St. Joseph: First to be Consecrated to Jesus through Mary

Many mistakenly believe that the spirituality of “Marian Consecration'' only arose in the Church a few hundred years ago. Some correct them, pointing out that the practice of completely entrusting one’s discipleship to Mary’s motherly love and intercession can be seen in  surviving sermons from fifth and sixth century Africa and in the writings of St. Idelphonsus of Toledo (d. 667 A.D.), and Doctor of the Church, St. John Damascene (d. 750). It is tempting to say that Christ first established the practice when He entrusted John to Mary at the foot of the Cross, and John then “took her into idia [literally ‘his own’]” (Jn 19:28), meaning that which was uniquely his – John’s interior life, his dwelling, his apostleship. But we can actually discover this practice of uniting one’s life of discipleship to Mary’s own even earlier – to St. Joseph at the time of Christ’s incarnation.

When we meet Joseph in the first chapter of Matthew’s Gospel, he is described as a “just” man, dikaios in Greek (Mt 1:19). This term refers to one completely devoted to God’s law. Joseph already possessed an intimacy with God when the angel was sent to Him with the invitation to draw nearer to the divine presence. “Do not fear to take Mary your wife for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit” (Mt 1:20). Joseph, instead of breaking off his betrothal to Mary, was to formally entrust himself and his heart to her by taking her as his wife, making her mistress of his home and all that was his. This was the means that God had ordained for Joseph to be united to Jesus – this way and no other.

Joseph and Mary had contracted marriage with the intention of loving one another into ever-deeper service to the Lord. Their virginal union, far from denigrating the marital act, proclaims marriage’s ultimate fulfillment in the soul’s union with God in eternity. Joseph watched as Mary, on a daily basis, made a perfect return of herself to the Lord. She did not do so in a multiplicity of words but in quiet, daily tasks that Emmanuel, Jesus, asked of her. Joseph desired to reciprocate the Lord’s love for him by living the vocation to which he had been called; he was to be an earthly manifestation of God’s spousal love for the soul of Mary and fatherly love for Jesus. He shared Mary’s prayerful pondering of God’s word—in Scripture and the events of Jesus’s life—and reaped insights that the Spirit granted her contemplative heart. With Mary, he quietly persevered in prayer and went about the daily work that God placed before Him, loving his family and plying his trade, teaching Jesus the ways of life in Nazareth, confident that God was bringing good out of his humble offering. Joseph was at Mary’s side in joy and sorrow. He was there for Simeon’s prophecy, and together they pondered its meaning. When Jesus disappeared for three days in the temple, Joseph shared Mary’s anxiety and relentlessly searched for their Son. And as he once shared in her struggle to protect and raise Jesus to adulthood, so he now shares with Mary in the wonders of Jesus’s heavenly life.

The supernatural union of Joseph’s heart with Mary’s was supernaturally fruitful – God the Son’s chosen means for entering the world and bringing about our redemption. All that Joseph did was for love of Jesus, by God’s grace, and accomplished in union with Mary. That is the spirituality of Marian Consecration! Like Joseph we ask the Holy Spirit to knit our hearts to Mary’s in the communion of saints, so that we can make a perfect gift of ourselves to Jesus. It is the same spirituality to which Jesus invited the Apostle John as he stood with Mary at the foot of the Cross (Jn 19:25-28). It is the same spirituality to which He invites you and me today. 

Saint Joseph, pray that like you, we receive the courage to say “yes” to His invitation and take Mary, as you did, to our own hearts (Mt 1:20-24) For like you, we want to share in her immaculate heart’s complete consecration to Jesus. “Blessed are the pure [or ‘immaculate] in heart, for they will see God” (Mt 5:8).

 

Adapted from The Biblical Roots of Marian Consecration: Devotion to the Immaculate Heart in Light of Scripture (TAN Books, 2022).

"And the Word became flesh ..."

