Month: June 2019

There are many things about being Catholic I love, there is one in particular in the front of my mind now. As a Catholic I am called to ponder and meditate on the entirety of Jesus’s life on earth and in that there are so many that cannot be ignored and must be honored for their yeses to God’s plan.

Mary, as we know, is not given the honor due her, the honor I believe Jesus would want given to His mother. But a really overlooked, and so important person in Jesus’s life is Saint Joseph, His foster father.

Is it because he only has one sentence in all of Scripture? Or could it be that if your focus is only on the Resurrected Christ, none of the early years, or people from that period of His life matter? Or maybe because if you dive too deep you may have to go where you, and this world, don’t want you to go?

Oh, Saint Joseph! Chosen by God the Father to be the guardian of His Son and protector of Mary, the Mother of God. Titles no one before him could have had and no one after him ever will.

Saint Joseph had to give his consent for all the prophecies to ring true, he had to consent to take Mary into his home and raise the baby in her womb as his own, for the line of David comes from his side of the family. Just a teeny bit important perhaps?!

Just imagine, Saint Joseph held, cuddled, taught, protected, fed, corrected, and loved God! Our God as an infant, our God as a toddler, our God as a teenager and our God as a young man! A pretty fantastic role in Salvation history!

Our tradition holds that Saint Joseph died with Mary and Jesus by his side – would there be anyone better to be with you at that moment? That’s why Saint Joseph is the patron of departing souls and for a happy death. I ask him everyday to pray for those who will die that day.

Take a few minutes, ponder Saint Joseph’s yes to God’s plan for our salvation. Think about his life as the foster father of God. Thank him for his role in our Savior’s life.

And I know it’s true, God could do all this without Mary or Joseph, but that’s not what He did. So for my part, to honor Mary and Joseph I am honoring God’s plan and God’s chosen.

Saint Joseph, I never weary contemplating Jesus asleep in your arms. I dare not approach while He reposed near your heart. Press Him in my name and kiss His fine head for me, ask Him to return the kiss when I draw my dying breath.

Oh Saint Joseph, patron of departing souls, pray for all those who will die today, especially those who have no one to pray for them.

Today reflecting on the first Pentecost I find myself where I do so often when I meditate on this Glorious mystery of the Rosary – the descent of the Holy Spirit. What was Mary’s role here, in the upper room?

She had received the Holy Spirit at the Annunciation with her fiat, and manifested Christ Jesus to the world as no one else ever could or would. I also believe she received the gifts of the Spirit at that time.

Think about the courage, fortitude and faith she needed to say yes and know that saying yes could cost her her marriage, her friends and her life. Yet Mary’s response was “I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it be done to me” Her trust in God was unconditional, oh, that I could have that kind of trust!

So back to the first Pentecost and why was Mary there? Consider how cowardly most of the Apostles had been. Who were the only ones to accompany Jesus through His entire passion and death? Mary never showed any fear no matter what was asked of her.

How open were Apostles throughout the Gospels? How many times did they just not get it? Mary didn’t flinch if she didn’t get it, she knew and trusted in God and His ways. She knew He had a reason.

Mary is there to teach the Apostles how to be open and receptive to the Holy Spirit. She is there to help push them out of their comfort zone and to assure them there truly is a reason. She is there to show them to trust.

Mary is there too, because she is the Mother of the Church. As the mother, she had to be there at the birth of the Church.

We can all go to Mary. Ask her to show us how to be receptive to the Holy Spirit. Ask her to show us how to trust in God’s plan. Ask her to show us how to use the gifts of the Spirit to manifest her Son to the world.

Mary, Queen of the Apostles,

Mary, Mother of the Church,

Mary, Mother of God,

Mary, Queen of Martyrs,

Pray for us!