Holy Communion with Mary and Joseph
DVRodriguez2024-10-27T17:39:01-04:00Sermon at the First Communion of one of Father's nieces. Saint Teresa, ora pro nobis.
Sermon at the First Communion of one of Father's nieces. Saint Teresa, ora pro nobis.
God's gift of St. Joseph is a cause for great rejoicing. No saint's intercession, excepting Our Lady, is more powerful. Know the seven privileges granted those who invoke St. Joseph in a devout and proper manner. Meditate upon his life (as seen by the mystics). Appreciate his patronage more and grow in your devotion to him.
The Church has many names, each giving insight into her mysteries. Perhaps the most beautiful is 'Holy Mother.' She gives us spiritual life, nourishes us, heals us, and strengthens us. If we make it to Heaven, it WILL be because of Her. Therefore we should truly love her! Never lose sight that she is the perfect and immaculate Bride of Christ despite the sinfulness of her members. No matter how terrible the storm, Christ will preserve and save her. Have confidence too in the powerful intercession of Our Lady and St. Joseph!
Holy Joseph of the Old Testament serves as a type prefiguring St. Joseph. Numerous details lead us to this spiritual insight, including his parentage, his cloak, his purity, his royalty, and his dreams. Yet the fulfillment is always greater than the prefigurement. He was Christ's example of manhood and an icon of God the Father for the Christ Child. He is the exemplar of what all human fathers should be. See good St. Joseph as a true example of holy masculinity and as a real father to you every day. The Church also possesses several relics from him: his leather belt, [...]
Not only is St. Joseph silent and hidden in Scripture, but he was often sidelined. For example, he was excluded from Simeon's prophecy and was 'imprisoned' in Limbo during the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Our Lord. Many of the terrible sufferings he patiently bore are prefigured by the Patriarch Jospeh. Yet the glory of his bodily resurrection is prefigured in the Ark (type of Our Lady) and the bones of Joseph (type for him) which crossed over the Jordan River and into the Promised Land. If you think "I looked for help but found none," then go to St. Joseph!