Catholic Caucus: Daily Mass Readings, 03-19-18, SOL, St. Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary

March 19, 2018

Over and over again, the Lenten readings explore the opposition between what rewards come from following the law versus those that come from having faith.

Laws are designed to preserve order and safety in society. People obey laws to avoid punishment from the authorities. Furthermore, while laws may be adaptable, they are designed to endure in their original iteration. Most laws are generally based on widely accepted moral codes.

We become so accustomed to living by a set of laws that we adhere to them without thinking. By and large this is a good thing, but sometimes extraordinary circumstances force us to challenge the law.

Today’s second reading from Romans says:

It was not through the law

that the promise was made to Abraham and his descendants

that he would inherit the world,

but through the righteousness that comes from faith.

For this reason, it depends on faith,

so that it may be a gift,

and the promise may be guaranteed to all his descendants,

not to those who only adhere to the law

but to those who follow the faith of Abraham,

who is the father of all of us, as it is written,

I have made you father of many nations.

Today is the Solemnity of Saint Joseph, who also moved by faith, not law.

While Joseph understood that for Mary to be pregnant before their wedding meant that she had broken Mosaic law, and also that she was therefore subject to stoning, his decision to break their union “quietly” suggests that he was not so slavish to the law as others in his position might have been.

Certainly it was by faith that Joseph accepted the words of God’s angel, who revealed to him that an otherwise inviolable biological law had been “broken,” and that he should accept Mary into his home and raise Jesus as his own son.

Joseph had full knowledge of the law, yet it was his personal faith that made him obedient to God.

Here is a prayer to Saint Joseph with special mention of the clergy in particular and “all who labor for souls” in general:

O glorious St. Joseph, you were chosen by God to be the foster father of Jesus, the most pure spouse of Mary ever Virgin, and the head of the holy family. You have been chosen by Christ's Vicar as the heavenly patron and protector of the Church founded by Christ. Therefore, it is with great confidence that I implore your powerful assistance for the whole Church on earth. Protect in a special manner, with true fatherly love, the Pope and all bishops and priests in communion with the See of Peter. Be the protector of all who labor for souls amid the trials and tribulations of this life, and grant that all peoples of the world may follow Christ and the Church He founded.

Dear St. Joseph, accept the offering of myself, which I now make to you. I dedicate myself to your service, that you may ever be my father, my protector, and my guide in the way of salvation. Obtain for me great purity of heart and a fervent love for the spiritual life. May all my actions, after your example, be directed to the greater glory of God, in union with the divine Heart of Jesus, the immaculate heart of Mary, and your own paternal heart.

Finally, pray for me that I may share in the peace and joy of your holy death.

Find this and other prayers at the Contemplatives of Saint Joseph website.

Art above: Saint Joseph and the Child by André Reinoso [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

http://www.serrainternational.org/content/faith-not-law

Homily of the Day

March 19, 2018

Our Gospel reading invites us to understand how Joseph was indeed “an upright man” and a model husband and foster-father of Jesus.

Finding Mary with child before they lived together, Joseph considered divorcing her secretly to protect her. An angel of the Lord assured Joseph that Mary was with child by the power of the Holy Spirit. Joseph showed his true love for Mary, giving up his own will, and followed the angel’s message and agreed to be husband of Mary and foster-father of Jesus and head of the Holy Family.

What else do we know about St. Joseph? In reality not much more, other than he was “an upright man..”

We know Joseph as a man of great obedience to God. He listened to the angel and took in Mary with child as his wife. He followed the angel’s messages to flee to Egypt to protect the child Jesus and when to return to Nazareth.

He was a humble man, quietly working at his trade as a carpenter and in watching over and protecting his wife Mary and the child Jesus.

Pope Francis tells us how he calls on the sleeping St. Joseph for help in big problems and concerns. Pope Francis writes down his concerns and places them under the figure of the sleeping St. Joseph. And, just as God gave instructions to St. Joseph in his dreams while asleep, somehow Pope Francis hopes God would guide him through the intercession of St Joseph.

The Society of Jesus calls on St. Joseph as its Patron. As companions of Jesus in a religious order after Jesus’ holy Name, the Society of Jesus entrusts its members and works to his quiet and potent intercession. May we be faithful and obedient to God like St. Joseph.

One Bread, One Body

Language: English | Espa�ol

All Issues > Volume 34, Issue 2

<< Monday, March 19, 2018 >>

St. Joseph

2 Samuel 7:4-5, 12-14, 16
Romans 4:13, 16-18, 22
View Readings

Psalm 89:2-5, 27, 29
Matthew 1:16, 18-21, 24
or Luke 2:41-51
Similar Reflections

JOSEPH: AN UPWARDLY MOBILE MAN

"[Joseph] did as the angel of the Lord had directed him." �Matthew 1:24

St. Joseph often found himself enmeshed in a series of unexpected circumstances. First, God became Lord of His marriage in a way no man could ever have imagined. Then, like a common refugee, Joseph was turned away from decent accommodations when he and Mary most needed them, at the moment of Jesus' birth (Lk 2:7). Then, during a dark night, he had to flee from a government-led assassination plot against his infant Foster-Son (Mt 2:13). At least three times he had to pack up and move his family on short notice. He and Mary had to search in sorrow for three days for Jesus (Lk 2:48). Upon finding Jesus, Joseph then heard Jesus say: "Did you not know I had to be in My Father's house?" (Lk 2:49) Even after learning such amazing humility and childlike trust in God, it must have been difficult for Joseph to hear that he was playing second-fiddle as a father.

For the task of safeguarding the Child Jesus, God chose a man who excelled in hearing and obeying: St. Joseph, the man of faith. Joseph must have spent a lot of time on his knees in fervent prayer for help. The circumstances of his life repeatedly taught him instant obedience, which sprang from his instantly hearing God's commands, which flowed from his constant prayer.

With St. Joseph, let us be upwardly mobile. Let us cultivate the ability to instantly turn to God in prayer, hear His voice, and obey Him in faith. St. Joseph, pray for us.

Prayer: Father, I will trust in You with all my heart and rely not on my own intelligence (Prv 3:5).

Promise: "All depends on faith, everything is grace. Thus the promise holds true for all Abraham's descendants." �Rm 4:16

Praise: St. Joseph was one of the very first to accept the Incarnation, and the first to take Jesus to the Gentiles (Mt 2:14).

Each “+” (cross) represents 10,000 deaths (or fraction thereof)

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