I remember reading this chapter last March thinking as I began how Archbishop M. de Langalerie in his book “The Month of St. Joseph” would talk mostly about how St. Joseph was invisible in the Gospel except in the few passage. This was of course noted but what he many focussed on was the structure of family life and how Joseph lived this life hidden as so many parents are in their journey as a family.
His first area was in the house with work, Jesus choosing carpentry as his lively hood following his foster father’s example, the affection and gratitude, the fatherly counsel and care and ultimately the “rendering mutual service” (p 71) in sharing the life in the home. Second was the life of faith in both the sabbath observance and how this unity of the family prepares us for the separation that will occur and the dangers that often follow along this life. And finally it is where the, “Family ties are strengthened and affection nourished by the mutual interchange of thought…instruction given children, and the thousand other acts tending to attract the heart. Picture to yourselves the interior of the Holy Family at Nazareth. See Jesus, Mary and Joseph at their meals, at work, and in conversation.” (p 72)

The model of the hidden life for St. Joseph, as it is for all parents, is the small acts of blessing and thanksgiving, the pin pricks of suffering and worry the fill our days and nights but ultimately we place in God’s embrace our trust in turning over our children to God’s care. The hidden life is visible but always seeped in the deeper mystery of the relationship of husband and wife, of parent and child, in the community of the family united in a purpose greater than just the individual glory the world points out and celebrates.
At the center of the hidden life is prayer. Dr. Greg and Lisa Popcak in their book “Praying for (and with) Your Spouse” point out “the most common springboard for your prayer life will be the daily blessings.” (p 75) Knowing the center of the hidden life, for St. Joseph, was Sabbath and prayer. The gathering of family around the wonder of blessing in teaching and living by example the love God has for each one of us. The coming together to let our hearts be filled with joy and blessing, so in absence of our loved ones that will come, the same gifts of love will be present deep within the heart.
What was the hidden life of St. Joseph within the Holy Family, as husband of Mary, as a member of the community both in Egypt and then in Nazareth? Is it simply him being, foster father, husband and a man of God living his vocation in the world? The more I think about it the more I believe this is the hidden life for each us. I remember a friend who had the blessing of meeting both Pope St. John Paul II and St. Mother Theresa of Calcutta where he shared with me this simple thought. They didn’t say a word to him. They simply looked at him and in this he encountered holiness. It was an encounter not with a large sermon or teaching but simply a life lived in communion with God in those daily blessings, those tiny blessings, that surround us in so many different ways, often unnoticed in the hustle and bustle of life, but those little graces from God we are called to share with our brothers and sisters.

St. Joseph, surrounded by the great grace and blessing of the Son of God, Jesus growing up before his eyes, and the union with our Blessed Mother Mary saw also how his smaller and many would say insignificant blessings as part of the greater family. This is our challenge to—to share our blessings, even when we think they aren’t worthy of notice, with others and recognize how blessed we are by seeing God’s gifts surrounding us and accepting them knowing of the greater blessing of our sacramental life of love.
God Bless
Fr. Mark.

Truth, not eloquence, is to be sought in reading the Holy Scriptures; and every part must be read in the spirit in which it was written. For in the Scriptures we ought to seek profit rather than polished dictation.
Likewise we ought to read simple and devout books as willingly as learned and profound ones. We ought not to be swayed by the authority of the writer, would he be a great literary light or an insignificant person, but by the love of simple truth. We ought not to ask who is speaking, but mark what is said. Men pass away, but the truth of the Lord remains forever. God speaks to us in many ways, without regard for persons.
Our curiosity often impedes are reading of the Scriptures, when we wish to understand and mull over what we are simply to read and pass by.

