I encourage you to make, with me, a 33-day preparation for consecration to St. Joseph, which will take place on May 1st (the feast of St. Joseph the Worker). I’m using Fr. Donald Calloway’s fine book Consecration to St. Joseph. Each day’s reading takes about seven or eight minutes, and I render full credit for these thoughts, respecting copyright laws, to Fr. Donald H. Calloway, author of the book.
Day Seven
A blessed Palm Sunday as we come to the Seventh Day of our pilgrimage to St. Joseph. Last night I had trouble sleeping, slept past my alarm, and didn’t complete today’s entire reading. I say this to encourage you: if you don’t complete the entire reading each morning, come back to it later, or even leave it half-done, for half is better than none. Don’t give up. Keep moving, even with halting step, toward St. Joseph’s Day on May 1st.
Having read only the beginning of today’s reading before my 7am blog deadline, let me point out a phrase in Fr. Calloway’s first paragraph: “you must imitate Jesus [in] his total entrustment to Mary and St. Joseph.” The entire Christian life is an imitatio Christi, becoming each day more like the perfect Man, the Son of Man, Jesus Christ, in all his virtues. Jesus completely entrusted himself to his earthly father—picture Mary putting her fragile baby into Joseph’s arms, the way families often place their tiny infants into my arms after I baptize them. I marvel at how they trust me not to drop their babies! Trust Joseph, that he will not drop you. When you put your small hand in his in a particularly dark path, trust that he will lead you to the light. Jesus entrusted himself to Joseph, and to be like Jesus we must too.
Day Seven
A blessed Palm Sunday as we come to the Seventh Day of our pilgrimage to St. Joseph. Last night I had trouble sleeping, slept past my alarm, and didn’t complete today’s entire reading. I say this to encourage you: if you don’t complete the entire reading each morning, come back to it later, or even leave it half-done, for half is better than none. Don’t give up. Keep moving, even with halting step, toward St. Joseph’s Day on May 1st.
Having read only the beginning of today’s reading before my 7am blog deadline, let me point out a phrase in Fr. Calloway’s first paragraph: “you must imitate Jesus [in] his total entrustment to Mary and St. Joseph.” The entire Christian life is an imitatio Christi, becoming each day more like the perfect Man, the Son of Man, Jesus Christ, in all his virtues. Jesus completely entrusted himself to his earthly father—picture Mary putting her fragile baby into Joseph’s arms, the way families often place their tiny infants into my arms after I baptize them. I marvel at how they trust me not to drop their babies! Trust Joseph, that he will not drop you. When you put your small hand in his in a particularly dark path, trust that he will lead you to the light. Jesus entrusted himself to Joseph, and to be like Jesus we must too.
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