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God ... And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. (Jn 1:1,14)

The scandal of the incarnation.  
It is impossible to become comfortable with it:  the thought that the eternal, all-powerful Deity would became a helpless child in the arms of His Mother.  It was too much for the Docetists, Gnostics, and Arians to take!  But the scandal of God's incarnate love didn't end there.  Not only did God humble himself by taking the form and appearance of a slave (Phil 2:5-8), He abased Himself even further, taking on the appearance of bread and giving himself to us as food! It was no accident that the only “bed” Mary and Joseph found to lay Jesus in that first night was a feed box for animals. It was divine foreshadowing of the night thirty-some years later when he blessed and broke the bread, saying, “This is my body” (Matthew 26:26).

Jesus' Missing 18 Years - Part II

In yesterday's post I tackled the broad outline of how Jesus spent the 18 years not narrated in the gospels.  Today I wanted to share a few specifics regarding that period - ways Jesus' life intersects with ours:

• I realize that some reading this have lost parents.  Jesus knows that pain;  He lost Joseph.  The gospel shows the deep pain Jesus experienced at the death of His friend Lazarus (Jn.11:33-38); it had to be excruciating at the loss of Joseph, the man He called "abba." It would have been Jesus' duty to wash and prepare his body for burial.  I cannot imagine how difficult that had to be.

• In a culture where women could not work outside of the home, it would have fallen to Jesus to provide for His Mother. He knew what it was to work and be depended upon to make a living,

• The work Jesus did was manual. It took time and sweat, and if His customers didn’t like it, He didn’t get paid. 

•  Jesus shared in the same good, healthy human desires we all do. He cherished His friends. Like all of us He also needed time to be alone, to turn to His Father in prayer, and “recharge His batteries.”    

• Jesus was a young man; he was able to look at a young woman and appreciate her beauty (both inner and outer).  There shouldn’t be anything shocking about that. Jesus was a man, and God created men with an appreciation for women. Because we live in a fallen world though, we are use to seeing this God-given orientation tainted by lust. When Jesus looked at a woman there was nothing self-seeking in His gaze; He saw her for the priceless, beautiful work of God she was.  Jesus redeemed our vision of the opposite sex!  

• When all of His friends started courting and getting married, Jesus didn’t.  He probably knew what it was to feel like a “third wheel” at times. 

• Jesus, God the Son, knew what it was to be a “nobody” – to live over 90% of His life in a small town, work hard to put food on the table, and appear to have absolutely no effect on the world going on around Him.  (Not that He actually was a nobody though - and neither are you!)
  

I love thinking about the ways Jesus has shared our experiences.  I have often thought that the reason we have been told so little about His growing up and home life, is so that we an empty mental canvas upon which we can imagine Him doing all the things familiar to us.

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Participating in the Obedience of Jesus

Awhile back, one of my closest friends started reading Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light. My friend, who is Lutheran, soon asked me if I could explain something to her: it seemed very strange that Mother Teresa, who God was clearly speaking to and giving a mission, would have to go and receive permission to undertake the work from her religious superiors. At first her superiors made her delay. Why would Teresa submit to that, when she knew God was speaking to her?

What a fantastic question! Looking back, my response was alright. I talked about how it was a mark of humility, and a safeguard against being deceived, to submit inspirations and private revelations to those God has allowed to assume roles of authority within a religious body. I also shared how, in private revelations to nuns and religious brothers, Jesus often instructs the recipients that they must always submit themselves to their religious superiors, even when it means delaying His requested action. These nuns and brothers took a vow of obedience when they entered their respective orders, and the Lord insists that it be adhered to. But what I failed to point out, the very heart of the matter, was what St. Anthony of Padua saw in the Gospel read a few weeks back on the Feast of the Holy Family. (My thanks to the Daily Gospel apostolate for emailing such quality commentary every day of the year.)

