Tag Archives: joseph

Another Annunciation

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Today on the Feast of St. Joseph, I am reminded of the many ways God breaks through and into our lives and our world, often unexpected. Think of the story of Joseph, the unexpected message he received in a dream from an angel and his faithful response despite the pressures of society.

There’s a song that captures this moment by Waterdeep, which I recently illustrated in a prayer video using a favorite picture of stained glass window depicting this critical moment in our faith history.

Mary’s annunciation gets a lot of attention, and rightly so. But how often do we reflect on this other annunciation? And what might Joseph’s response teach us today as we face our own uncertain and confusing moments?

I love this stained glass window of Joseph receiving the message of the angel. It is so very human. When I would visit my father at St. Joseph Village in Chicago, the nursing home on the North Side of Chicago where my Dad lived his last years, I would see this window behind the altar in the chapel. St. Joseph Village was the first ministry of the Franciscan Sisters of Chicago, founded in 1897. The current building is a new construction, and it is clear that special attention was given to the design of the chapel. It is a beautiful place to pray, filled with light.

Joseph does not respond to the angel’s heavenly message with words, at least not according to Matthew’s Gospel account (2: 18-25). This stained-glass window, however, implies what must have been his natural response. “His expression,” notes the booklet describing the chapel artwork, “seems to suggest the question, ‘What does this mean?’”

Not only does his expression speak volumes, but also Joseph’s posture—hands open, shoulders shrugged, one knee on the ground. He has even dropped his tools. His life will never be the same.

The angel tells Joseph not to be afraid to welcome Mary into his home, to form a family. “For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her.”

Joseph, a man of few words—or no words at least that have been recorded—spoke instead with his actions. Joseph was open to the unexpected.

Joseph took Mary into his home and helped to raise Jesus. “Joseph’s ordinary life of labor and purity of intention have been transformed into an extraordinary element of God’s holy plan.”

WHAT WOULD you do if an angel appeared to you in a dream and told you something completely unexpected, life changing, and a little bit crazy?

God often speaks to us through the unexpected. Most likely we do not have visions or angelic messages, but then again, what else are friends and family and those “aha” moments? God’s love surprises us again and again, often in unexpected ways. And the message is clear … Be Not Afraid. Respond with love in return. And all will be well.

Prayer for Unexpected Moments
St. Joseph, inspire us to be open to the unexpected Spirit-filled moments of life. Pray with and for us, that we too may see the extraordinary possibilities hidden in the ordinariness of life. Thank you for the many ways you modeled acceptance and loving response to God’s love. May we too respond to God’s gifts with faith, gratitude, and loving action.
Amen

Beloved of God, some reminders (Retreat thoughts)

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I spent this past week on my annual retreat. It was an interesting week to be away in the desert grounded in prayer amidst the beauty of God’s creation. Some news of what was happening in our nation and world seeped into my contemplative time. All the more to bring to prayer.

I reenter my daily life renewed and refreshed with some reminders for the journey ahead.

Sunrise in the Sonoran Desert

The sun always rises in the morning. There is light after darkness, light to guide our way. We can be light for one another and love always. Love anyway.

Sunset at the Redemptorist Renewal Center

Each day holds its own cares and worries, joys and delights, challenges and opportunities. Tomorrow is always another day with no mistakes in it, to quote Anne Shirley. The invitation is to be in the present moment and to work towards a more peaceful tomorrow. The arc of justice is long.

1,300 year old petroglyph

Humans are human and God is God. I walked on land inhabited by the Hohokam peoples over 1,000 years ago. They literally left their mark on the rocks. I prayed in the footsteps of what must have been thousands of people in the past sixty years at the retreat center. So many hopes and dreams and experiences of God have been held in the human heart. And those human hearts are held in the heart of God.

Night sky in the desert

We are all part of the immensely wide dream of our loving Creator. I looked up at the night sky and saw stars and moon and planets! All moving through the universe. Light traveling billions of years to reach my eyes. It gives you some perspective.

Prickly pear cactus

Not to say life can’t be messy and scary and overwhelming at times. We each have our own individual prickly points, and so too does society. Right now, our nation is experiencing a clash of prickly points and agendas that are already impacting the most vulnerable among us. What is ours to do in this time? How do we find strength in our vulnerability, stand together, and act in solidarity for the common good?

St Joseph with the Christ Child

I spent time sitting at the feet of this statue of Joseph with the Christ child. Joseph lived in turbulent times, times of uncertainty and abuse of power. He listened (and responded) to God’s dream in love. He took risks. He did the hard work.

At the feet of Joseph … faithful

Joseph was faithful, just as God is faithful. May I be faithful. This is my simple prayer.

Beloved of God,  remember God is love and God is good.

