The Year of St. Joseph

By H. Thomas Dotterweich, Director of Lifelong Faith Formation Diocese of Great Falls-Billings

Last September, when my wife, Maria, found out we were pregnant, she began to hunt for a statue of “Sleeping St. Joseph.” She did not mention this hunt, because the statue was meant as a gift for me, a new father. Eventually, through March 14: Fourth Sunday of Lent the assistance of her mother a statue was found. As I returned home from the office one day, Maria presented the gift to me. Since then, the statue sits, or perhaps reclines, a shelf next to what I call my “prayer chair.” The little figurine is a constant and silent presence during my prayer time, a reminder of the confidence Joseph had in God’s plan.

There is little that we know about St. Joseph; what we do know has roots in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. Each describes Joseph engaged in three primary activities; traveling, sleeping, and bearing silent witness to Jesus. What a remarkable parallel to and example for our lives.

We may not be asked to travel literally to fulfill God’s plan, Besides being a model follower of God, St. Joseph is the patron of the Universal Church. On December 8, 1870, Pope Pius IX entrusted the Church to St. Joseph, and on December 8, 2020, Pope Francis dedicated a special year to his care. In calling the Year of St. Joseph, Pope Francis has invited each of like Joseph did, yet we are traveling a great spiritual journey. us to enrich our relationship with the foster father of Christ. Nor will we be divinely called to present the physical Christ to the world, as was Joseph’s privileged and destined role at the cave in Bethlehem and the temple in Jerusalem. Yet, we are no less divinely called, privileged, and destined to be physical representations of Christ to an injured world.

Finally, we likely will not receive messages from an angel during our slumber, yet we are able to During this year we are encouraged to perform corporal and spiritual works of mercy, to pray as a family (especially the rosary), to entrust our daily work to St. Joseph and ask him to intercede for those who are un- employed, and to foster our relationship with St. Joseph through meditation on his life and full commitment to God’s will.

In the Diocese of Great Falls-Billings, we are blessed further by this Year take a very important lesson from Joseph’s sleep. When the of St. Joseph because it runs concurrent with our preparation challenges and struggles of following God in this life weighed for the Diocesan Synod on the Domestic Church. What better him down, Joseph did not lose hope. He trusted in God — companion could we have than the head of the Holy Family? and he rested. Precisely in those moments of rest, when all Let us ask St. Joseph to intercede for the success of our synod the distractions of life were quieted, Joseph was able to hear and for the cultivation of holy families in Eastern Montana. most clearly the message of God.

We find our rest in prayer — and we can be confident in our prayer when at rest. We set aside time of quiet, limit our distractions, and strain to hear the “light silent sound” of God’s voice. Taking our que from St. Joseph, and resting confidently in the Lord, we will find guidance for the journey and strength to sustain our work as Christ’s hands and feet.

For more information on the Year of St. Joseph visit: catholicnewsagency.com/news/pope-francis-proclaims-year-of-st-joseph-10779.

Important Liturgical Dates

February 2: Feast of the Presentation of the Lord February 17: Ash Wednesday
February 21: First Sunday of Lent
February 22: Feast of the Chair of St.Peter February 28: Second Sunday of Lent
March 7: Third Sunday of Lent
March 14: Fourth Sunday of Lent
March 19: Solemnity of St.Joseph, Husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary March21: Fifth Sunday of Lent
March 25: Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord
March 28: Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion