and Gus, Rose and Bernadette and Patrick are all currently 8, Luke and Dominic and Romeo are for a while all 6, but now Luke is 7... Joy and Josephine, and Evangeline, then the 3 boys in 6 weeks... Jude and George and Hector, will all be 2 on March 26th. Finally Birdie and soon to arrive little cousin, Magdalene! They will be just about a year apart and that will make them close and friends without a doubt!
How we love to share LIFE/LOVE/LIGHT with family as we share our Faith as a family which is our greatest JOY!
Fr Ben is Bernadettes' Godfather! He came from the St Cloud diocese to honor Amy and her Goddaughter, brother and his family!
Special dress up time for Joy, who is enjoying being a big girl now.
"Why not?" make a fuss about St Joseph. If God himself had such high regard for him to have him be the foster father for his Son... should we not have the same regard for St Joseph? Yes!
I smile to myself as I turn on my phone to the ibreviary and read morning prayer and the Office of Readings for St Joseph's Solemnity today. Why smile? One of the first masses Fr Denny said when he came to Holy Redeemer over a year ago... I was in the adoration chapel and he came in and turned on his phone. I knew that he had his breviary on his phone and was doing his prayers of The Church, which all priests and deacons are asked to do.
So when I pray for Father.... turn on my phone and join him in prayer! I am sure there appears to those around me that I am just looking at my phone... it is humbling and allows me to chose the lowest spot and have intimate time with my Lord!
This morning St Bernadine of Sienna wrote these amazing words about St Joseph!
From a sermon by Saint Bernadine of Siena, priest
(Sermo 2, de S. Joseph: Opera 7, 16. 27-30)
The faithful foster-father and guardian
There is a general rule concerning all special graces granted to any human being. Whenever the divine favor chooses someone to receive a special grace, or to accept a lofty vocation, God adorns the person chosen with all the gifts of the Spirit needed to fulfill the task at hand.
This general rule is especially verified in the case of Saint Joseph, the foster-father of our Lord and the husband of the Queen of our world, enthroned above the angels. He was chosen by the eternal Father as the trustworthy guardian and protector of his greatest treasures, namely, his divine Son and Mary, Joseph’s wife. He carried out this vocation with complete fidelity until at last God called him, saying: Good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your Lord.
What then is Joseph’s position in the whole Church of Christ? Is he not a man chosen and set apart? Through him and, yes, under him, Christ was fittingly and honorably introduced into the world. Holy Church in its entirety is indebted to the Virgin Mother because through her it was judged worthy to receive Christ. But after her we undoubtedly owe special gratitude and reverence to Saint Joseph.
In him the Old Testament finds its fitting close. He brought the noble line of patriarchs and prophets to its promised fulfillment. What the divine goodness had offered as a promise to them, he held in his arms.
Obviously, Christ does not now deny to Joseph that intimacy, reverence and very high honor which he gave him on earth, as a son to his father. Rather we must say that in heaven Christ completes and perfects all that he gave at Nazareth.
Now we can see how the last summoning words of the Lord appropriately apply to Saint Joseph: Enter into the joy of your Lord. In fact, although the joy of eternal happiness enters into the soul of a man, the Lord preferred to say to Joseph: Enter into joy. His intention was that the words should have a hidden spiritual meaning for us. They convey not only that this holy man possesses an inward joy, but also that it surrounds him and engulfs him like an infinite abyss.
Remember us, Saint Joseph, and plead for us to your foster-child. Ask your most holy bride, the Virgin Mary, to look kindly upon us, since she is the mother of him who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns eternally. Amen.
(Sermo 2, de S. Joseph: Opera 7, 16. 27-30)
The faithful foster-father and guardian
There is a general rule concerning all special graces granted to any human being. Whenever the divine favor chooses someone to receive a special grace, or to accept a lofty vocation, God adorns the person chosen with all the gifts of the Spirit needed to fulfill the task at hand.
This general rule is especially verified in the case of Saint Joseph, the foster-father of our Lord and the husband of the Queen of our world, enthroned above the angels. He was chosen by the eternal Father as the trustworthy guardian and protector of his greatest treasures, namely, his divine Son and Mary, Joseph’s wife. He carried out this vocation with complete fidelity until at last God called him, saying: Good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your Lord.
