READING 1
Matthew 2:19-23
But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child’s life are dead.” And he rose and took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus reigned over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he withdrew to the district of Galilee. And he went and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled. “He shall be called a Nazarene.”
READING 2
From the Apostolic Letter Patris Corde by Pope Francis
At the end of every account in which Joseph plays a role, the Gospel tells us that he gets up, takes the child and his mother, and does what God commanded him (cf. Mt 1:24; 2:14.21). Indeed, Jesus and Mary his Mother are the most precious treasure of our faith.1 In the divine plan of salvation, the Son is inseparable from his Mother, from Mary, who “advanced in her pilgrimage of faith, and faithfully persevered in her union with her Son until she stood at the cross” (Lumen Gentium 58).
We should always consider whether we ourselves are protecting Jesus and Mary, for they are also mysteriously entrusted to our own responsibility, care and safekeeping. The Son of the Almighty came into our world in a state of great vulnerability. He needed to be defended, protected, cared for and raised by Joseph. God trusted Joseph, as did Mary, who found in him someone who would not only save her life, but would always provide for her and her child. In this sense, Saint Joseph could not be other than the Guardian of the Church, for the Church is the continuation of the Body of Christ in history, even as Mary’s motherhood is reflected in the motherhood of the Church (CCC 963-970). In his continued protection of the Church, Joseph continues to protect the child and his mother, and we too, by our love for the Church, continue to love the child and his mother.
That child would go on to say: “As you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me” (Mt 25:40). Consequently, every poor, needy, suffering or dying person, every stranger, every prisoner, every infirm person is “the child” whom Joseph continues to protect. For this reason, Saint Joseph is invoked as protector of the unfortunate, the needy, exiles, the afflicted, the poor and the dying. Consequently, the Church cannot fail to show a special love for the least of our brothers and sisters, for Jesus showed a particular concern for them and personally identified with them. From Saint Joseph, we must learn that same care and responsibility. We must learn to love the child and his mother, to love the sacraments and charity, to love the Church and the poor. Each of these realities is always the child and his mother.
REFLECTION
When Pope Francis visited the United States, he had lunch in Washington D.C. at a homeless shelter, and when he talked to the homeless men there he told them about St. Joseph, who was also homeless. In the Year of St. Joseph, Pope Francis added several invocations to the Litany of Saint Joseph to reflect St. Joseph’s special love for the poor, including “Support in difficulties,” “Patron of exiles,” “Patron of the afflicted,” and “Patron of the poor.”
When we look at the amount of need, we can spontaneously desire to help as many as possible. And then we can get caught up in a numbers game that leads us to neglect the care for a few for the sake of caring for many. In this way, St. Joseph is always a great teacher for us. He primarily cared for just two. He poured out his life for a child and his mother. This helps us to believe that St. Joseph will show that care for each one of us individually, no matter how unimportant we might feel. It also reminds us that each person is a little Jesus and worthy of all our love and attention. Ultimately we must be faithful to whatever the Lord is asking and some are asked to minister to more, some to less, but each one is infinitely precious.
This reminds us of the epitaph on St. Ignatius’s tomb: “Non coerceri a maximo, contineri tamen a minimo divinum est,” which translates to “Not to be restrained by what is greatest, yet to be contained by what is least—that is divine.” That is the freedom of St. Joseph who moved with freedom among the greats of this world and always found, served, and loved God in the littlest ones. And so we can ask ourselves: how well do we let St. Joseph care for the little parts of our own heart? And then how well do we care for the little ones God brings to us? How important to us is each child and each mother? Do we get lost in a numbers game? Will we give everything for just one little one?
Now as we come to the end of this week, we make a consecration to St. Joseph. That will be our first big step towards consecrating our hearts to the heart of Joseph and Mary before consecrating our heart to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. We may want to continue renewing this consecration throughout the remainder of the preparation as well.
Act of Consecration to St. Joseph
- Cf. S. Rituum Congregatio, Quemadmodum Deus (8 December 1870): AAS 6 (1870-1871),
193; Bl. Pius IX, Apostolic Letter Inclytum Patriarcham (7 July 1871): l.c., 324-327. ↩︎
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