Friday, March 19, 2010

Feast of St. Joseph


St. Joseph is the patron saint of social justice, workers and a happy death (and a list of others). While St. Joseph is described as a just man in scripture, I think his life embodied my favorite quote from Albert Einstein, "Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile."

As we witness the inequalities within our now global society, the situation is in need of prayer! St. Joseph as father and protector of the Holy Family lived a quiet life of devotion and he earned his living as a carpenter. His patronage of workers is easy to understand in this regard as well. The overlap between the workers and working for social justice has been realized by many religious communities and most prominently perhaps by those in the Catholic Worker.

Coming from the Benedictine tradition, the notion of work takes on spiritual connotations for me. This is the notion of how "what we do" contributes to "who we are".

And when all is said and done, I pray to St. Joseph for a happy death!

PRAYER FOR A HAPPY DEATH

O BLESSED JOSEPH, who yielded up thy last breath in the arms
of Jesus and Mary, obtain for me this grace, O holy Joseph,
that I may breathe forth my soul in praise, saying in spirit,
if I am unable to do so in words:

"Jesus, Mary and Joseph, I give Thee my heart and my soul."
Amen.

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