May we be love. May we be good, to ourselves and one another on the long road ahead.

Sign on the Tohono O’odham lands

Talking about Joseph

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Today I had the opportunity to talk about St. Joseph with some Year 4 students at a Catholic School in Bradford, England. One of our CSJP sisters lives in the parish and is a regular visitor to the school. Sister Catherine arranged for me to visit and talk about St Joseph.

As it happens, the students (many of whom in this multicultural Yorkshire town are Muslim) happened to already know a lot about Joseph! St. Joseph is the patron saint of their class in fact.

When I asked what they could tell me about him, they answered one after the other, raising their hands. Joseph was the foster father of Jesus. He helped Mary take care of Jesus. He was the step father of God. He was a good man. They knew that he worked as a carpenter. He is a Saint. He was there with Mary when Jesus was born. He took his family to find safety .

I told them that the founder of the Sisters of St Joseph of Peace chose Joseph as the patron of my religious community because he is a model of peace. When I asked why we needed peace today, again their hands quickly went in the air. Peace for Ukraine. Peace for people who are arguing. Peace for everyone.

I really enjoyed the chance to visit with these 8 and 9 year olds. They seemed amazed that I had actually written a book and asked me lots of questions about how long it took, how I researched it, and how I put it together.

The nun thing was of course also one of the questions. How did I become a Sister? And finally, the best question, if I am a Sister of St Joseph, am I actually related to him? We are all children of God, I said, so we’re all related. I am related to Joseph and so are you!

Joseph and Jesus
(statue spotted at our CSJP house in Scotland)

Living Joseph every day

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The Year of St Joseph ends today.

It was unexpected when Pope Francis declared a year dedicated to Joseph last year. I had already spent significant time with my friend Joe, having just finished the manuscript of my book (My Friend Joe: Reflections on St. Joseph – available as a paperback or ebook) the month before.

Joseph is always there for us, with us. He doesn’t need a special year or day. He can be our friend every day.

He can also be a model for us as we navigate this thing called life.

In my religious Congregation we consider him to be a model of peace in times of struggle and uncertainty.

Check. That would be many times, but certainly now.

He can inspire us to dream. To take risks for those we love. To act justly. To serve God. To work creatively. To love always.

Today and everyday.

Joseph Pondering

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Joseph pondering the needs of the world

This week, on a day packed with very important zoom meetings (which seems like everyday of late, begging the question of how important they can actually be), I spotted this tableau on my way through the house.

Joseph, standing tall. The caption that came to me was “Joseph pondering the needs of the world.”

Given the caption, the needs of the world are pretty big, and Joseph, while standing tall, can barely peek into the top of the jar/well/container.

(What you don’t know is that Joseph has a broken foot, super glued back into place).

So here is Joe.
Standing tall, but barely taller than the needs of the world.
Standing on a broken, haphazardly fixed, ceramic foot.
Looking tenderly upon the needs of our broken world.
The needs of the family of God.
His family.

Don’t know about you, but I found this very comforting.

St. Joseph, pray for the people of God, your family. We need your prayers and intercession!

Christmas with Joseph during uncertain times

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My Christmas card this year is a picture I took of a statue of St. Joseph “looking” at a Christmas tree lit up on the grounds of Bon Secours retreat center in Maryland that I took last year on retreat.

ChristmasCard2018

As I wrote in my Christmas Letter to family & friends:

I’ve been spending time talking to Joseph these days.  In our CSJP constitutions we say about Joseph:  “His courage to life a life of faith inspires us to trust in God’s abiding love, especially in times of struggle and uncertainty.”

Pope Francis writes about his own prayer practice with Joseph, and that he’s the one he goes to when he is “in a fix.”  He writes little notes of problems that need fixing and slips them under a statue of Joseph.  Joseph was a carpenter after all.  When we spend time with the Gospel readings about the birth of Jesus, Prince of Peace, during the time of empire, we can see that Joseph understands what it’s like to keep on keeping on during challenging times. 

We don’t often spend a lot of time with Joseph, but I think we all could use a little Joseph in our lives these days.

This Christmas Eve, I prayed with “As Joseph Was a Walking” recorded by Annie Lennox. If you want to spend some time with Joseph, here’s my video prayer reflection:

Praying with Joseph – Video Prayer Reflection

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Today is the Feast of St. Joseph! Margaret Anna Cusack (Mother Francis Clare) chose St. Joseph as the patron of my religious community, the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace, because he was a model of peace.  In the words of our original 1884 Constitutions:

Joseph1884

A few years ago I made this video prayer reflection for St. Joseph’s Day (complete with a rather funny typo).  I invite you to spend some time today with Joseph, model of peace.

Happy St. Joseph’s Day!