If you would profit from it, therefore, read with humility, simplicity, and faith, and never seek a reputation of being learned. Seek willingly and listen attentively to the words of the Saints; do not be displeased with the sayings of the ancients, for they were not made without purpose. (#5 from “The Imitation of Christ”)
Humility in front of God is one of the greatest things we can learn in our life as a disciple, a Christian, a child of God. the above quote from “The Imitation of Christ” reminds us of this very important and central part of our pilgrim journey.
Don’t be afraid of simplicity. St. Augustine described in his “Confessions” how in his early reading of Sacred Scripture he found it lacking because of the crude nature and blunt pronouncements without the beauty of the poetry and other writings of the day. We can often miss the central message be trying to find more in a biblical phrase or story than God wants us to hear at the moment. I fall into this temptation often as I prepare my homily by saying to myself, “I hear you God, but that doesn’t seem to be the message I want to say.” In truth each time I read a passage of Sacred Scripture God reveals more to me and reminds me of his whisper of love and hope. Choosing to sit with the Word of God and allow it to speak to me rather than I dictating my desire is a lesson relearned over and over again. What God says to us is just that.
Don’t judge the book by the cover. I have many copies of the Bible in my office and in my rooms. Some have very sentimental attachments and some were gifts and others I have used and worked with for many years. Some are very beautifully bound and others the covers are falling off because of use. But when you open them, it is the same Word of God. In “The Imitation of Christ” we are reminded that we are to know the Word of God so that we may hear the his word whether it be from someone who looks impressive or someone who looks much less impressive because both can and do proclaim God, just as the opposite is also true more times than we can count. This is why it is important to immerse our lives in Sacred Scripture. To pray with, to sit with and to search within our hearts the mission and vocation God has given to us in the world.
Today is built on yesterday. We often get caught up in the latest fashion of the days. My high school pictures will attest to the reality that I grew up in the late 70’s and my clothing choices often reflected this truth. But it also is part of who I am. The mission of the Catholic Church is going on two thousand years and remains the same. The invitation to Jesus to follow him remains the same. The presence of the Holy Spirit in the life of the Church remains the same. Knowing our history and listening to the fathers and mothers of the Church are important and life giving. Because we are not building on solely the institution but we are building a relationship with the Most Holy Trinity. It is like a husband and wife whose relationship is built on years and years of joys and sorrows, on sins and blessings, on hopes, disappointments and dreams and is build on mercy, forgiveness and reconciliation. All of these moments contribute to the totality of who they are as individuals and who they are as the Sacrament of love and to remove any one part of this story would lessen the grace now present in their lives.
All of this is just the beginning. Trust, hope and live in the grace of God’s blessing.
God Bless
Fr. Mark

“Whoever fears the LORD has a secure fortress, and for their children it will be a refuge.” (Proverbs 14:26)

One of the great images I enjoy praying before is the image of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. Whether it is Mary holding the child Jesus or Joseph, if it is an image of an older Jesus in the company of Mary and Joseph or, perhaps the most loving image of Jesus and Mary in prayer next to Joseph as he returns to his Heavenly Father. When I go the our diocesan Cathedral for a Mass the priest sit in the area where we have this image of the happy death of Joseph directly in front of us. A reminder of how death is at our door step at each moment and we must, like Joseph be always prepared…but to return to the Holy Family and Joseph as its head.

Archbishop M. De Langalerie writes in “The Month of St. Joseph, “He (Joseph) is continually brought before God by the weight of the double responsibility towards the mother and the Child. Joseph was obedient to God in all things.” (p 67) This is a wonderful image of fatherhood, of being a husband in living as a man of grace. St. Joseph chooses to come before God not out of force but in seeking a greater grace and understanding. St. Joseph, in his life and service of God, reminds us how fathers are first and foremost in the care of their wife and children given a double responsibility of showing forth the image of God as Father.

In a practical way I think the best way to describe this is through this experience. I visited a friend and his wife once for a bbq and as I entered their home i was greeted by hugs and then the offer of a drink and we went to the backyard where he was readying the bbq. During the next twenty minutes or so, he moved from that task to being wrestled to the ground by his three small children, heeding the request of his wife to get something from the garage, returning the bbq, seeking to hold an adult conversation with me, answering the random questions of a 5 year old and finally finishing in helping to set the table and being gracious the whole time. I know that this is in some ways an idyllic depiction of the day, and be assured in other visits it didn’t always go this smoothly, but it was the image of fatherhood in action as the head of his family.
“Being obedient to God in all things” for St. Joseph, as it is for all fathers, is to recognize the grace and blessings with the moment and share them with joy to the best of our abilities.
I know I could write the same about mothers in different ways, but this is about St. Joseph so as our Holy Father Francis reminds us, “Fathers are so necessary as examples and guides for our children in wisdom and virtue. Without father figures, young people often feel orphaned; left adrift at a critical moment in their growth and development.” (Pope Francis) and from the great basketball coach John Wooden “The best thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother.” 
St. Joseph….pray for us.
God Bless
Fr. Mark.

The way of perfection passes by way of the Cross. There is no holiness without renunciation and spiritual battle. Spiritual progress entails the ascesis and mortification that gradually lead to living in the peace and joy of the Beatitudes:
“He who climbs never stops going from beginning to beginning, through beginnings that have no end. He never stops desiring what he already knows.” (St. Gregory of Nyssa) (CCC #2015)
Archbishop M. de Langalerie on the 13th day of “The Month of St. Joseph” shares with us the idea of St. Joseph as “Model of Patience and Mortification” to help us along our spiritual journey. We can admit that the word “mortification” can bring up some strange ideas and images in our brain but mortification in the best Christian sense is as the Catechism of the Catholic Church reminds us in the quote above to be a tool to lead us on a path of holiness.
The spiritual battle we are engaged in is real and even though St. Joseph in his earthly life did not, as Mary did, experience the reality of the cross, he did know the foreshadowing of the suffering, and using this suffering as a mortification in perfecting his heart to live the blessing of the Beatitudes in his daily life.
St. Joseph as a faithful Jew knew the history of redemption and we, following him in the Judeo-Christian tradition, also know, through Jesus’ life, death and resurrection, the reality of this saving mystery. In this way we are invited to ponder a reality and not delve into fantasy when we ponder the Cross. As Archbishop de Langalerie reminds us, “Without imagining unknown perils, he knew enough of the Incarnation and Redemption to be convinced that the Savior of the world would pay a great price for our ransom. His soul, as well as that of Mary, was pierced by the words of Simeon, and reflection often brought to his mind the mysteries of which he was an intimate participator.” (p 56)
Through our prayers and the sacramental life we are called to live as disciples, we experience a reality callings us into a deeper and fuller relationship with our God. We don’t look at the world without hope but recognize how our need for forgiveness and reconciliation invites into a reality and truth where we must, if we truly trust in the cross, bear the testimony of the suffering and death of Jesus.
This is where patience and mortification become tools of faith. We await the coming of Jesus into the fullness of the kingdom. We can become impatient and frustrated if we do not practice the mortification of emptying our hearts to allow Jesus to fill us with the graces needed to complete our journey. One of the simple ways of mortification is the practice of fasting, choosing to suffer in the renunciation of something, like meat on Friday, to make space in an intentional way for the presence of Most Holy Trinity. The voluntary acceptance of this mortification is the choice to allow God to fill us, not because we are mandated, but because we are in love. This witness and testimony opens us to the service of our sisters and brothers and a life of mercy through living the Beatitudes.
“The thought of testifying our love for God, and manifesting our gratitude for His benefits to us, and our happiness in being allowed to endure pains and sacrifices for Him in commemoration of the sufferings, sacrifices, and offenses that He endured for us should incessantly incite and inspire us to bear patiently all the sufferings, pains and sacrifices in life.” (p 57)
The challenge we all face is that the act of mortification can become mechanical and just one more thing to do. For example, I choose not to eat meat on Friday throughout the year. I can do this often without thinking about it and in many ways without “suffering, pain or any sacrifice” at all in my life. In prayer and through reflection I am, as we all are, invited into a deeper and more intentional sacrifice of recognizing the why we make the choice, not just doing it. What is the why?
“Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.  For whoever would save his life[g] will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?” (Mt 16:24-26)

Just some odds and ends this week. As you know I have made a move once more in my priesthood and just like every time there is an adjustment and time of reassessment of life as you try to fit into life the newness of a parish, the loss of a parish and the difference that comes from the move. One of the adjustments for me is my writing time. You get into a rhythm and find your time to put down your thoughts, begin the outline of your writing and then begin to craft and put into words what you are reflecting on that week. In the move this is, by the very nature of change, changed. The almost natural and organic movement of writing begins to become fragmented and to sit down and write at different times, and even different spaces becomes a greater struggle.

After six weeks at St. Lawrence the Martyr Parish this is a reality that is I am dealing with and so my normal Friday letters have become not just published on Fridays but often on other days as I strive to find discover a new rhythm.
(And all that was written three weeks ago)
The three week break I have taken has helped to renew my batteries surely. Yet the rhythm continues to be something I am searching for. One of the bonuses is I have taken time to write down many ideas and thoughts and hopefully these will bear fruit in the future.
As I do my Holy Hour each morning and in other times of prayer next to the tabernacle at St. Lawrence I also sit next to a wonderful relief of St. Joseph, yes it is the Year of St. Joseph, and it is a reminder of how often he must have sat and gazed upon our Lord and Savior in wonder and love. And this of course is one of the comforts that I take in the change…my call to steadiness in prayer. Believe it or not, it is one of the promises each priest makes at his ordination…to pray for the Church in a very specific way. To become united with the joys and sufferings, the celebrations and troubles of the Church, the Body of Christ, in prayer, then being called out to serve and share in the life of the Church.

This is one of the blessings St. Joseph, as he keeps vigil in prayer with me during my Holy Hour, helps me to understand and live a little more deeply (I pray) each day. The chaste and holy grace of marriage he was called to share with Our Blessed Mother, invited him into a deeper participation of the mystery of God’s indescribable love he saw in the child growing first in the womb of Mary and then in the home they made together. His work as foster father and carpenter were always seen in through the light of life and love presented before him each day in the interaction of family that becomes the prayer of life we are all called to enter into as brothers and sisters to the same Christ.
No matter what the disruptions in life bring, and these past months have been a great disruption in our world, we, when we take time in conversation with our Lord Jesus, find a foundation that never crumbles and remains constant and grace filled.
God Bless
Fr. Mark

I can hear his joyful voice cry out these words, “Let the Church say “Amen!”” so clearly as I write these words it seems strange. My brother in Christ, Fr. Paul Ageyman Mensah has returned to our heavenly Father. May he be at peace.

“Let the Church say “Amen!”” I first got to know Fr. Paul when he came to the Diocese of San Jose. I was still studying at St. Patrick Seminary and there would be this short, joyous and loud priest at different functions and meetings. You could see, even before you knew him, the joy of God living in his heart so loudly it could not be contained.

When I was assigned to be pastor at St. Catherine of Alexandria Parish in 2009, Fr. Paul was one of the two parochial vicars at the parish. I had been a priest for a little more than 4 years and he had so such more experiences. It was humbling being a the “boss” of someone who had many more talents and so many more insights into how to be both a priest but also how to care for the people of God. It was a great blessing to be able to ask the harder questions and learn a little more about what it meant to be both priest and a man of faith.

“Let the Church say “Amen!”” Then there was his mission…Awaso Hope Project…bringing education to a small village, his village in Ghana Africa. It was a passion that consumed so much of his time and effort as he raised money and support for this mission in his life. His dream was how education would change the world starting in a little village in Africa. He was obsessed by this call, God’s call to reach out to those who are often left behind in poverty. He offered his life in joyful determination to offer the gift of education that had been given to him to all people.
In my one year with him in Morgan Hill he constantly questioned me about what would be best, as he picked my brain from my experience as a teacher. I shared with him all I had and I know many teachers and principals were grilled in the same manner as he saw his dream coming to fruition, even as setbacks and doubts sometimes filled the time.

“Let the Church say “Amen!”” Then he left and went back to his first love, his people, he went home to Awaso. The many parishioners throughout the Diocese of San Jose and in Canada, where he had first served when coming to North America, prayed for, donated and volunteered at helping him and the school begin and then thrive with all the bumps, bruises and missteps any new project and mission has at its foundation. Groups of parishioners would go over and learn more and share their experiences.

I was privileged to visit and see the beauty and wonder of the country, the people and most of all their faith. To celebrate the Sacraments with the community, to help plant the fields that would feed the children and workers and to talk to the parents and children was awe-inspiring and something I will never forget. I could talk about the school and work for hours but I would direct you to awasohope.org which has a in-depth look at what is happening and how it is moving forward.

One of the things I best remember is his yearly visit back to San Jose and his fund raising activity. One of the first things he would always do was visit the Hawaiian BBQ for a chicken dinner. I am not sure why, but it was always a blessing to share a meal with him. The second was his fundraising efforts. I asked him once, how he was so successful? His answer was simple, “Tell a story of hope and do it joyfully.” This is what he did. It wasn’t an act but his deep trust in our Lord Jesus and the hope and joy the Gospel message brings to the world.

“Let the Church say “Amen!”” This is how Fr. Paul proclaimed the Gospel and lived his life as a priest and a man of faith: with joy and hope. His laughter was contagious, his smile unending and his graciousness a blessing to all people. He chose to serve in this humble way, in a small village in Ghana, his village the place he was given to by our Heavenly Father. The last time I saw Fr. Paul was in 2019 because of the COVID travel restrictions. He lived to see his first class head off to high school, something we take for granted, but in this small village in Ghana, a victory beyond all telling. Fr. Paul Ageyman Mensah may have died but his hope in Jesus, his joy in Jesus lives on in the children, the parents, and each community in which he served.
Thank you brother and may the embrace of our God enfold you and keep you safe.
God bless and “Let the Church say “Amen!””
Fr. Mark

ps…if you wish to share a story about Fr. Paul I invite you to do so in the comments below.

One of the important things we believe as Catholics is the honoring of God on the Sabbath. Granted this comes to us through our Jewish heritage and all Christians are called, by the Third Commandment, to make special effort to keep holy this day of prayer and family.
Some of my earliest memories were of the family gathering around the breakfast table after Sunday morning Mass and sharing this feast of a meal as one family. It was a day when we would often visit my dad’s Mom, Grandma Mary, and see many cousins spending the day in play and family activity. I don’t think that during those wonderful days of memory I was thinking about how these activities “honored” the Lord’s Day and kept holy this Sunday sabbath. I can, looking back, see how it developed and honored the joy and peace of the family.
What does this have to do with justice? One of the definitions of justice includes, “a genuine respect for others/people.” I believe this is what occurs when we keep holy and honor the day of where family and relationship comes as the first and foremost action of the day.
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, in his book “Morality: Restoring the Common Good in Divided Times” tells us, “The Sabbath is one way of setting limits to the market and its mindset, focusing on the dimension of time. There are other ways, too: values such as loyalty that are not sacrificed to the pursuit of profit; aspects of happiness that derive not from what we earn or own or buy but from what we contribute toward to the lives of others; and gratitude for what we have rather than yearning for what we do not have.” (p. 114)
Rabbi Sacks reminds us of the importance of remembering that human life, human dignity and human relationships are not based on an economic foundation only but rather on an inherent goodness of who we are created in God’s image.
St. Joseph in following keeping the sabbath showed forth this model of justice in his care for and respect of his wife, Our Blessed Mother, and Jesus. Stepping back for the work of the carpenter to spend a day of prayer, rest and family activity is a sign of directing his actions, as we should direct ours, to the growth in holiness in following God’s commandments. Justice reminds us to order our lives not for the simple use of God’s creation but to be good stewards in caring for others. Archbishop M. de Langalerie reminds us of when we order our lives on seeking God’s justice we follow St. Joseph’s example, “An honest man may be guided solely by the uncertain light of reason; and he may be governed by a conscience that is perhaps influenced by public opinion. A just man, on the contrary, is directed by the Word of God, by the will of God, as clearly demonstrated in the church, and he relies on the assistance of grace for the accomplishment of the divine will in himself.” (p. 23)
If we return to my example of Sunday when I was a young boy in the late 60’s and early 70’s we see what it meant by being governed by the Word and will of God. In truth, my family, like many families, bowed to the pressure of the world and while our Sunday obligation remained constant and our visiting and sharing family meals continued, we also began to scatter and “do our own thing” as my siblings grew into teenagers and began leaving home. The public opinion wasn’t some national pressure but rather that of peer groups and the seemingly more “fun” activities outside of family.

I know St. Joseph didn’t have the same pressures or distractions we do as twenty-first century people, but he did live in a time and place where the Roman rulers did not recognize the “Sabbath” and he endured, with Mary, pressure to conform to a invasive culture, while different, were as pervasive as we see today.
Understanding justice as something beyond the juridical, as a virtue of relationship, invites us to spend time with and walk with those around us. I always think of Pope St. Paul VI quote, “If you want peace, work for justice.” This great pope understood the foundation of all relationships was one of seeking justice through knowing and caring for the other. St. Joseph did this over and over again first within the Holy Family then moving out into the world.
We are reminded to strive for the goodness, the holiness in which we are made…to strive to be a just person and not to take the easier way of vice and sin.
“(St. Joseph) was just – – just always, in all things, and towards all persons. Can we render a like testimony of ourselves? Is there not some one virtue, the practice of which we entirely neglected? We frequently declare our natural bent of character as an excuse for the defects over which we should watch with the greatest care, on account of there having become to us a second nature.” (p. 24)
May we seek the courage to be just in growing in the true peace of Jesus Christ.

God bless
Fr. Mark

https://www.vatican.va/content/paul-vi/en/messages/peace/documents/hf_p-vi_mes_19711208_v-world-day-for-peace.html

“The God of the universe has formed you out of nothing and called you into existence by name. You cannot earn this great gift; you can only receive it. Everything else about what you are trying to decide or accomplish must center on and return to the truth: I am willed and loved, I have a purpose, and God wants me here.
Sit with this reality. Do you believe it? Does it seem too good to be true? This truth may take time to take root in your heart. Pray for the grace to let go of the lies and receive this truth at a deep level: you are willed, you are loved, and you are necessary.” (p. 13 from “Pray, Decide and Don’t Worry”)

In my prayers with St. Joseph I often wonder about the life he dreamed about. What were his plans as a young boy? I wanted to be a United States Marine beginning about the age of five, did St. Joseph have a similar desire as a young boy. As a teen, a young man, in seeking Mary as his wife and then as the foster father of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, what were his thoughts and dreams. What ever they were, we do know that he was a model of faith and faithfulness as Archbishop M. de Langalerie describes in his book, “The Month of St. Joseph.”
The quote above comes from a book on discerning our call in life and asking the greater question of what is God’s plan and how best can I follow this plan. Like St. Joseph our plans will be interrupted by God’s greater and more perfect plan but if we walk by faith then we will seek to move forward in trust and hope because we are beginning to know our Father in heaven.

Often we are encouraged, in good faith, to make plans…to map out our life…to make sure we are perfectly ready before we begin. I hear this continually from young men and women who are discerning the married life or are married and planning for children. Happily this isn’t how life usually works…God’s plans may be our plans but we are always seeking God’s plan first and foremost. This means when we plan we always make room for our faith life, especially prayer. “Faith adds to the light of reason by manifesting new objects of knowledge, and it confirms truths of the natural order by its unexceptionable testimony. If the human intellect would gain in strength and power, let it be penetrated by the life of faith.” (p. 27)

St. Joseph is a great example of how this works always seeking to grow a greater love. As a man of faith he didn’t throw out reason or planning but rather knew how to adjust to the new circumstances, the deeper call to faith he was invited to share. Maybe he thought this invitation to follow God in his marriage to Mary and as foster father would bring special worldly blessings, riches and protections. But we know this didn’t happen and yet St. Joseph continued to be the faithful steward of God’s household in caring for and protecting the Holy Family.
This is important because our faith life is a continued invitation to grow deeper in trust and knowledge of our Lord and God’s plan for us. Like St. Joseph we should enter the mystery of God’s love ever more fully, ”He revered the mysteries that were successively revealed to him, and he lived in the hope of the promised Redeemer, ardently desiring and awaiting his coming… Though here on earth we may faintly perceive the greatness of the love that God bears us, it is only in heaven that we shall fully understand its plentitude.” (p. 28) This is a great act of trust…in relying on God to provide. At many of the major decision points in my life I have understood this trust. (Not always because I am a stubborn man) I remember clearly when I was offered a job to teach 7th grade at St. Bonaventure Indian Mission in Thoreau New Mexico. I had never really considered being a grade school teacher but in prayer…it just seemed the right thing to do. Ultimately it led me to my vocation as priest, but in was the act of trust, that somehow this was the right thing to do that brought a breath of peace into the turbulence of life.

“Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies.” (Saint Mother Teresa)
It is a great gift to know while St. Joseph was asked to do this great thing, being the foster father of the Son of God, he also did the many small things a husband, a father, a worker does daily in living his life. In understanding in faith how God calls us to be good stewards of the gifts given and to be shared, the small things are so very important. “This life does not consist in the performance of great and singular actions, nor in certain religious practices, even though these practices should form a daily order of exercises. It is a series of acts ever active and always acting. Faith harmonizes the conduct and animates every work… It supports, animates, and strengthens us in our labors and occupations, by teaching us to offer them to the majesty of God, or to honor his infinite bounty. It reminds us of heaven, and detaches us from earth.” (P. 28–29)
If we are always waiting for the perfect moment, the time when we are totally prepared, the day when we do the great and glorious, then we are missing the small moments, the little points of light, the gift of grace drawing us into the greater and more perfect love. St. Joseph as a model of faith reminds us this truth: you have a part to play in God’s plan because “you are willed, you are loved, and you are necessary.”
God Bless
Fr. Mark

ps…links to both the book “Pray, Decide and Don’t Worry” and St. Bonaventure Mission are below.

