Category: Conclusion (Days 28-30)

In heaven, all things are simplified, and only one thing remains- Love!

St. Joseph saw the face of God every day in his child. God dwelled in his midst and through this experience his heart was set on fire with love. Mary was overshadowed with the Holy Spirit, who St. Thomas Aquinas calls Love with a capital “L.” Together, Mary and Joseph experienced love on earth in the most profound way.

The secret passage to love, to paradise, is an open door to the Sacred Heart of Christ. His heart was wounded and opened by a sword, so that ours may be healed. An infinite love flows perpetually from his heart. Love is the strongest power in both the world and the heavens. Yes, love is more powerful than even the grips of death. It transcends this life and passes to everlasting life in heaven. Our actions, when done in and through love, transcend this life and have everlasting significance. This is precisely why we can and should find paradise at the School of Nazareth. Quite simply, the daily life of the Holy Family was an explosion of love. When we find pure love and the absence of evil, we find paradise…even on earth.

St. Joseph has guided us throughout this journey and we have reached the end. He walked us through so many heroic virtues and taught us such invaluable wisdom along the way, but in the end he wishes to lead us to one thing- Love. Our hearts must be transformed in and through Love. When we receive the fullness of Divine Love into our own hearts, we receive that for which we were made, and we are transformed into a living flame of love. At this point, paradise doesn’t seem so far away. Instead, you can enjoy a foretaste of paradise today.

Personal Reflection

How can you make your heart and your home a type of paradise? Some may be tempted to think this is only an ideal that cannot be practically lived. You may think that you have particular issues or circumstances in life that make this ideal impossible. Life brings crosses to each and every one of us. The Holy Family had their fair share of them as well. Moreover, they had The Cross. The Holy Family taught us how to love in the midst of suffering, in the midst of trials and in the midst of uncertainty.

Some may be tempted to question how this ideal of paradise in your heart and home can take place if your wife and children are not on board. Let’s be honest, none of us have the Blessed Virgin Mary as our spouse, and none of us have Jesus Christ as our child. Regardless of your particular situation, the real question you should ask yourself is, “How can I enter more deeply into the mystery of love through the pierced heart of the Savior?”

Love conquers all things. When your heart becomes a living flame of love, you cannot force it upon others, and it does not guarantee their conversion, but you can offer it to anyone you encounter. If you reach this point, you have become a reflection of Christ and revelation of God the Father. You have climbed to the heights of sanctity with your most trusted friend, St. Joseph, to guide you every step of the way.

Heavenly Father, fill me at daybreak with your love, for your love is better than life itself. Show me a Father’s love, and teach me to love as you have loved. Purge my heart of all but love, so that even now I may begin to taste the joys of paradise.

St. Joseph,
Mystery hidden from the wise and learned,
But revealed to little ones.
Take me to Nazareth and train me in your ways.
Reveal to me Christ’s hidden face present in my children.
Unveil for me the love of the Holy Spirit present in my spouse.
Teach me to manifest for them the Father who is rich in mercy.
Help me to exclude all evil from my heart and my home,
So that we might find union with God,
And experience his love, peace and joy.  Amen.

 (Prayer written by Steve Bollman.)

 

 

We have journeyed with St. Joseph for thirty days, and at last we have reached the end. That being said, hopefully this book is not the end of your pilgrimage as St. Joseph quietly waits to lead you to even greater spiritual heights.

We began this journey by reflecting upon the fact that God did not need Joseph to accomplish his plan for the salvation of the world, but that in his divine providence he chose him. This helped us understand that God has chosen us as well for a specific vocation. Like St. Joseph, God has chosen us to be a constant source of love for those near to us.

Next, we reflected on the silence and hiddenness of St. Joseph and the fact that we do not have a single spoken word from him in all of Scripture. We learned that his silence and obscurity speaks volumes to us. His profound humility before God paved the way for what would be asked of him. St. Joseph was a living example of the famous quote from St. Francis of Assisi, “Preach the gospel at all times, and when necessary use words.” It proved unnecessary for St. Joseph to use words but instead to make way for the Word Incarnate, Jesus.

