To us Christmas is a day of uninterrupted joy. To Joseph it was a day of the brightest light and the deepest shadows: a blazing sky and a chilly cave; the presence of angels and the cold shoulder of the villagers; faith and sorrow; intensest joy in the Infant and grief that he could give […]
Pain and patience in the service of Christ and His Mother soon turn to joy. The visit of the angel brought an end to Joseph’s problems. The Child whom the lovely Mary carried was the Son of the Most High. He had no earthly father, for God Himself was His Father. The Holy Spirit had […]
Wedded to the loveliest of brides, entering marriage with strong ideals and a trust in God’s provident care, Joseph had a right to expect love and security that come with consecrated marriage. While marriage for him was the beginning of a high honor, it was also the beginning of a new pain. While it added […]
Tradition has it that Joseph had taken the vow of virginity, thus renouncing the right to marriage. At any rate he lived a life of purity. He was stainless among men and pure in the sight of God. But God in His providence had greater designs for Joseph than mere abstinence. He chose Joseph, the […]
There is always a cause for the choices God makes. Out of the long procession of men through history, God selected Joseph to be the husband of Mary and the protector of the Savior. Joseph’s youth was one of stainless virtue. His young manhood was marked by deep religious faith and a burning desire to […]
The man nearest to Christ Jesus was His foster father, Joseph the carpenter. John the Baptist saw Christ briefly near the Jordan and knew that his work as Precursor was over. The Apostles lived and worked with Christ during the brief days of His public life. But Joseph presided over the events of Christ’s Infancy, […]
This year, we prepare to cross the threshold of Lent with the penitential practice of the imposition of Ashes. In these forty days, the Church calls its children to live a period of penance in view of an increasingly vigorous conversion. This important time is precisely aimed at deep meditation on one’s own path […]
“Of you my heart has said, ‘Seek his face!’ Your face, Yahweh, I seek” (Ps 27, 8) Man has always searched to contemplate the face of God. Jesus told us that “to see Him is to see the Father” (Jn 14:9) and so, the contemplation of Christ’s face is the very contemplation of God. To […]
The feast of the Chair of Peter, already present in the Church since the 3rd century, and definitively set on February 22 by Pope John XXIII, recalls the authority that Jesus entrusted to Simon, the fisherman of Galilee, to accompany and guard, as his vicar, the people of God towards Salvation. Once again Rome, in […]
While meeting with pilgrims in today’s jubilee audience, Pope Francis dwells on the figure of the Magdalene. He emphasizes the deep link between mercy and hope, which is that transformative mercy of God that touches the Magdalene and leads her to follow Jesus. The encounter with the risen Lord opens to the prospect of hope, […]