March 19

by David Lins  |  03/19/2020  |  (Being) Catholic Matters

Good Morning Parishioners of Our Lady of Joy and Friends Beyond,

Our parish staff continues to work incredibly hard during these trying times. There will be regular updates. We will be streaming Masses. We are working with the diocese to figure out how to handle those who are scheduled to receive various sacraments. And we have enacted a total spending freeze in an attempt to survive losing almost our entire plate income.

One of the things I can contribute is this blog. Every day, our parish website will be updated with a new entry. My prayer is that this little space helps us remain connected to our Faith and one another during this trying time.

While this is (primarily) an effort serving the parish community of Our Lady of Joy, feel free to spread the word to anyone and everyone you feel might benefit from a bit more community and inspiration. Let’s begin with today.

It is the Feast of St. Joseph. As an adoptive father, he holds a special place in my heart and I read as much about him as I am able. There isn’t much. To be fair, he didn’t give us much to work with.

In the excellent “Joseph of Nazareth” by Federico Suarez, the author brings to light the conundrum Joseph faced when discovering Mary was pregnant. On one hand, he wasn’t the father. On the other, Mary was the most holy and pure individual he’d ever known. There was no way she’d been unfaithful. There was no possible explanation.

Unable to make sense of anything, Federico Suarez contends Joseph knew only one thing: if he quietly divorced her, the culture of the day would essentially see it as abandonment. In the specific culture of the region and time, Joseph understood he would’ve become the villain who abandoned a woman and her child and the community would’ve been compelled to take care of them.

He was willing to take the blame for something he had no part in, for the sake of someone he loved. Sound familiar? Like father, like future adopted son.

The very night Joseph made that decision, God saw Joseph’s heart-a heart mirroring his own-and he sent an angel in a dream. Joseph’s destiny became clear and-like the woman he loved-Joseph accepted it. Truly, a perfect example of trusting God when nothing seems to make sense.

As we have lost our weekly collection income, we can only maintain our current staff for a limited time without your help. Please spread the word and sign up for auto-pay or make whatever donation you can at https://www.ezekielgiving.com/App/Giving/oloj

BACK TO LIST BACK