I love, love, love Joseph so much that our youngest kid bears his name, one of two, just like my brother. And, for years— dare I say decades— St. Joseph has been shadowing me, like the time we visited St. Bonaventure in Detroit and, suddenly, I shimmered within sensing something, someone, very near. I looked up from my camera and, whoa, there he was, looking ever so statuesque just three feet away. Goosebumps! And, it seems that, wherever we go, he beckons, as he did for us to belong to St. Joseph’s parish and for me to start the church blog. So, naturally, I was all ears to hear the following at Vespers.
This homily, delivered by the Very Rev. Stanley Galvon, rector at Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Cathedral in Vancouver, Canada, was recorded, transcribed, and edited (Lanoux, June 18, 2021).
St. Joseph is a bit of a mysterious figure in the Bible in that he doesn’t say one word, but maybe that’s okay. Someone said the most important part of conversation is the pause between words and, in the case of Joseph, it’s a long pause because he really doesn’t say anything at all. But it’s how he’s present and how he’s doing things that’s so helpful for all of us in crazy times as these are. And you can tell from the gospel reading from St. Matthew that Joseph was involved in crazy times as well.
First, he was ordered to go to Bethlehem to register even though his wife was very pregnant and travel arrangements were very primitive. And, then, once the child was born, it seems that the three kings, the Magi, tipped off Herod that this child could be a competitor; so Herod decided to eliminate the problem by eliminating the child. Kind of what we see these days in terms of solving your problems. That’s ongoing human-twist thinking: Solve your problems with violence.
We have, then, Joseph in a dream being told to go to Egypt. So, that’s not like jumping on a little commuter plane and flying to Egypt. In those days there was everything from robbers to bad people along the way of any route and, in this case, soldiers from Herod who were chasing them. And there’s a story related to this, too.
If you’ve ever seen a Christmas tree with silver streamers on it, the tradition comes from a legend about Joseph, Mary, and Jesus. On their difficult way to Egypt, Herod’s soldiers were almost catching them, so Joseph hid the family in a little cave. And, there within was a spider that, somehow, was used by God to quickly weave a web at the entrance. So, when soldiers were about to go in, they saw the spider web. “No one has disturbed that spider web,” they said, “so they can’t be in there. Let’s go on.” So, that’s where the legend led to the use of tinsel on Christmas trees.
It’s a delightful story, but behind all of this is the idea that God works with people in difficult times. And, part of the difficulties these days is how each of us is trained because it’s handy to have good manners— to say “thank you,” things like that— but, moral training is also really important, which is why Joseph was very special: He protected Mary and Jesus from people like Herod, and he trained Jesus. And, the encouraging message is that, despite our strengths and weaknesses, we can always come back to God and “be diligent, intentional, continually seeking ways to weave the goodness and character of God into the day’s events” [Deuteronomy 6:6-7]. St. Joseph reminds us that our heavenly Father is still training us. We’re here because of the training we received somehow, somewhere. We are not alone. Joseph, representative of our heavenly Father, is praying for us, too, in ways deeper than words can convey.
August mailing (English & Spanish)
Prayerful thought
Those who give themselves to prayer should in a special manner have always a devotion to St. Joseph, for I know not how anyone can think of the queen of the angels [the Blessed Mother], during the time that she suffered so much with the Infant Jesus, without giving thanks to St. Joseph for the services he rendered them then (St. Teresa of Ávila).
.
Blessings 2024… April 2024… February 2024… January 2024… July 2024… June 2024… March 2024… May 2024…
Blessings 2023… April 2023… August 2023… Christ’s glory… Christmas 2023… February 2023… Flame within… God’s gift… January 2023… July 2023… June 2023… Love’s heart… March 2023… May 2023… November 2023… October 2023… September 2023…
Blessings 2022… August 2022… December 2022… Journey’s light… July 2022… June 2022… Kiss of God… May 2022… Mourning joy… November 2022… October 2022… October saints… Presence… September 2022… Sight… Sitka’s St. Michael… St. Michael prayers
Filed under: faith, gratitude, homilies, prayer, spiritual gifts, St. Joseph | Tagged: building community, God's master plan, overcoming adversity | 2 Comments »
Shared thoughts... 