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Pray, Decide, and Don’t Worry: Five Steps to Discerning God’s Will

“Truth, not eloquence, is to be sought in reading the Holy Scriptures; and every part must be read in the spirit in which it was written. For in the Scriptures we ought to seek profit rather than polished diction.
Likewise we ought to read simple and devout books as willingly is learned and profound ones. We ought not to be swayed by the authority of the writer, whether he be a great literary light or an insignificant person, but by the love of simple truth. We ought not to ask who is speaking, but mark what is said. Men pass away, but the truth of the Lord remains forever. God speaks to us in many ways, without regard for persons.
Our curiosity often impedes or reading of the Scriptures, when we wish to understand and mull over what we ought simply to read and pass by.
If you would profit from it, therefore, read with humility, simplicity, and faith, and never seek a reputation for being learned. Seek willingly and listen attentively to the words of the Saints; do not be displeased with the sayings of the ancients, for they were not made without purpose.” (#5 from “The Imitation of Christ” by Thomas à Kempis)

When I was studying in the seminary my spiritual director asked me to read “The Imitation of Christ” one of the great spiritual classics. The book itself is only around 160 pages and I quickly read through the book and took some notes for our next meeting. During this time Fr. Vincent then asked me to take time and pray with the words and not simply rush through them. I spent the next four years of formation taking this little book to my holy hour, picking it up during the day and scribbling note after note both in the book in in my spiritual journal on the insights and glimpse of wisdom God shared with me. A few months ago, I began this practice once more, to pray with Thomas à Kempis’ masterpiece and listen attentively to the voice of our Lord and Savior speaking words of love.
As we continue to reflect on St. Joseph the quote above reminded me of the deep and profound humility every Christian must develop in listening to the word of God. St. Augustine in this Confessions, another spiritual classic, reminds us of how in his youthful arrogance he dismissed the writings of Sacred Scripture and early Christian writings as childlike, simple and crude and how he sought out the most learned people for knowledge and how he should to live life. We of course know the end of the story as St. Augustine discovers what the quote above shares: we discover God in many different ways and very often in the simplicity of daily interactions.
In Archbishop M. de Langalerie’s book “The Month of St. Joseph” knowing the blessed saint as a model of humility he reminds us, “Humility is the submission of the mind and the heart to the knowledge of our own misery and nothingness… In the first place, frequent reflection on the infinite greatness of God contribute much to this virtue, placing before minds that contrast it naturally arises from the thoughts of his infinite perfections and our own unworthiness.” (p. 83)
Taking time in reflection of the mystery of life, with St. Joseph as our model, is a way of seeing the peaceful simplicity of learning the Word of God from the lips of a child. How did Joseph with Mary study Jesus daily? Can you imagine them, like all parents, marveling as Jesus discovers the spit bubbles that form and then pop and hear the giggles of baby joy. Did they contemplate God’s joy in their life? Did they find the perfection of God in seeing him learn to roll over, to crawl and then take his first tentative steps? Did they, like all parents, realize the beauty of life, through the eyes of a child as our Lord examined bugs, flowers and a puddle in the newness of God’s blessings of life? As a little child Jesus was not a learned author and great teacher in the worldly sense but in the Incarnational Holiness he showed the deeper and more profound wisdom of the simplicity of God’s abundant and infinite love, grace and mercy in each breath, in the simplicity of the complexity of life.

