St Joseph's Staircase?

Loretto Chapel Staircase

One of my favorite stories surrounding St Joseph, whose feast we celebrate today, is that of the amazing and beautiful spiral staircase in the Loretto Chapel in New Mexico. The story goes that when the chapel was built, there was no way of getting to the choir loft. When the carpenters were consulted about building a staircase, the sisters were told that it would interfere in getting around in the small chapel and so a ladder would be the only answer.
Well the good sisters of the chapel were not satisfied with that solution, and began a novena to St Joseph, patron of carpenters. On the final day of the novena, a man appeared at the chapel looking for work. Several months later, the staircase that remains there today was completed. The man disappeared without leaving any trace of himself and without pay. Some believe it was St Joseph himself who built the staircase.
You can read more about this marvel and its history here.
In the meantime, let us ask St Joseph for his intercession in our own lives.

St Joseph, most chaste spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary and foster father to Our Lord Jesus Christ, pray for us, intercede for those we love. Renew and strengthen our Holy, Catholic Church, and bring all those who have died and will die today to a holy and happy death. 

Amen.

The Father's Incredible Gift

God so loved the world... John3:16. It is a verse with which we have become so familiar~perhaps even too familiar. As I heard this well~known verse in the context of today's Gospel reading, it seemed to stop me in my tracks. God, our Heavenly Father so loved the world that He gave this very broken world His only Son. In giving Jesus to this world, the Father gave us the ultimate gift. He gave us Himself in the person of Jesus Christ.
St Leo the Great tells us that the will of the Father and the will of the Son were one. So Jesus wished and willed to give Himself to us as much as His Father did.
I usually think and meditate on this verse from the view of Jesus coming to us, and that is a good way to think about it, but today I seemed to be drawn into seeing this gift of the Father and His Son from the view of the Father. Go back to the verse: God so loved the world... You and I are part of that world, so God, our Father loves you and me and everyone in it in a very personal way. When seen that way, we can see not only the sacrifice of Jesus, but in a sense, we also can see the sacrifice of the Father.
One of the greatest lessons we learn from Jesus is that true love is sacrificial; this lesson began with the Father who loved the world and everyone in it~so much so, He gave us Jesus.
In accepting the Father's love for me, I accept Jesus' love; the two are inseparable. As Scripture tells us: "No one has seen the Father except the Son." (John 1:18) and Jesus' reply to Phillip when he makes the request of Jesus to "Show us the Father" is that whoever sees Me, sees the Father." (see John 14:8)
The five little words that begin that Gospel verse are powerful ones when we stop to really let their weight sink into our hearts and souls. When we allow that to happen, we allow the love of the Father and the Son, through the Holy Spirit to sink in as well.
Jesus~the Father's most incredible gift to us.

Living Out Nazareth

My meditation and prayer today led me back to Nazareth. Nathaniel once posed the question: "Can anything of good come from Nazareth?" (John 1:46) Well, we can easily say yes because of our faith. Even if Jesus and his Holy Family are the only good to come from there, that would certainly be enough.
While we do not know much about Nazareth or Jesus' young life there, we know enough to garner a good example from Him and His life there.
So, if you will, journey back with me to this sleepy little village in Galilee...
We are in the humble home of the Holy family. Mary lives her days as any Jewish woman going about the business of keeping the home, and being a wife to Joseph and mother to Jesus. Joseph is a carpenter using his skills to provide for his family and passing those skills on to his foster Son. As Jesus grew, he most likely ventured into the town with Joseph to perhaps sell their wares.
And while Jesus learned the skills of carpentry from Joseph, He knew the will of His Father in Heaven, and this He learned through His times of quiet prayer. Jesus was obedient to Joseph and Mary, and He knew that He was to lead a life of service and humble generosity.
Jesus is now thirty years of age, and it is time for Him to leave this home He has grown up in. He takes with Him all He has learned and cultivated in this place. As He ventures out into nearby and distant towns and villages, He will continue to find times of quiet prayer with His Father, and He will continue to live a life of service and generosity finally to give it all on the Cross.
Jesus lived Nazareth wherever He went. This is His example for us. Even though we live in a noisy, fast-paced world, we can create our Nazareths wherever we are. In order to grow in wisdom and love in our life with Christ, we need to find times of quiet prayer with Him. Then we need to forth from those times and places of prayer and contemplation  living lives of humble service and generosity.
It is possible and it is necessary if we are to. like Jesus, grow in favor before God and Man.