Jesus was twelve years old and stayed behind in Jerusalem following a family trip there, without notifying his parents. After three days of frantic searching Mary and Joseph finally found Him in the Temple:
"Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been looking for you anxiously." And he said to them, "How is it that you sought me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?" And they did not understand the saying which he spoke to them. And he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them; and his mother kept all these things in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature, and in favor with God and man. (Luke 2:48-52)

St. Anthony's commentary here is just gorgeous:

“He was subject to them.” With these words let all pride dissolve, all rigidness crumble, all disobedience submit. “He was subject to them.” Who? In brief, he who created all things from nothing; he who, as Isaiah says, “has cupped in his hand the waters of the sea and marked off the heavens with a span; who has held in a measure the dust of the earth, weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance” (40,12)...This is he who, great and powerful though he be, was subject. And subject to whom? To a workman and a poor young maid ... So no longer hesitate to obey or be submissive ...
There are people of wisdom within religious orders but it is by means of simple men that God brought them there. God chose the foolish and weak, the lowly and ignorant to bring together those who were wise, powerful and of noble birth through them, "so that no human being might boast in itself" (cf. 1 Cor. 1,26-29) but in him who came down, who came to Nazareth, and who was subject.

Our obedience is a participation in the very obedience of Jesus! The Father's Revelation in Person, made His plans subject to "a workman and a poor young maid." So whenever one of us submits ourselves to the decisions of our bishop or the disciplines (traditions) of the Church as opposed to our own personal "inspirations," it is Jesus' obedience that we are tapping into; and that is life's very goal! We've heard time and again that the Church is the Family of God. In truth, it is the Family of Nazareth thrown open to the entire world. And those God places in leadership may not be the smartest, or the most "charismatic," or the most plugged-in as to what He wants to accomplish in the moment; but they are to be obeyed, because doing so places us firmly in the One Who obeyed "a workman and a poor young maid." May the Lord grant us a holy and profitable Feast of the Holy Family!

Lessons in Humility from M.J.

No, not from Michael Jackson; I thought my deceptive ploys to grab your attention were common knowledge by now. This post is about the humility of Mary and Joseph (The M.J. in J.M.J.).

Following Saturday's show about approved Marian apparitions I received a call from a woman desperate for the bishops to acknowledge that she had received a message from God.  (30 seconds into the conversation, she had already conveyed enough side details to indicate why the bishops are unable to do so.  My heart went out to her though; please pray for her peace and that she is able to find good medical treatment.)  She was desperate to be acknowledged; for people to know that God had spoken to her.  The only advice I could give her was to put everything into God's hands and to be at peace.  If He wanted this private revelation known then He would open the doors for it to be known.

She came back to me this morning while praying the Joyful Mysteries, and it brought Mary's humility into stark relief.  Mary had received the greatest revelation in all of human history; she was going to be the mother of the Messiah.  Gabriel referred to her by a title, "Full of Grace;" she stood head and shoulders above the rest of humanity.  

But notice how God communicated His will to Mary over those next few years - through Joseph.   God sent his angel to Joseph, and Joseph appraised Mary of their need to flee to Egypt, as well as their eventual need to return to Nazareth.  Now it was probably very evident to Mary and Joseph who had the brains in the family; preserved from original sin, Mary's mind undoubtedly processed information and arrived at conclusions much more quickly than Joseph's.  Joseph had to marvel at the pearls of wisdom that fell from Mary's lips and be in awe of the acts of love that flowed from her.  Even though Mary's holiness and intelligence surpassed Joseph's, God had still entrusted her to his care.  Mary recognized that the superabundant graces God poured out upon her did not excuse her from following the order he had established within the Holy Family.  And to Mary's praise, she was completely at peace with it!  Now that's humility, and there is peace in humility.

Many times we may feel like God has given us some great task to carry out in the Church, but the doors don't seem to open.  Perhaps our parish priests, diocesan officials, or even the bishop do not seem to have much interest in the plans we share.  God wants us to practice humility and place ourselves in His hands.  If this work is of God, then the doors will eventually open; and if the work is not of God, it is better they stay closed.  In any case, it is an opportunity to grow in humility, to submit ourselves to the order God has established for His Family on earth.  That's where the peace is.  (I know, it's hard to practice; growing up isn't easy.)  Look to Mary; she's a model worth imitating!

 

The Holy Family for Today's Families

For those who caught today's EWTN broadcast, here are those promised links to books:





Please examine these wonderful papal documents too: 
Pope John Paul II's Mother of the Redeemer and Guardian of the Redeemer (On the Life & Mission of St. Joseph), and Pope Leo XIII's On Devotion to St. Joseph. 