Don’t get me wrong, learning the complex is good and important in so many ways…I spent 4 years in college, two years in grad school, two years in the teaching credential program and 5 years in seminary. I love to read and learn more and more and more about our Church and God’s love for her. But I have also learned to see in the simple things of life how God presents himself as Father in so many different ways. To see God where we are, right now, in this place and not searching for Him in the distant logic of trying to figure it all out before we humbly present ourselves to our Father, rather we pray “Lord I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed.” (from the Roman Missal)
“Let us contemplate Saint Joseph in the different conditions in which he was placed by divine Providence, and see his lowly humility! Not a word of complaint ever escaped him; no regret for the departed grandeur of his family; no thought of complacency on the mission fulfilled by him; he considers himself only as a servant and dispenser of the things confided to him.” (p 85)
Like St. Joseph, God has given each of us a mission. It may not be as important as being the foster father and protector of Jesus and the head of the Holy Family, but our mission, our calling is important and vital to God’s plan of salvation. Take time to listen in prayer. Take Sacred Scripture or find a good spiritual book and for the next year pray with it daily. It will change your life…it changed mine.
God Bless
Fr. Mark
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“The miracle is not that we do this work, but that we are happy to do it.” St. Mother Theresa

It doesn’t seem that this should be too difficult in our lives, that is, remembering the presence of God, and yet in many discussions with good and faithful Catholics, listen in confession and watching and observing the world (and a little looking in the mirror) we often forget that we are in God’s continual and loving presence being showed with love and devotion.
In Archbishops M. de Langalerie’s book “The Month of St. Joseph” he writes to us to remember how St. Joseph is a model for this necessary action in our lives as children of the one true God.

“We Christians have reason to rejoice in the privilege of being able to study the life of Christ in the Gospel, and in receiving Him in the Holy Eucharist. We may, at every instant, find consolation in this sweet and divine presence.” (p 37) While St. Joseph lived the Gospel (good news) daily in his love and interaction with Jesus and Mary, he also studied the Gospel, chose to live the Gospel in service and protection and like Mary pondered what this all might mean. This life of service, literally carrying the Gospel in the Word of God Jesus Christ, watching over and being blessed by this mysteries is a privileged place but we must also remember, in the Eucharist, in our sacramental life, we too are asked to carry Jesus forth and to care for and protect him but our living example to those around us.
“The mind and heart of St. Joseph, initiated as he was into the mysteries of the Incarnation and Redemption, must have been continually occupied with thoughts of God—His providence, His love for Man, His omnipresence, and his other infinite attributes, all of which were revealed to St. Joseph.” (p 36) You can imagine, even with the trials and tribulations, the travels and exile, St. Joseph and the Virgin Mary experienced during the first days of their marriage, the mystery of the Incarnation continued to illuminate the hope they lived in loving each other and the Son of God with their whole heart and all their actions. They lived what was proclaimed in the Gospel of St. John, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (Jn 3:16) If we truly believe this is true then the practice of the mediative and contemplative knowledge of God’s presence becomes practical and life giving in our relationships together placing God at the center.
How can we do this practically in our own lives. Christina and Javier Llerena, who do ministry in marriage and marriage preparation share this advice, “Let your love come through your actions. Being life-giving is going the extra mile when you might have to move your needs aside temporarily. However, these acts of service in relationships build trust and intimacy. Think of them as wise investments—they give more than they take in the long run.” (p 139 from “Boundless Love: Healing Your Marriage Before it Begins”)

Being attentive to our relationships on earth are fruitful when we know the presence of God is constant and grace-giving to our love. The knowledge of God’s presence should and must stir us to an active life of sacrificial love in service of those who are both near and far. In contemplating the heavenly we see the generosity of God’s love in the world surrounding us, even when it is filled with the pain of sin. The extra-mile is the way of the cross in unity with Jesus as was St. Joseph bound to Jesus as foster father and spouse to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
“This attention to the presence of God is the ladder of perfection in every state and condition of life…it suffices to consider that St. Joseph was more impressed with heavenly thoughts than the angels could have been; that he was favored with intimate communications from God more frequently than they were; and that his whole life was animated by faith. (p 35-36)
How attentive are we to the presence of God at home, at work, at play and in the quiet moments of solitude? It is easy to look out on a beautiful vista and feel the awe of God’s creation…but how do we see this same awe in a room full of arguing children? In an office with grumpy or difficult co-workers? Or, after an argument with our spouse? It is in these moments when the conversation with Jesus, the little hug from Jesus, the simply seeing Jesus is offered toward the other in the “going the extra mile” of our lives filled with the joy of the presence of the Gospel, the presence of Jesus Christ.

God Bless
Fr. Mark

“If we wish to serve God and love our neighbor well, we must manifest our joy in the service we render to Him and them. Let us open wide our hearts. It is joy which invites us. Press forward and fear nothing.” St. Katharine Drexel