{"id":22380,"date":"2020-12-08T22:23:17","date_gmt":"2020-12-09T03:23:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/luisapiccarreta.co\/?p=22380"},"modified":"2020-12-08T22:23:17","modified_gmt":"2020-12-09T03:23:17","slug":"12-8-pope-francis-proclaims-year-of-st-joseph","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/luisapiccarreta.co\/?p=22380","title":{"rendered":"12\/8 Pope Francis proclaims \u201cYear of St Joseph\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"
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With the Apostolic Letter \u201cPatris corde\u201d (\u201cWith a Father\u2019s Heart\u201d), Pope Francis recalls the 150th anniversary of the declaration of Saint Joseph as Patron of the Universal Church. To mark the occasion, the Holy Father has proclaimed a \u201cYear of Saint Joseph\u201d from today, 8 December 2020, to 8 December 2021.<\/p>\n

In a new Apostolic Letter entitled\u00a0Patris corde<\/strong><\/a><\/em>\u00a0<\/em>(\u201cWith a Father\u2019s Heart\u201d), Pope Francis describes Saint Joseph as a beloved father, a tender and loving father, an obedient father, an accepting father; a father who is creatively courageous, a working father, a father in the shadows.<\/p>\n

The Letter marks the 150th\u00a0anniversary of Blessed Pope Pius IX\u2019s declaration of St Joseph as Patron of the Universal Church. To celebrate the anniversary, Pope Francis has proclaimed a special \u201cYear of St Joseph,\u201d beginning on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception 2020 and extending to the same feast in 2021.<\/p>\n

Church grants plenary indulgence for year of St. Joseph<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

The Holy Father wrote\u00a0Patris corde<\/em>\u00a0against the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic, which, he says, has helped us see more clearly the importance of \u201cordinary\u201d people who, though far from the limelight, exercise patience and offer hope every day. In this, they resemble Saint Joseph, \u201cthe man who goes unnoticed, a daily, discreet and hidden presence,\u201d who nonetheless played \u201can incomparable role in the history of salvation.\u201d<\/p>\n

A beloved, tender, obedient father<\/strong><\/p>\n

Saint Joseph, in fact, \u201cconcretely expressed his fatherhood\u201d by making an offering of himself in love \u201ca love placed at the service of the Messiah who was growing to maturity in his home,\u201d writes Pope Francis, quoting his predecessor St Paul VI.<\/p>\n

And because of his role at \u201cthe crossroads between the Old and New Testament,\u201d St Joseph \u201chas always been venerated as a father by the Christian people\u201d (PC, 1). In him, \u201cJesus saw the tender love of God,\u201d the one that helps us accept our weakness, because \u201cit is through\u201d and despite \u201cour fears, our frailties, and our weakness\u201d that most divine designs are realized. \u201cOnly tender love will save us from the snares of the accuser,\u201d emphasizes the Pontiff, and it is by encountering God\u2019s mercy especially in the Sacrament of Reconciliation that we \u201cexperience His truth and tenderness,\u201d \u2013 because \u201cwe know that God\u2019s truth does not condemn us, but instead welcomes, embraces, sustains and forgives us\u201d (2).<\/p>\n

Joseph is also a father in obedience to God: with his \u2018fiat\u2019 he protects Mary and Jesus and teaches his Son to \u201cdo the will of the Father.\u201d Called by God to serve the mission of Jesus, he \u201ccooperated\u2026 in the great mystery of Redemption,\u201d as St John Paul II said, \u201cand is truly a minister of salvation\u201d (3).<\/p>\n

Welcoming the will of God<\/strong><\/p>\n

At the same time, Joseph is \u201can accepting Father,\u201d because he \u201caccepted Mary unconditionally\u201d \u2014 an important gesture even today, says Pope Francis, \u201cin our world where psychological, verbal and physical violence towards women is so evident.\u201d But the Bridegroom of Mary is also the one who, trusting in the Lord, accepts in his life even the events that he does not understand, \u201csetting aside his own ideas\u201d and reconciling himself with his own history.<\/p>\n

Joseph\u2019s spiritual path \u201cis not one that\u00a0explains<\/em>, but accepts\u201d \u2014 which does not mean that he is \u201cresigned.\u201d Instead, he is \u201ccourageously and firmly proactive,\u201d because with \u201cHoly Spirit\u2019s gift of fortitude,\u201d and full of hope, he is able \u201cto accept life as it is, with all its contradictions, frustrations and disappointments.\u201d In practice, through St. Joseph, it is as if God were to repeat to us: \u201cDo not be afraid!\u201d because \u201cfaith gives meaning to every event, however happy or sad,\u201d and makes us aware that \u201cGod can make flowers spring up from stony ground.\u201d Joseph \u201cdid not look for shortcuts but confronted reality with open eyes and accepted personal responsibility for it.\u201d For this reason, \u201che encourages us to accept and welcome others as they are, without exception, and to show special concern for the weak\u201d (4).<\/p>\n

A creatively courageous father, example of love<\/strong><\/p>\n

Patris corde<\/em>\u00a0highlights \u201cthe creative courage\u201d of St. Joseph, which \u201cemerges especially in the way we deal with difficulties.\u201d \u201cThe carpenter of Nazareth,\u201d explains the Pope, was able to turn a problem into a possibility by trusting in divine providence.\u201d He had to deal with \u201cthe concrete problems\u201d his Family faced, problems faced by other families in the world, and especially those of migrants.<\/p>\n