What then is Joseph’s position in the whole Church of Christ? Is he not a man chosen and set apart? Through him and, yes, under him, Christ was fittingly and honorably introduced into the world. Holy Church in its entirety is indebted to the Virgin Mother because through her it was judged worthy to receive Christ. But after her we undoubtedly owe special gratitude and reverence to Saint Joseph.
In him the Old Testament finds its fitting close. He brought the noble line of patriarchs and prophets to its promised fulfillment. What the divine goodness had offered as a promise to them, he held in his arms.
Obviously, Christ does not now deny to Joseph that intimacy, reverence and very high honor which he gave him on earth, as a son to his father. Rather we must say that in heaven Christ completes and perfects all that he gave at Nazareth.
Now we can see how the last summoning words of the Lord appropriately apply to Saint Joseph: Enter into the joy of your Lord. In fact, although the joy of eternal happiness enters into the soul of a man, the Lord preferred to say to Joseph: Enter into joy. His intention was that the words should have a hidden spiritual meaning for us. They convey not only that this holy man possesses an inward joy, but also that it surrounds him and engulfs him like an infinite abyss.
Remember us, Saint Joseph, and plead for us to your foster-child. Ask your most holy bride, the Virgin Mary, to look kindly upon us, since she is the mother of him who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns eternally. Amen.
So blessed by the music of Danielle Rose!
Solemnity of St Joseph
+ Patron of the Universal Church +
+ Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary +
+ Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary +
+ Protector of the Divine Infant and Mary +
March 19
Grant, we pray, almighty God, that by Saint Joseph's
intercession your Church may constantly watch over
the unfolding of the mysteries of human salvation,
whose beginnings you entrusted to his faithful care.
Collect ~Today's Liturgy
"The same divine hand which fashions each man's heart
gave a father's heart to Joseph and a son's heart to Jesus,
so that Jesus obeyed Joseph and Joseph did not fear to command Jesus.
It was because Christ's true Father had chosen Joseph to act
as father to His Son in this world. And in so doing God had,
as it were, charged Joseph's breast with some ray or spark
as it were, charged Joseph's breast with some ray or spark
of His own boundless love for His Son.
It was that that aroused a father's love in Joseph;
so much so that, feeling a father's heart burn within him, Joseph
so much so that, feeling a father's heart burn within him, Joseph
also felt that God was telling him to use a father's authority." - Bossuet
"Saint Joseph believed unhesitatingly in the mystery
of the Incarnation, in the fruitful virginity and in
the divine maternity of Mary. He believed without
seeing the miracles that were to fill Judea with his glory
and renown of his holy name.
We too should recognize Jesus in the frail Host
that is offered to us at the altar. Here He is even smaller than
at Bethlehem, more hidden than in Saint Joseph's workshop.
Still it is He, 'I believe all the Son of God has spoken,
than Truth's own word there is no truer token.'"
Bishop Pierre-Anastase Pichenot
“He [St. Joseph] nourished with the greatest solicitude
Him whom the faithful were one day to receive as the
Bread of Life on their homeward journey.” - Pope Pius IX
"Saint Joseph joined with Mary in adoration and
united himself to Christ, Whose heart surged with sentiments
of adoration, love and praise for the Father and of charity for men.
St. Joseph’s adoration kept pace with every stage of our Lord’s life,
drawing upon the grace, the spirit, and the virtue of each mystery.
In the Incarnation he adored the self-annihilation of the Son of God;
at Bethlehem, the poverty; at Nazareth, the silence, the apparent
weakness, the obedience, and all the other virtues of Christ.…
Because his faith was so strong, Joseph’s mind
and heart bowed in perfect adoration. Imitate his faith
as you knee before the humble Christ annihilated in the Eucharist.
Pierce the veil which covers this furnace of love
and adore the hidden God.” - St Peter Julian Eymard
"To other Saints our Lord has given power to help in one sortof need, but this glorious saint, as I know by experience,helps us in every need." - St Teresa of Avila
St Joseph, pray for us!
"When Egypt was laid waste by the great famine,Pharaoh told his people,Ite ad Joseph! - Go to Joseph!... (Genesis 41:55)So if we are in trouble, let us listen to the word of the Lord
and take Pharaoh's advice;
let us go to Joseph if we wish to be consoled."
- St Alphonsus de Ligouri
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