Then we considered the three main vocations, or missions, of St. Joseph. He was a just man before God, the spouse of Mary and the foster-father of Jesus. We reflected upon different aspects for each one of these most worthy missions.

Just Man Before God
St. Joseph was the ultimate “man after God’s own heart” because he always did what the Lord asked. His obedience to the voice of God and the will of God was always instantaneous. He was willing to follow God’s plan for him at all costs and even when it appeared to be far from practical at best. We learned that God seeks such men who are filled with humility and obedience, who trust in his providence, and who love him with their whole hearts to bear great fruit in the world. We asked the Lord to transform us into such men.

Spouse of Mary
Finding these amazing virtues in St. Joseph, God knew he had a suitable match for his most beautiful masterpiece, the one that was full of grace, our mother Mary. We learned that being the spouse of Mary was not for the faint of heart. Instead it was for the most pure of heart! To be the spouse of the Immaculata herself required heroic purity and sacrifice. From the very onset, from the moment of the Annunciation, things got interesting. Joseph was faced with an unprecedented situation and responded with a foreshadowing answer. He chose mercy. He was willing to destroy his reputation for her apparent shame and take it as if it were his own. God brought clarity to the situation through an angel and thirty-three years later offered his only Son instead to carry the burden of our shame. We asked the Lord to help us love our spouses the way St. Joseph did.

Father of Jesus
The ultimate mission of St. Joseph was to be the foster-father of Jesus. As men, we contemplated the profound quote from Saint John Paul II, “In revealing and in reliving on earth the very fatherhood of God, a man is called upon to ensure the harmonious and united development of all the members of the family” (Pope John Paul II, Familiaris Consortio, #25). By the nature of God’s calling for him, Joseph became the revelation of God the Father to Jesus. “The admirable St. Joseph was given to the earth to express the adorable perfection of God the Father in a tangible way. In his person alone, he bore the beauties of God the Father … one saint alone is destined to represent God the Father” (Fr. Andrew Doze, The Shadow of the Father). In short, we have to learn how to be not just good dads, but great dads. For better or for worse, our children will form part of their concept of God the Father through us, their earthly fathers. This dignity and responsibility as fathers is enormous, but the joys of living this out are indescribable. In our gift of self to our children, we begin to live the life of God. We become the hands and feet of the loving and merciful Father on the earth.

The School of Nazareth
If we have followed the path of Joseph in becoming men after God’s own heart, developed into incredible spouses willing to sacrifice for our brides, and transformed into fathers who allow God’s love and mercy to shine through us, our homes become nothing short of a type of paradise. We have allowed St. Joseph and the Holy Family to teach us their secrets at the School of Nazareth. Tomorrow, we take one final step.

Personal Reflection

Spend several minutes in silence reflecting on the pathway of St. Joseph and your own journey in the process. Take this opportunity to write down the spiritual insights that he has taught you along the way.

Heavenly Father, our journey with St. Joseph is ultimately a journey towards union with you. You are the one that we seek. You are the one for whom we long. St. Joseph was a just man after your own heart even before Christ came into the world. Therefore, you blessed him with the grace to see the face of God in Jesus Christ. God came to dwell in his home and be with him even here on the earth. Heavenly Father, come be with me. Come into my home. Reveal yourself to me. Open my eyes of faith so that I may see the revelation of your glory in my home. Help me to transform my home into a little Nazareth, a retreat from the world, a little paradise where you are present.

St. Joseph,
Mystery hidden from the wise and learned,
But revealed to little ones.
Take me to Nazareth and train me in your ways.
Reveal to me Christ’s hidden face present in my children.
Unveil for me the love of the Holy Spirit present in my spouse.
Teach me to manifest for them the Father who is rich in mercy.
Help me to exclude all evil from my heart and my home,
So that we might find union with God,
And experience his love, peace and joy.  Amen.

 (Prayer written by Steve Bollman.)

