A little bit of background about myself - I am a Social Work and Catholic Studies major with a burning passion for urban Catholic education. I am from Nashville and attended an awesome church and school growing up that is a huge part of who I am today - St. Joseph.
So, St. Joseph has always been in my life. I know his backstory like the back of my hand, but I honestly thought he was really boring growing up. Boy was I wrong!!!
At the end of highschool and beginning of college, I began to fall in love with the Immaculate heart of Mary and Sacred heart of Jesus. My faith and love and fervor began to multiply but did not feel complete until this past advent.
Let me tell you - St. Joseph did not just knock on the door of my heart - he kicked the door down. In more beautiful terms, he pursued my heart to lead me into a deeper relationship with our Lord. For advent, I felt a huge calling to consecrate myself to the most chaste heart of St. Joseph to complete the working of the Holy Family within my heart.
At many points of our life, Saints will call us into friendship. My life and faith have been intimately led by the Saints and St. Joseph has become my best friend at this time in my life. Similar to earthly friendships, they lead us closer to Christ and inspire us to be who God is calling us to be.
While consecrating myself to St. Joseph, a title of his that captured my heart was “Lover of Poverty.”
St. Joseph as the Lover of Poverty is the most perfect example of humility and trust in the providence of our Lord. St. Joseph was unpretentious in the eyes of the world. He had no worldly ambition or desire for recognition. He was also very very poor. The Holy Family lived on Divine Providence. The gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh given by the Wise Men supported them for the majority of their life.
In imagining the humility of St. Joseph, I often bring myself to the home of the Holy Family. There are other moments you could imagine too - St. Joseph accepting Mary as his bride knowing she was pregnant with the son of God or the wise men not acknowledging the presence of St. Joseph when visiting Christ and Mary.
Personally, I am in love with the ordinary life of the Holy Family. I invite you all to close your eyes and picture what simple mornings look like for the young Holy Family.
Imagine yourself in their home...Follow St. Joseph into the room of the sleeping Christ child...How does St. Joseph wake up the Christ child, the Savior of the World? Follow St. Joseph into their kitchen...What are the first words he says to Mary, the Mother of God in the morning? What are the topics of conversation that St. Joseph has with Mary and Jesus, the new Adam and Eve? How is St. Joseph loving Mary and Jesus?
St. Joseph was an ordinary man in extraordinary circumstances. His life was simple and humble. Yet, he invited our Lord into every waking moment. A constant prayer of mine is for the same grace of humility that St. Joseph had to love and serve the Holy Family.
In my life, my call to love and to serve is currently changing. Before covid, I was able to serve on a weekly basis and in a structured way and my love felt as though it had no limitations. I could have fit as many as 5 friend dates in one day. In every moment, I was able to love intentionally, thoughtfully, and without reservation. Now, with the trauma and limitations of covid, my love has become limited. I am sure St. Joseph too felt limited in his love from time to time in the stress of sheltering and protecting the Holy Family, providing for Mary and Jesus, and raising the child of God. A quote that comes to mind for me in our call to love and to serve is Mother Teresa on finding our own Calcutta:
"Stay where you are. Find your own Calcutta. Find the sick, the suffering and the lonely right there where you are - in your own homes and in your own families, in your workplaces and in your schools..You can find Calcutta all over the world, if you have the eyes to see. Everywhere, wherever you go, you find people who are unwanted, unloved, uncared for, just rejected by society - completely forgotten, completely left alone."
- St. Mother Teresa
We do not have to be placed in extraordinary circumstances to love in a bold, big way. Your neighbors, your friends, your family those sitting next to you are your calcuttas to pour out the love you can and when you can. All it takes is slowing down, inviting our Lord into the everyday, ordinary of our lives.
I am beginning to feel our Lord pursuing me and calling me to the pursuit of love in the ordinary and in the mundane. The Lord is not coming to me and extravagance or boldness. He’s coming to me in an impoverished way to trust in His providential ways. My prayer in my call to love is not as bold and not as seen as it has been, but it’s gentle, it's silent, it is soft
In knowing the ways in which we are being called to love, we can look to the Holy family. They knew what it meant to trust and to be still and they know what it means to do whatever God tells you to do.
Allow our Lord to pursue you and pursue Him in every waking moment.
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