"If you want to find someone who will listen to you in your troubles, find St. Joseph." - St. André Bessette
GRIFFITH – “A husband, father, worker, provider and guardian” is how Bishop Robert J. McClory described St. Joseph in a presentation to the St. Mary Men’s Club on March 19 at Hildebrandt Hall. Meeting on the Solemnity of St. Joseph, the club opened the program to the public and celebrated with a reception.
The bishop noted that some cultures, including in Poland and Italy, “celebrate today with full intensity” due to their devotion to the foster father of Jesus Christ.
Pope Francis was installed as the head of the Catholic Church on March 19, 2013, said Bishop McClory, “and one of the early changes he made after that was to honor St. Joseph. We have four regular Eucharistic Prayers used at Mass and only one named St. Joseph … Pope Francis had the name of St. Joseph inserted in all four so he would be acknowledged and referenced at every Mass.”
The pope also issued an Apostolic Letter in 2020, on the 150th anniversary of the proclamation of St. Joseph as the patron of the Universal Church, titled “Patris Corde,” translated as “With A Father’s Heart.”
“That is how Joseph loved Jesus, whom all four Gospels refer to as ‘the son of Joseph’,” said the pope in his letter, which gave extensive descriptions of St. Joseph as a beloved father, a tender and loving father, an obedient father, an accepting father, a creatively courageous father, a working father and a father in the shadows, who life revolved around Jesus.
“Let’s think about St. Joseph like all the saints and see him as a model of virtue,” said the bishop. “We can look at him as one whose intercession – his prayers for us – can be especially effective.”
In James 5:16, added Bishop McClory, it says “The prayers of a righteous man are powerful and effective.”
The bishop also offered insight into Joseph’s importance by reading the Gospel of Matthew for his feast day, which describes the nighttime appearance of an angel to Joseph, who was planning to avoid disgracing Mary by quietly divorcing his betrothed, after learning she was with child. It is sometimes called “The Nighttime Annunciation,” said the bishop.
The angel said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Jesus, because He will save his people from their sins”.
“So Joseph awoke and did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him. He took Mary home as his wife,” proclaimed the bishop.
While Mary had physical confirmation of her vow to God, Joseph did not. “He was a model of really trusting God, to believe that his wife was with child, confirmed only by an angel,” said Bishop McClory. “You trusted enough to take Mary into your arms and into your home.”
Pointing out, “We don’t have any words of Joseph in Scripture,” the bishop suggested things he had to do that the faithful “can look at how he acted and responded” as a way of understanding him. “(Joseph’s) life was ordered around Jesus and his life.
“One of the first things he had to do (after Jesus was born) was go forth for the census and have his name recorded in the Holy Roman Empire,” explained Bishop McClory. “It was his duty of inserting the name of Jesus, ‘son of Joseph of Nazareth,’ into the registry. He was the first one to acknowledge that this little baby existed.”
Joseph, Mary and Jesus were a non-traditional family, noted the bishop. “Jesus was adopted by Joseph as his foster son, and Mary was his wife,” said Bishop McClory, “and we admire them as the Holy Family, but that doesn’t mean they were without difficulties.
“We can turn to Joseph and say, ‘There are these qualities that you have that I wish I had’ – some people had fathers with faults and failures,” he added. “You can say, ‘St. Joseph, intercede for me, that the Lord would impart to me the things that my father did not. I embrace you as a foster father to me. We can only ask Joseph and Mary to pray for us and for the things we needed but did not receive – wisdom, knowledge and faith as in the Holy Family.”
The bishop noted that Joseph is not mentioned again in any records after the young Jesus is found in the temple – “his Father’s house” … it is understood that Joseph died before Jesus’ public life began … otherwise he would have been with Mary at the foot of the cross, suggested the bishop, adding that it is acceptable, therefore, that “we look at Joseph as the patron of a happy death, surrounded by the Blessed Mother and Jesus himself.”
Pope Francis’ Prayer to St. Joseph
In his 2020 Apostolic Letter, “With a Father’s Heart,” Pope Francis included a prayer to St. Joseph that he prays each day:
Let us now make our prayer to him:
Hail, Guardian of the Redeemer,
Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
To you God entrusted his only Son;
In you Mary placed her trust;
With you Christ became man.
Blessed Joseph, to us too, show yourself a father and guide us in the path of life.
Obtain for us grace, mercy and courage, and defend us from every evil. Amen.
Caption: Bishop Robert J. McClory (third from right) meets with Thomas Gora, (seated) president, and other members of the St. Mary Men's Club in Griffith, his hosts, and their guests, for cake and coffee after his talk about St. Joseph. The group celebrated the Solemnity of St. Joseph after learning about Jesus' foster father and his role as an intercessor for all. (Marlene A. Zloza photo)