And while I realize that they do not compare with the above works, here are a couple of articles from yours truly:  
Did the Apostles Pray the Rosary?

Sharing in the Obedience of Jesus

Am I Not Here Who Am Your Mother?  (Marian Consecration)
The Eucharist, Mary, and Redemptive Suffering

 

"Holy" Obedience?

I am a big, big fan of The Daily Gospel apostolate out of New Hope, Kentucky. Every morning they greet me with the day's readings as well as Gospel commentary from one of the saints or a successor of Peter, and I tip my hat to them for the commentary they selected for the Feast of the Holy Family. They allowed St. Anthony of Padua to give me some much needed illumination.

You see, about a year ago one of my closest friends started reading Mother Teresa, Come Be My Light. My friend, who is Lutheran, soon asked me if I could explain something to her: it seemed very strange that Mother Teresa, who God was clearly speaking to and giving a mission, would have to go and receive permission to undertake the work from her religious superiors. At first her superiors made her delay. Why would Teresa submit to that, when she knew God was speaking to her?

What a fantastic question! Looking back, my response was alright. I talked about how it was a mark of humility, and a safeguard against being deceived, to submit inspirations and private revelations to those God has allowed to assume roles of authority within a religious body. I also shared how, in private revelations to nuns and religious brothers, Jesus often instructs the recipients that they must always submit themselves to their religious superiors, even when it means delaying His requested action. These nuns and brothers took a vow of obedience when they entered their respective orders, and the Lord insists that it be adhered to. But what I failed to point out, the very heart of the matter, was what St. Anthony of Padua saw in the Gospel read for the Feast of the Holy Family! Jesus was twelve years old and stayed behind in Jerusalem following a family trip there, without notifying his parents. After three days of frantic searching Mary and Joseph finally found Him in the Temple:

"Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been looking for you anxiously." And he said to them, "How is it that you sought me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?" And they did not understand the saying which he spoke to them. And he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them; and his mother kept all these things in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature, and in favor with God and man. (Luke 2:48-52)

St. Anthony's commentary here is just gorgeous:

«He was subject to them.» With these words let all pride dissolve, all rigidness crumble, all disobedience submit. «He was subject to them.» Who? In brief, he who created all things from nothing; he who, as Isaiah says, «has cupped in his hand the waters of the sea and marked off the heavens with a span; who has held in a measure the dust of the earth, weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance» (40,12)...This is he who, great and powerful though he be, was subject. And subject to whom? To a workman and a poor young maid ... So no longer hesitate to obey or be submissive ...
There are people of wisdom within religious orders but it is by means of simple men that God brought them there. God chose the foolish and weak, the lowly and ignorant to bring together those who were wise, powerful and of noble birth through them, «so that no human being might boast in itself» (cf. 1 Cor. 1,26-29) but in him who came down, who came to Nazareth, and who was subject.

Our obedience is a participation in the very obedience of Jesus! The Father's Revelation in Person, made His plans subject to "a workman and a poor young maid." So whenever one of us submits ourselves to the decisions of our bishop or the disciplines (traditions) of the Church as opposed to our own personal "inspirations," it is Jesus' obedience that we are tapping into; and that is life's very goal! We've heard time and again that the Church is the Family of God. In truth, it is the Family of Nazareth thrown open to the entire world. And those God places in leadership may not be the smartest, or the most "charismatic," or the most plugged-in as to what He wants to accomplish in the moment; but they are to be obeyed, because doing so places us firmly in the One Who obeyed "a workman and a poor young maid."

"Our Father Who art in Heaven - Stay There!"

I came across that line yesterday in Monsignor Joseph Cirrincione's little book, St. Joseph, Fatima, and Fatherhood. He felt that it was the way many of us pray the Our Father in the depths of our hearts. We are Christian in name but secular in lifestyle. God has His place in our lives, but He isn't our Life. And when we live in this way we rob ourselves of experiencing God as Father, as the one who loves us and raises us up to understand how the world really works and helps train us to make a contribution to it.