In this sense, St. Joseph is \u201cthe special patron of all those forced to leave their native lands because of war, hatred, persecution and poverty.\u201d As the guardian of Jesus and Mary, Joseph cannot \u201cbe other than the guardian of the Church,\u201d of her motherhood, and of the Body of Christ. \u201cConsequently, every poor, needy, suffering or dying person, every stranger, every prisoner, every infirm person is \u2018the child\u2019 whom Joseph continues to protect.\u201d From St Joseph, writes Pope Francis, \u201cwe must learn\u2026 to love the Church and the poor\u201d (5).<\/p>\n

A father who teaches the value, dignity and joy of work<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cA carpenter who earned an honest living to provide for his family,\u201d St Joseph also teaches us \u201cthe value, the dignity and the joy of what it means to eat bread that is the fruit of one\u2019s own labour.\u201d This aspect of Joseph\u2019s character provides Pope Francis the opportunity to launch an appeal in favour of work, which has become \u201ca burning social issue\u201d even in countries with a certain level of well-being. \u201cthere is a renewed need to appreciate the importance of dignified work, of which Saint Joseph is an exemplary patron,\u201d the Pope writes.<\/p>\n

Work, he says, \u201cis 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.\u201d Those who work, he explains, \u201care cooperating with God himself, and in some way become creators of the world around us.\u201d Pope Francis encourages everyone \u201cto rediscover the value, the importance and the necessity of work for bringing about a new \u2018normal\u2019 from which no one is excluded.\u201d Especially in light of rising unemployment due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Pope calls everyone to \u201creview our priorities\u201d and to express our firm conviction that no young person, no person at all, no family should be without work!\u201d (6).<\/p>\n

A father \u201cin the shadows,\u201d centred on Mary and Jesus<\/strong><\/p>\n

Taking a cue from\u00a0The Shadow of the Father<\/em>\u00a0\u2014 a book by Polish writer Jan Dobraczy\u0144ski \u2014 Pope Francis describes Joseph\u2019s fatherhood of Jesus as \u201cthe earthly shadow of the heavenly Father.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFathers are not born, but made,\u201d says Pope Francis. \u201cA man does not become a father simply by bringing a child into the world, but by taking up the responsibility to care for that child.\u201d Unfortunately, in today\u2019s society, children \u201coften seem orphans, lacking fathers\u201d who are able to introduce them \u201cto life and reality.\u201d Children, the Pope says, need fathers who will not try to dominate them, but instead raise them to be \u201ccapable of deciding for themselves, enjoying freedom and exploring new possibilities.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is the sense in which St Joseph is described as a \u201cmost chaste\u201d father, which is the opposite of domineering possessiveness. Joseph, says Pope Francis, \u201cknew how to love with extraordinary freedom.\u00a0 He never made himself the centre of things.\u00a0 He did not think of himself, but focused instead on the lives of Mary and Jesus.\u201d<\/p>\n

Happiness for Joseph involved a true gift of self: \u201cIn him, we never see frustration, but only trust,\u201d writes Pope Francis. \u201cHis patient silence was the prelude to concrete expressions of trust.\u201d Joseph stands out, therefore, as an exemplary figure for our time, in a world that \u201cneeds fathers,\u201d and not \u201ctyrants\u201d; a society that \u201crejects those who confuse authority with authoritarianism, service with servility, discussion with oppression, charity with a welfare mentality, power with destruction.\u201d<\/p>\n

True fathers, instead, \u201crefuse to live the lives of their children for them,\u201d and instead respect their freedom. In this sense, says Pope Francis, a father realizes that \u201che is most a father and an educator at the point when he becomes \u2018useless,\u2019 when he sees that his child has become independent and can walk the paths of life unaccompanied.\u201d Being a father, the Pope emphasizes, \u201chas nothing to do with possession, but is rather a \u2018sign\u2019 pointing to a greater fatherhood\u201d: that of the \u201cheavenly Father\u201d (7).<\/p>\n

A daily prayer to St Joseph\u2026 and a challenge<\/strong><\/p>\n

In his letter, Pope Francis notes how, \u201cEvery day, for over forty years, following Lauds [Morning Prayer]\u201d he has \u201crecited a prayer to Saint Joseph taken from a nineteenth-century French prayer book of the Congregation of the Sisters of Jesus and Mary.\u201d This prayer, he says, expresses devotion and trust, and even poses a certain challenge to Saint Joseph,\u201d on account of its closing words: \u201cMy beloved father, all my trust is in you.\u00a0 Let it not be said that I invoked you in vain, and since you can do everything with Jesus and Mary, show me that your goodness is as great as your power.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the conclusion of his Letter, he adds another prayer to St Joseph, which he encourages all of us to pray together:<\/p>\n

Hail, Guardian of the Redeemer,
\nSpouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
\nTo you God entrusted his only Son;
\nin you Mary placed her trust;
\nwith you Christ became man.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Blessed Joseph, to us too,
\nshow yourself a father
\nand guide us in the path of life.
\nObtain for us grace, mercy, and courage,
\nand defend us from every evil.\u00a0 Amen.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

By Vatican News<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

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La Redazione<\/span><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Click here for website With the Apostolic Letter \u201cPatris corde\u201d (\u201cWith a Father\u2019s Heart\u201d), Pope Francis recalls the 150th anniversary of the declaration of Saint Joseph as Patron of the Universal Church. To mark the occasion, the Holy Father has … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7779,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22380","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-divine-will"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/luisapiccarreta.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22380","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/luisapiccarreta.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/luisapiccarreta.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/luisapiccarreta.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7779"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/luisapiccarreta.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=22380"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/luisapiccarreta.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22380\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22382,"href":"https:\/\/luisapiccarreta.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22380\/revisions\/22382"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/luisapiccarreta.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22380"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/luisapiccarreta.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22380"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/luisapiccarreta.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22380"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}