St Joseph, Pray for Us!!

 

Today is the Feast of St Joseph, earthly father of Jesus Christ. A special shout-out to my son, Joseph, on his name day!!   We don't know much about Joseph from scripture- or so it seems. We have no record of any words attributed to Joseph- yet he speaks volumes.

We know from scripture that Joseph was a righteous man. Enoch – Noah – Abraham – Isaac – Jacob - Moses – David – Daniel – Job – Joseph of Arimathea – Zechariah and Elizabeth. All were called righteous- and Joseph among them.

Catholics see Joseph as patron of fathers ( in all their incarnations- bio, step, foster-and ordained). He is the guardian of families, as he was the Holy Family. He is patron of a good and holy death ( how blessed he was to have Mary AND Jesus attending to his death!)

"Christ has assigned as a duty to every man, the dignity of every woman." These words of Blessed Pope John Paul II in November of 1982 sum up our first knowledge of Joseph. Unwilling to have Mary disgraced after her announcement that she was pregnant, he planned to quietly divorce her. Who could blame him? Why would he marry a woman expecting a child who was not his? And then- THEN- we see the righteousness: Joseph has a dream telling him everything is kosher-- take care of Mary and her child, for her child is the son of God.

How many men would believe such a dream? Joseph had to have been familiar with the Lord to have readily accepted such a message- and carried it out. His obedience to those dream messages also protected Mary and Jesus when Herod came looking for the Child.

As Jesus grew, Joseph would have taught him carpentry. No- that isn't in scripture- but it is logical. Joseph was a carpenter, so his son would be, too. Imagine the two of them in the workshop!

Kimberly Hahn spoke at a Steubenville Women's Conference I attended some years ago. She related, "Can you imagine life in the home in Nazareth? Imagine if something went wrong. Couldn't have been Jesus. Couldn't have been Mary. Poor Joseph!"  She was putting a little too much into impeccability, but it makes for a cute story- and image of the family table.

Our Protestant friends will often argue that Mary had other children, that she was not ever-Virgin. She and Joseph were married, and it would be natural, normal and right for them to have a traditional marital relationship. To them, I pose the following:

We know Joseph was righteous.(Matthew 1:19) We know Mary was the spouse of the Holy Spirit, and through that relationship, Jesus Christ- Son of God, Son of Mary- came into the world. Do you really, honestly and truly believe that a man who knows that this woman has given birth to the Son of God...is going to be concerned with having sex with her?    Some traditions have Mary and Joseph in a marriage of convenience- set up for her care as a consecrated virgin, and not for the establishment of a family. We can see this possibility in the Gospel of Luke, chapter 1, verses 26 and following. Gabriel comes to the betrothed Mary and tells her she will have a son. If Mary had anticipated having children her reaction would have been one of joy, something like, "Gee, won't Joseph be excited to have a son!" Instead,  look at Luke 1:34, "How can this be since I have no relations with a man?" Mary was not under Joseph's roof yet, but she would be- and Gabriel gave no time frame- just that she would have a son. He then goes on to explain how the child will be conceived upon her consent, and that he will be the Son of God.

We know Joseph was a devout Jew. He brought the Child and his Mother to the temple for the prescribed rituals. Their custom was to go to Jerusalem for the Passover. 

We can be fairly certain that Joseph died before Jesus began his public ministry, since Mary was invited to the Wedding at Cana- but no mention of Joseph is made. In Matthew 13:55 and Mark 6:3 Jesus is called the carpenter- or the carpenter's son- and is called the son of Mary...Joseph is not mentioned.  Can you imagine being Joseph, and being attended to by Jesus and Mary for your death? I saw a book a few years ago that did just that- imagined the time of Joseph's dying- and had Jesus telling Joseph the part he played in salvation history...and the part Jesus would himself play. Would there be anything to fear, anything on this earth to hold on to...with Mary and Jesus guiding your passing from this earth?     So we see Joseph as the Patron of a happy- and provided for- death.

When my father-in-law, Charles, was in his final illness, he lived with our family. He was Presbyterian, but I had asked him if I could call a priest when time came- for me more than for him. He chuckled and said it would be fine. I had pinned to his pillow three medals: The Divine Mercy, the Miraculous Medal, and a St Joseph medal. I had separate reasons for each, but in hindsight I saw- the entire Holy Family was watching over this man I loved so dearly, the silent head of and provider for his clan, my husband's role model for what it really means to be a man. My prayers- corresponding to the medals- were: that he not die in pain, that we all be together with him when he died, and that- above all- he did not die alone. And all three prayers were answered.

