In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
Our Lady, Spouse of the Holy Spirit, St. Joseph.
Our patron saints and guardian angels.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Today the church in its liturgy celebrates St. Joseph, and such a great saint is St. Joseph, and so important is he that even in the season of Lent,
you know, the church celebrates his solemnity and does so with great flair and pomp.
And because he is, after Our Lord and Our Lady, the greatest saint.
And of course it would be fitting for him to be so since he had to compose that earthly Trinity, the holy family, at Nazareth.
And he had to be a holy man to be worthy to be the foster father of Christ and the spouse of Our Lady.
And I think we have to get rid of this image of a saint.
And I think we have to get rid of this image of a saint.
And I think we have to get rid of this image of a saint.
And I think we have to get rid of this image of a saint.
Saint Joseph as this old man who was, you know, probably looked like he was ready for social
security and was, you know, close to shuffling off from this earth when he was espoused to Our Lady.
He had to be a man who was in his prime in order to do two things. He had to be the protector of
Our Lord. And how could he protect Our Lord and take Our Lady and the baby Jesus on this arduous
journey to Egypt and take them into exile if he himself was, you know, an old man who was,
you know, looks like he was ready for the grave. But he also had to teach Our Lord how to work.
And he had a very difficult
job. You know, being a carpenter in Saint Joseph's day was being like a jack of all trades. He had to
be more like a construction worker. He worked with wood and stone, and those required a great
strength and good stamina. And if he was to be the teacher of Our Lord in the ways of the work,
he definitely had to be a man who was of good and youthful,
vigor to do that. And it would be, you know, how else would he be a model to us as a man
who is a model of those who work to make a living, but also work to sanctify himself.
Saint Joseph, of course, when he worked, he saw that it was part of his vocation and that it was
part of his offering to God. And so it must be fitting that if he's going to be a patron saint
of workers, he's going to be a patron saint of God. And so it must be fitting that if he's going to be a patron saint of workers,
and providers, that he himself was able to do that and did it very well.
Saint Joseph is also the model of chastity. And after Our Lady, he is the saint that is invoked,
you know, for those who are wanting to acquire and practice and to keep this virtue.
And it would seem fitting that God wants first fruits to be offered and not leftovers. You know,
sometimes,
you know, the early church tried to explain the brothers and sisters of Jesus by saying that Joseph
was married before and became a widower, and that therefore, you know, those are the brothers and
sisters of Jesus. But that doesn't seem fitting for Joseph to have been married before Our Lady,
and that God would want the first fruits of his chastity to be offered, that God would want Saint
Joseph's debut. And so it must be fitting that he's going to be a patron saint of workers,
that he's going to be a model of the chaste, and that it would be truly a virtue, a strength, and that
he must have been a man in his prime when he was espoused to Our Lady with that great virtue of
chastity, which he practiced so well and so virtuously. We pray especially to Saint Joseph
today in our world, because he is the protector and the patron of the universal church. So much of
the church needs his protection and his fatherly assistance from heaven, that he would, as he
watched over the child Jesus and Our Lady, that he would watch over the church in these times in
which so many attacks are being made against the mystical body of Christ and the bride of Christ,
the church, that he would come to our aid.
With his assistance, and especially assist our Holy Father, Pope Francis, who, of course, today is
his first anniversary as Pope. He was installed on this day a year ago. And so we ask Saint Joseph
to assist Pope Francis to truly guide the church in these times, which are truly times which can be
difficult, but not impossible.
To practice our faith and to be lights to the nations. Saint Joseph, of course, is a model of prayer, and he
teaches us that silence is so important in prayer that we must be, you know, recollected throughout our day
that even during his work, Saint Joseph was praying, that he found that his work was not a distraction, but
that he was able to occupy himself with prayer. And so he teaches us that silence is so important in prayer, that
he saw himself in providing for his family and at the same time, you know, being enunion with God, that he saw his work
as part of his offering to God. And that it was something that he could do as a way of, showing
his gratitude to God, that he was able to work with his hands to provide for his family, and to meet their
needs.
Saint Joseph is truly a model of manhood, which is
a map and also an firms for thicker and stronger teaching. Yes, when this happens, payments are возле
needs to be something that needs to be brought out again what is true Christian
manhood we have so many false effeminate forms that are being promoted today that
men don't even know what it means to be men and are so confused that they don't
know which end is up and Saint Joseph teaches us that Christian manhood is
strong and gentle firm but also has that sweetness of a father who knows how to
love and to serve his family and we ask Saint Joseph in a special way today to
assist all those who are fathers of families to to be true Christian men to
be leaders to be protectors of the own of that little domestic church that has
been placed in the hands of the Lord Jesus Christ.
That they truly be first and foremost spiritual fathers that lead their family
in the ways of worshiping God and be men of prayer themselves Saint Joseph teaches
us how to to do that how to combine do all those many different aspects like
facets on a diamond prayer chastity work and all these things
which are very important to us.
So I would like to ask you to pray with me.
Let us also ask our lady today whose spouse we celebrate that she would assist us in giving due praise and glory to Saint Joseph on his feast day today. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.