March 19, 2024

Hello John,

As holy week approaches, I often try to meditate on the life of St. Francis of Assisi, who held the season of Lent in high esteem. Today I am reminded of the moment when…

Francis heard a sacred calling. One of my favorite stories is when Francis found the ruins of the San Damiano chapel. While he was deep in prayer, a voice told him to rebuild the church. Dutifully, he began collecting materials to repair it. I also love that Francis was so literal: When he heard the call to rebuild the church, God meant the worldwide Church—not a rundown chapel. Suddenly, Francis had a bigger job on his hands.

Repairing God’s house is a high calling—and we do not take this work lightly. As members of one body of Christ, our faith lives are interconnected. You are part of this work as well. Join the friars and our faithful community in the work of evangelization through your gift to Franciscan Media. Donate today!

Peace and all good!

Christopher Heffron
Editorial Director

Saint of the Day for March 19: Saint Joseph, Husband of Mary

Saint Joseph’s Story

The Bible pays Joseph the highest compliment: he was a “just” man. The quality meant a lot more than faithfulness in paying debts.

When the Bible speaks of God “justifying” someone, it means that God, the all-holy or “righteous” one, so transforms a person that the individual shares somehow in God’s own holiness, and hence it is really “right” for God to love him or her. In other words, God is not playing games, acting as if we were lovable when we are not.

By saying Joseph was “just,” the Bible means that he was one who was completely open to all that God wanted to do for him. He became holy by opening himself totally to God.

The rest we can easily surmise. Think of the kind of love with which he wooed and won Mary, and the depth of the love they shared during their marriage.

It is no contradiction of Joseph’s manly holiness that he decided to divorce Mary when she was found to be with child. The important words of the Bible are that he planned to do this “quietly” because he was “a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame” (Matthew 1:19).

The just man was simply, joyfully, wholeheartedly obedient to God—in marrying Mary, in naming Jesus, in shepherding the precious pair to Egypt, in bringing them to Nazareth, in the undetermined number of years of quiet faith and courage.

Reflection

The Bible tells us nothing of Joseph in the years after the return to Nazareth except the incident of finding Jesus in the Temple (Luke 2:41–51). Perhaps this can be taken to mean that God wants us to realize that the holiest family was like every other family, that the circumstances of life for the holiest family were like those of every family, so that when Jesus’ mysterious nature began to appear, people couldn’t believe that he came from such humble beginnings: “Is he not the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother named Mary…?” (Matthew 13:55a). It was almost as indignant as “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” (John 1:46b).

Saint Joseph is the Patron Saint of:

Belgium
Canada
Carpenters
China
Families
Fathers

Learn of the immense love of God for human beings, shown in the gift of Jesus! In this new take on the last words, author Dan Horan brings a fresh perspective to this time-honored meditation. He challenges readers to look at their lives through the lens of Jesus’s suffering and death in The Last Words of Jesus.

Joseph, Husband of Mary

Joseph and Mary’s life does not fit into ordinary human categories. The union of their lives as man and woman, while pointing back to the beginning, also points toward “a new heaven and a new earth” that Mary’s son will establish (Revelation 21:1). God has chosen them to play a role in restoring what was lost by sin. More than that, they are part of the kingdom that is yet to be. “The old has passed away, behold, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

So from the beginning of Matthew’s Gospel we learn that Joseph’s life is more than that of Mary’s caretaker. While he certainly is that, his relationship with Mary is, by grace, truly and most fittingly nuptial. The love and affection between them mirrors their love for God, for he is fully present with them. This love they fully express, free of the recriminations, selfishness, and urges to control that result from sin. They will see and love in each other what God sees and loves in them.

—from the book Joseph: The Man Who Raised Jesus by Fr. Gary Caster

Embrace the pattern that can give us hope in difficult times and the courage to push through disorganization and even great chaos. Find a new way of being in the world in Richard Rohr's The Wisdom Pattern.

The Elements of Prayer

Reflect

Jesus taught us how to pray authentically, and the Lord’s Prayer provides us with a structure to offer our words up to God:
Praise: “Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name;”
Gratitude: “Thy kingdom come;”
Surrender: “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
Reliance: “Give us this day our daily bread;”
Repentance: “And forgive us our trespasses”
Forgiveness: “As we forgive those who trespass against us;”
Faith in guidance: “And lead us not into temptation,”
Trust in provision: “But deliver us from evil.”
Hope: “Amen.”

Pray

Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name;
Thy kingdom come;
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread;
And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us;
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
Amen.

Act

Try structuring your prayer time today with the themes of this outline above. How is Jesus calling you to change the structure of how you pray this Lent?

Today's Pause+Pray was written by Natalie Ryan. Learn more here!

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