Who do we see in Joseph, Father of Jesus?

A righteous man.

The leader and protector and breadwinner of his family.

A man who knows God's message when he hears it- and obeys.

The model of all fathers- and father figures.

St. Joseph, guardian of the Child Jesus and his Blessed Mother, guide and protect all fathers...fill them with your spirit of righteousness and obedience to the Lord....help them to be strong role models of real masculinity for their sons and daughters. Amen.

The Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception- Dec. 8

(La Purísima Inmaculada Concepción by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, 1678, now in Museo del Prado, Spain)

This is probably one of the most misunderstood celebrations in the Catholic Church- for both Catholics and non-Catholics alike.

First- a quick explanation.... while the Immaculate Conception is USUALLY a holy day of obligation (meaning we are obligated to attend Mass- or a vigil- for the day), the obligation is waived if the holy day falls on a Saturday or a Monday. HOWEVER, since Our Lady, under the title of the Immaculate Conception, is patroness of the United states, it is still a hold day for those of us in America.

The confusion about exactly what we are celebrating stems from two things: the atrocious lack of decent catechesis from the mid 1960's on, although there are some good, faithful and educated catechists out here. Really- there are.  The other problem is the choice of the Gospel reading for the day: Luke 1:26-38... the appearance of the Archangel Gabriel to Mary.

You see, the Immaculate Conception does have something to do with that moment in scripture ( see The Visitation ) ... but not the way most people imagine.

The Immaculate Conception we are talking about is not the conception of Jesus Christ in the womb of Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit. That is part of the Virgin Birth. The Immaculate Conception to which we refer is the conception of Mary in her mother's womb. (Count forward nine months and you will find the Church celebrates the birthday of Mary on September 8th)

Now, before my non-Catholic friends get bent out of shape, the Church teaches that Mary was conceived the good old-fashioned way: through the marital embrace of her parents. By tradition, we call them Anne and Joachim.

The difference between Mary's conception and ours is that at the moment of her conception, by the merits of Jesus Christ and through a singular act of grace, she was kept free of the stain of original sin.

In fact, Gabriel's greeting to Mary tells us there was, indeed, something very special about this young woman: Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you!. Full of grace.... if she was full of grace, there was no room for unsavory things- like sin.

Ah, you may say- but in Luke 1:47, Mary clearly says, "My spirit rejoices in God my savior." Mary needed a savior, so she could not have been sinless. Bam!

Step back for a moment and imagine.... You are walking through a dark woods and you fall into a deep pit filled with muck and slime and goo. I come along and pull you out. Did I save you? Yes.   Now imagine that right before you fall into the pit, I block your path and keep you from falling in. Did I save you? Yep, sure did.

...and that is what happened with Mary. The Lord saved Mary by preserving her from original sin.

And where is that in scripture? Well, we'll start by saying that nowhere in scripture does it say that everything about the Christian faith is contained in scripture. Nowhere. Even if it did, the canon of scripture was not even settled until the Council of Rome in 392, under Pope Damasus. So any reference to scripture contained in scripture can only refer to the Hebrew Scriptures. That is another topic for another day.

What is crucial here is nothing about the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary is contrary to scripture.

Some people will argue that there was no need for Mary to have been so created. Perhaps- though here is a story that illustrate why God may have chosen to do so.

               Once upon a time, a baker decided to show his gratitude to the Lord for the blessings he had been given. He talked it over with his wife, and they decided they would make an offering of loaves of bread. The baker took the bread to the temple, placed the loaves before the ark, then departed. The caretaker came by and found the bread. Furious, he gathered the loaves and took them to the rabbi, "Look! Someone has desecrated the ark!" The rabbi realized the bread was an offering, and the donor meant no harm. He told the caretaker to give the bread to the poor.
              The following week, the baker returned with fresh loaves, intending to replace the old ones. When he saw the first bread was gone, he was excited and ran home to tell his wife that the Lord had accepted their gift. Later, the caretaker came again, and again found the bread, and again was enraged. Again, he took the bread to the rabbi, who told him to give the bread to the poor.
               A week later, the caretaker had had enough. He hid, waiting for the mysterious bread delivery. When the baker entered, the caretaker jumped out and the baker dropped the loaves as the caretaker chased him from the temple. The rabbi- who witnessed what had happened- picked up the loaves with tears in his eyes, knowing the baker would never return again with bread...and that the families who had received the loaves would be hungry.

