St. Joseph

Today is St. Joseph's feast day- in the Catholic tradition a feast day is a day to commemorate the great men and women we look to as role models of faith and devotion to God.
St. Joseph has been a favorite saint of mine since I was a teen and had a teen-aged girl revelation about the part he played in Jesus' life.  I realized that God gave St. Joseph the responsibility of providing for Mary and Jesus.   St. Joseph had to make sure Mary and Jesus had a place to live, food on the table, and the means to have all their earthly requirements met.  God entrusted His most precious Son to St. Joseph and St. Joseph in effect said, "Don't worry, I'll take good care of Him and his mother."
Sure St. Joseph had his doubts, but after a good night's rest (and a helpful dream) he was willing to take on the awesome responsibility God had given him.  I'm not sure I would be as accommodating. When I was in my teens what struck me most was St. Joseph's humility.  He did his job. We trust he did it quietly and without fanfare (not much is written about St. Joseph in the Bible, and he didn't keep a diary) and without thought of recompense ("Wow, God really owes me big time!  I'm going to have an extra large cloud when I get to Heaven!").  He just humbly and faithfully did what was asked of him.  In this day and age of everyone seemingly wanting their fifteen minutes of fame and recognition I bow to the quiet humility of dear St. Joseph.

Family Matters

My blogging history has been sketchy for the past few weeks because of numerous family issues.  That and the fact that I have over scheduled myself and so I don't have time to write in advance.  I have heard about a "servant's heart" before, but could it be that I might be developing one?  Jesus himself said that he had come to serve, not to be served- a radical idea at the time.  How could the Messiah be a servant to all?  How can we be a servant to all?  I know society pushes "taking time for yourself" and "making yourself a priority," but do these catch phrases have us focus inward too much?  Jesus told us to "love your neighbor as yourself"- taking our inward focus and directing it outward to others.  Lent is a perfect time to try to get outside yourself and use your energy to help others.  We're all brothers and sisters in Christ- time to attend to family matters!