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Celebrating St. Joseph
St. Joseph the Worker - May 1st
Please read: Matthew 2:13-15, 19-23.
Joseph was given a unique task as the guardian and protector of Mary and of Jesus. What can we learn from the example and witness of Joseph? Joseph is a man of God, a man of unquestioning obedience and willing service. He is a man of prayer and a man of God's word. Through faith he recognized the hand of God in the mystery of the Incarnation — the Son of God taking flesh as the son of Mary. Joseph is a man of action, diligent in the care of his family and ready to do the Lord's bidding. Joseph fearlessly set aside his own plans when God called him to "take to the road" and to leave his familiar surroundings — his home, friends and relatives, and the security of his livelihood in order to pursue a hidden mission God entrusted to him as the guardian of the newborn King. God has a plan for each of us. With the plan God gives grace and the assurance of his guiding hand and care.
(From: OFS ofmcap News 2007 by Fr. Amanuel Mesgun Temelso, OFMCap, Rome, Italy.)
"God has a plan for each of us. With the plan God gives grace and the assurance of his guiding hand and care" (ibid.) For those professed in the Secular Franciscan Order, God's plan for us is that we follow the Rule of Saint Francis of Assisi for our Order.
"Our mission is that of the Church: "To evangelize is the grace and vocation proper to the Church; it is at the core of her identity" (Evangelii Nutiandi 14) We are called to carry out this mission with courage, generosity and creativity. During the General Chapter (2011) in Sao Paolo, the Holy Father in his message, asked us ” to confront with determination the evangelical challenges of this present moment, and to be builders of a civilization of love”, “witnesses and instruments of the redemptive mission of the Church, announcing Christ both by word and their own example.” It is a mission which is urgent and demanding. (Source: CIOFS 2011 General Chapter Final Message; from Encarnación del Pozo, OFS, General Minister. Sâo Paolo, 10/29/2011)
May we invoke the protection of Saint Joseph and the blessing of our Seraphic Father, St. Francis of Assisi, over the mission we have been given to do.
Listen, Discern, Go Forth!
2022-2025 OFS-USA Theme