News From The Blogosphere

When Blogger had the nice little feature of being able to put clips of other Bloggers' posts on your sidebar, I found that an easy and nice way of sharing what was new and noteworthy around the Blogosphere. Then they did away with it. I tried to do one on my own, but found that keeping up with it on a post by post basis was a bit tedious. So here is what I will try next...
Each week or so I will run a post with links to some of the blog posts I have read over the course of the week that I think are worth sharing-some of them need sharing! Some are from priests' blogs, some from bigger, more well known blogs, some from small and not widely known.
Here are my favorites from the past week:

Bitter Herbs Before the Exodus from These Stone Walls- Fr. Gordon MacRae, whom I have written about before on this blog, has told the story of one of his prison mates who has made known his desire to become Catholic. It is a story that fits right in with this Lenten season and is filled with hope and redemption.

Msgr. Charles Pope over at the Archdiocese of Washington blog has a wonderful reflection on yesterday's Gospel about the Transfiguration of Jesus in Beams of Heaven As I Go. This one is definitely worth the time. I recommend reading it prayerfully when you have a few extra minutes to spare.

Ryan A MacDonald at A Ram in the Thicket has some more insight to the news regarding Fr. Gordon MacRae's possible retrial as well as the not so nice goings on with SNAP and VOTF in his post Why Do SNAP and VOTF Fear the Case of Fr. Gordon MacRae?

And finally, but certainly not least, Victor at A Time For Reflection is serving up lobster with his newly created Lobster award. I would like to thank Victor and Michael at Reach Paradise for this tasty award. Be sure to check their blogs out for more about the award and other wonderful posts

Well that's it for this week. Enjoy!

Reflection From The Cross

Christ on the Cross:Eugene Delacroix

My main spiritual reading and guidance this Lent comes from the Jesuits at The Spiritual Exercises Blog. I have followed the Lenten Retreat they offer each Lent for the last three years. The exercises are based on the Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius of Loyola.
One of the exercises this past week that has stayed with me is one in which we are asked to reflect on our weakness in refusing love and while doing so to imagine ourselves before Christ dying on the cross. We then ask Him to reflect ourselves back to ourselves.
I found this very powerful and also painfully beautiful. Seeing myself before Love itself in my own weakness and inability to love, I didn't see or feel shame, guilt or His reproach; I saw myself reflected back though His eyes of love, mercy and compassion. It made me think of Mother Teresa's beautiful reflection I Thirst. What I saw in myself was the lack of love I so often have for myself and others and the answer to filling that lack. Looking past what was reflected back to me, I saw Christ's thirst for me, for each of us to accept His love and then give it freely as He was doing there on the cross.
I have come to learn, often the hard way, that we cannot love others, or even ourselves if we do not first accept the love of the Father that comes through Christ. In putting myself before the dying Christ this week, I was able to see my own weakness, but reflected back to me through Christ's eyes the reflection was tempered with His love, mercy and compassion.
I can leave the scene of the Cross and think back to what is revealed on Mt. Tabor. Jesus revealed His glory to Peter, James and John that day to strengthen them for what they would witness in His Passion and Death. He strengthened them for what would come in their own lives: Peter to lead the Church, John to go from his youth to live in exile in his old age, and James for his martyrdom.

I use to wonder why we hear the account of The Transfiguration during Lent, but I see it is to strengthen us as well. To come down from that mountain and walk with Christ to the Cross where we can see His ultimate example of love and see ourselves reflected back to us through that love.

St Joseph: A Powerful Intercessor

Rembrandt's Dream of St Joseph

March is devoted to St Joseph. While we do not hear much about this great saint in Scripture, he is an extremely powerful intercessor. In his earthly life he was a humble carpenter by trade. Yet beneath that humble exterior was the strength God gave him to be the earthly spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the foster father of Our Lord Jesus Christ. St Joseph is the patron of many causes: the universal Church, a happy death, and workers, just to name a few. I often think he is the saint most taken for granted.
The saints throughout the ages, though tell us of the importance of devotion to Joseph. St Teresa of Avila had said that progress in the spiritual life was not possible without devotion to St Joseph.
So let us take this month to either begin or renew our devotion to Joseph. After all, if he was good enough for Jesus and Mary, he is certainly good enough for all of us.
As always, you can find prayers for the monthly devotion on my left side bar~ just click the picture.

St Joseph, most humble and chaste spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary and foster father of Our Lord Jesus Christ pray for us, intercede for those we love. Renew and protect the Universal Church and bring all those who have died and will die this day to a holy and happy death.

Amen.

*Reprint from 2011