Solemnity of St. Joseph - March 19, 2022

-

2 Samuel 7:4-5a, 12-14a, 16     Romans 4:13, 16-18, 22     Matthew 1:16, 18-21, 24a or Lk 2:41-51a

One evening in the middle of the night my youngest boy Nicholas woke up crying. He needed a diaper change, and while in the process of being changed, well, he needed a whole outfit change. And as you can imagine at 2:00 a.m. with a busy day of work ahead I was less than thrilled about any of it.

But the funny thing is, I don’t really remember the next day at all. All I remember is rocking my (all too quickly) growing baby back to sleep, the warmth of his fleece pajamas, the rhythmic sound of his breathing, and the baby-sweet smell of his head in the jet black night.

And all of that was on the periphery of what I cared about at that moment. That night, I just wanted my kid to fall asleep so I could go to sleep. But the truly essential was on the periphery: a child, who needed and wanted to be held.

St. Joseph realized that the essential call of his life was on the periphery. In a prayer invoking his intercession, Pope Francis asks St. Joseph: “You who come from the peripheries, help us to convert our gaze, and to prefer what the world discards and marginalizes.”

That’s a wonderful thing to ask of St. Joseph, to help us see those on the margins. There, St. Joseph discovered what was most essential: God, calling to him, asking him to be held, to be loved, to be cared for.

In the end, when we find ourselves looking back at our own life, I think we’ll discover the same thing. It was at the margins where God reminded us what was essential: the time we cared for the poor and the sick, the time when we reached out in reconciliation toward someone who hurt us, the time we allowed ourselves to be interrupted by someone who was suffering with so much less.

St. Joseph, who found God on the peripheries, pray for us.

Q:  In my daily life, whom do I see that come from the peripheries?  Do I convert or divert my gaze?


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Monday of the First Week of Lent - March 11, 2019

-
Leviticus19:1-2, 11-18  Matthew 25:31-46 As I read my assignment for today, I felt relief. I knew these readings; I could relate to them. I had heard them multiple times and thought that I understood them well. The first reading from Leviticus tells me to love my neighbor as myself and to judge my neighbor justly. I know this! I believe this in my head! I often find it difficult to carry out, but I do believe it. Today’s gospel, Matthew 25, many of us know well through readings, songs, and social concerns committees, "Whatever you do for one of the least of …mine, you do to me." Feed the hungry; give drink to the thirsty; welcome the stranger; clothe the naked; comfort the sick; visit the prisoner. We try to do these things in our life. I decided to read our parish book, Stranger God by Richard Beck, to see how it could expand my understanding of Matthew 25 – and expand it did! After I read the book, I realized that I had been reading Matthew 25 literally. ...
Read more

Fifth Sunday of Lent - March 26, 2023

-
Isaiah 43:16-21 Philippians 3:8-14 John 8:1-11 Unfortunately, I am able to easily say that death is the most significant image that is present in my life at this time. My wife of 50+ years died approximately 2½ years ago. My wife was a seriously  committed Catholic and she was able to accept her death after an illness of less than 2 years. She said, “Jim, I am ready.” I think a lot about what “ready” means and what it meant to Kathy! Clearly, Kathy thought that she had accomplished a full life of being a mother to our children, being a loving and faithful wife to me, and being an active and meaningful friend to the people she met and the organizations she assisted and contributed to. She was at her best when assisting “others.” Probably the biggest contribution Kathy made to me and our children was that she has made it easy for us to face our own deaths because she was “at peace” with her imminent death; and yet she showed us a graceful way to handle the process and demonstrate tha...
Read more

Annunciation of the Lord - March 25, 2021

-
Isaiah 7:10-14; 8:10 Psalm 40:7-8a,8b-9,10,11 Hebrews 10:4-10 Luke 1:26-38 In the Responsorial Psalm, I hear these words, “Here I am Lord, I come to do your will,” and I immediately begin to hum the song we hear so often during mass: “Here I am Lord, here I am, I come to do your will.“ As I begin each day at my kitchen table reading the daily scriptures, a reflective app on my phone, and the daily devotional Jesus Calling, I sit in joyful hope, waiting to hear what God has to say to me. Although I don’t believe I will ever hear the enormous call that our mother Mary heard in the Annunciation of our Lord, I do try every day to listen and hear what God is calling me to do as a humble daughter, sister, wife, mother, and friend. I feel all are called according to God’s plan in small and large ways; the trick is recognizing the signs when God is calling us. It is easy to get lost in all the “have to-dos of the day” in our crazy busy world. Today, let us start by asking Him to guide us to re...
Read more