I heard this story in a homily many years ago. It had nothing to do with the context in which I use it here, but it makes a point.
           Why was the caretaker upset? The presence of the worldly, common bread was not appropriate before the ark. Why? The ark was the holiest place in the temple, it contained the Torah: the Word of God.

Looking back to the original ark- the Ark of the Covenant (check Exodus 25 for the details)- we can see that God demanded the finest materials: gold, silver, bronze... fabrics dyed violet, purple and scarlet- the most expensive dyes...spices, oils and gemstones. The materials had to be the best.... God would dwell there. And no one messed with the Ark, or else. ( warning: graphic content!)

(Some of you see where I am going here...)

Where was the first dwelling place of God Made Man, the Word of God made Flesh, Jesus Christ? The womb of Mary, his mother. It is only good and right and just that his first earthly dwelling be as perfect as possible.

As God, he did just that.

Now, some history behind the Immaculate Conception.....

There is evidence that Mary's pureness and holiness was celebrated as early as the 5th century,  however  the formal proclamation of the Immaculate Conception took place in 1856:

     We declare, pronounce and define that the doctrine which holds that the Blessed Virgin Mary, at 

      the first instant of her conception, by a singular privilege and grace of the Omnipotent God, in 

      virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Saviour of mankind, was preserved immaculate from all 

      stain of original sin, has been revealed by God, and therefore should firmly and constantly be 

      believed by all the faithful.

                 —Pope Pius IX, Ineffabilis Deus, December 8, 1854

As with many formal declarations of the Church ( and other, more worldly institutions), they do not appear out of thin air. They are part of what is called the development of doctrine, an unfolding of the truths of the faith. Such declarations are meant to put in one place the belief of the Church, and usually correct errors that tend to creep into un-formalized teachings. (note the painting above was done nearly 200 years before the formal proclamation)   Martin Luther, who initiated the Protestant Reformation, said: "Mary is full of grace, proclaimed to be entirely without sin. God's grace fills her with everything good and makes her devoid of all evil" (Luther's Works, American edition, vol. 43, p. 40, ed. H. Lehmann, Fortress, 1968)

In 1858 in Lourdes, France, a 14 year-old girl named Bernadette Soubirous saw a vision of a beautiful woman. The woman told Bernadette, "I am the Immaculate Conception." Bernadette had no idea what this meant; it was not a term a peasant child would have heard.

In 1792, Bishop John Carrol (first bishop of the United States) placed our country under the patronage of the Immaculate Conception. The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington DC is the largest Catholic Church in the United States, the 8th largest religious structure in the world, and is well worth your time on a visit to DC...even if you are not Catholic.

So, if you stuck with me to this point- I hope you learned something...or at least found words that will help you explain this beautiful part of our Catholic faith.

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Yes, Virginia, There IS a St. Nicholas!

Many years ago (back in the 300's AD), in Myra- which is in present-day Turkey- there was a Bishop named Nicholas. Bishop Nicholas was known for his kindness to the people of the town, and the people loved him.

One of the most-often told stories about Bishop Nicholas goes as follows:

There was an old man in Myra who was widowed with three daughters. He was poor (as were most of the people of the town), and it made him sad to think his daughters might never marry- or worse, need to turn to unsavory occupations- simply because he had no money for dowries for them.

(As an aside, a dowry was money paid by the bride's family to the groom's family...the reason for it was that the husband's family was taking on an extra mouth to feed. It also provided for the items needed to set up house.)

Bishop Nicholas felt sorry for the old man and wanted to help, but either out of his own humility- or wanting to spare the old man the embarrassment - he came up with a solution. One night, he walked past the little family's house and threw a bag of gold coins in the window- which happened to land in one of the shoes placed below the window.The next morning, the man awoke and found the gold coins in the shoe- enough for a dowry for the the oldest daughter, who was soon married off.

Another set of coins appeared for the middle daughter, who married. Seeing a pattern, the old man decided to hide so he could learn just who the generous benefactor was. Bishop Nicholas saw him, however, and dropped the third bag down the chimney- where it landed in one of the stockings of the youngest daughter, who had washed them and hung them by the fire to dry.  The old man was able to live out his days in peace, knowing his daughters were married to good men.

Bishop Nicholas' love for his God and for his fellow man are still remembered to this day. This VERY day, in fact. Tonight, Christian children all over the world will leave out their shoes- or Christmas stockings- to see what Bishop Nicholas - who we know as Saint Nicholas- will leave for them on his feast day, December 6th.

Saint Nicholas... Sant Niklas...Sinterklaas....Santa Claus....

We still remember the generosity of the ancient Catholic Bishop who became Santa Claus.