 

 

 

Today is the start of Section 6:
Conclusion

“St. Joseph’s mission is certainly unique and unrepeatable, as Jesus is absolutely unique. However, in protecting Jesus, in teaching him how to grow in age, wisdom and grace, he is a model for every educator, and in particular for every father. … I ask for you the grace to be ever closer to your children, allow them to grow, but be close, close! They need you, your presence, your closeness, your love. Be, for them, like St. Joseph: protectors of their growth in age, wisdom and grace. Guardians of their path, and educators: walk alongside them. And with this closeness, you will be true educators.”

Pope Francis, General Audience, Solemnity of St. Joseph,

March 19, 2014.

Deeper Silence Still

Throughout this journey we have learned of the humility and silence of St. Joseph. As we approach the end of our journey, let us enter even more deeply into this mystery of silence.

Scripture:
We know that Scripture does not record a single spoken word from the mouth of St. Joseph, but let’s take a look at the times he is at least mentioned. Of the 3,725 verses contained in the four Gospels, there are 40 that mention Joseph in some way. This count includes phrases such as “Son of the carpenter,” which is the only way John refers to Joseph. Mark leaves Joseph out altogether. Matthew and Luke give us the most information we have about St. Joseph through the infancy narratives. In addition, Matthew records the dream of St. Joseph for us. It is wise to contemplate the few passages regarding St. Joseph and the greater message made apparent by our conclusion: Joseph is silent and hidden.

Church Fathers:
St. Joseph is virtually absent in the writings of the early Church Fathers. When he is mentioned, it is nearly always a reference to the fact that he guarded Mary’s virginity or that he was the foster-father of Jesus. Conclusion: Joseph is silent and hidden.

Rome:
The four major churches in Rome are St. Peter’s, St. Paul, Mary Major, and St. John Lateran (named for both John the Baptist and the Apostle John). The next most significant churches have nothing to do with Joseph either. No major church in Rome is named after St. Joseph. Conclusion: Joseph is silent and hidden.

Liturgy:

• 1479 – It took the Church over 1,400 years to officially make a universal feast day for St. Joseph. Pope Sixtus IV declared March 19 the universal Feast of St. Joseph.
• 1870 – It took almost 1,900 years before Pope Pius IX declared St. Joseph the Patron of the Universal Church.
• 1962 – It took over 19 centuries before Pope John XXIII inserted St. Joseph’s name into the Roman Canon for the Eucharistic prayer. There were 24 saints named before him.

Conclusion: Joseph has been amazingly silent and hidden throughout the history of Church liturgy as well.

It is safe to say that over 2,000 years after the birth of Christ, St. Joseph continues to remain hidden in silence. God speaks in the silence. In order for us to progress in our understanding of St. Joseph, we must turn down the noise in our lives and enter into profound contemplation with him. If we do so, he will teach us the ways of God, the will of God and the adoration of God. He will teach us where to find God. He will teach us how to hear the voice of God and how to act upon it. He will teach us unfailing obedience, heroic trust, peace that surpasses all understanding, purity of heart, mercy that knows no bounds and a love that conquers the grave. Finally, he will invite us into his home and show us the secret delights of the Holy Family in Nazareth. Our journey is coming to an end, but yours with St. Joseph has really just begun!
Personal Reflection:

• In what ways can you create more silence in your life so that you may hear the voice of the Lord?
• In which areas of your daily life do you turn on the noise?

Heavenly Father, my journey with St. Joseph is ultimately a journey towards you. I seek to draw closer to you through your saints. Your light and your virtues have shown through them like the rays of sun through a stained glass window. Your beauty is made known through your saints, O Lord. Shine through me as well. Help me to become a light to the world by reflecting your light, O Lord. Open my mind and my heart to the wisdom you wish to teach me through your son and servant, St. Joseph.

St. Joseph,
Mystery hidden from the wise and learned,
But revealed to little ones.
Take me to Nazareth and train me in your ways.
Reveal to me Christ’s hidden face present in my children.
Unveil for me the love of the Holy Spirit present in my spouse.
Teach me to manifest for them the Father who is rich in mercy.
Help me to exclude all evil from my heart and my home,
So that we might find union with God,
And experience his love, peace and joy.  Amen.

 (Prayer written by Steve Bollman.)