Looking back at the weekly messages of Father Paul Counce, first published in The Carpenter, our weekly Parish Bulletin
Published: December 20, 2020
Often when I sit down to write my weekly column for The Carpenter it’s a struggle to think of something to write about. But on other occasions it’s easy. This week is one of those times: because of something Pope Francis did, it’s a no-brainer.
On December 8, in an Apostolic Letter titled Patris corde (“With a Father’s Heart”), the Holy Father recalled the 150th anniversary of Pope Pius IX’s declaration of St. Joseph as Patron of the Universal Church by proclaiming a special religious “Year of St. Joseph”! For the next 12 months, he specially commends St. Joseph to us all, as a beloved father, a tender and loving father, an obedient father, an accepting father; a father who is creatively courageous, a working father, and a humble father.
Pope Francis did this, he says, against the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic, which helps us see more clearly the importance of “ordinary” people who, far from the limelight, exercise patience and offer hope every day. In this, they resemble St. Joseph, “the man who goes unnoticed, a daily, discreet and hidden presence,” who nonetheless played “an incomparable role in the history of salvation.”
More than anything else, of course, St. Joseph was the husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the foster-father of Jesus. In this, the pope quoted his predecessor St. Paul VI, by noting that he offered himself in love “a love placed at the service of the Messiah who was growing to maturity in his home.”
In this role, St. Joseph helps us accept our limitations, because despite “our fears, our frailties, and our weakness” God’s plans always come to fruition. St. Joseph had no idea what was in store for him, but by accepting God’s will and caring for Mary and Jesus the best he could, he “cooperated … in the great mystery of Redemption,” as St. John Paul II said, and became for us all “a minister of salvation.”
St. Joseph’s spiritual path, then, was “not one that explains, but accepts” – because with hope and the Holy Spirit he was able “to accept life as it is, with all its contradictions, frustrations and disappointments.” In practice, through St. Joseph, God continues to say to us those most classic Biblical words: “Do not be afraid!”
The Pope emphasized that St. Joseph the Carpenter also humbly teaches us “the value, the dignity and the joy of what it means to work for a living. Labor “is a means of participating in the work of salvation, an opportunity to hasten the coming of the Kingdom, to develop our talents and abilities, and to put them at the service of society and fraternal communion.” Those who work, the Holy Father explained, “cooperate with God Himself, and in some way become creators of the world around us.” Pope Francis encourages everyone “to rediscover the value, importance and necessity of work, especially in light of rampant unemployment due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Over the course of this next year – especially, God willing, as we emerge from the shadow the coronavirus – we will be able to celebrate better the many ways in which St. Joseph can inspire and assist us. Already, in the celebration of the Christmas season this week and next, we have a magnificent opportunity to begin to imitate the quiet, humble, but also strong St. Joseph, who is not only patron of the Universal Church but also of our own beloved Cathedral Parish.
Yours in Christ, the adopted son of St. Joseph,
Very Rev. Paul D. Counce
