St. Joseph

AS Pope Francis told us, he is devoted to St. Joseph the dreamer. Accordingly, he has a statue of St. Joseph reclining. Joseph dreamt to take Mary as his wife and dreamed that they should escape to Egypt for the enemies of the Child were after Him. He also learned from a dream not to go back to Bethlehem, their ancestral home, after their stay in Egypt but to go to Nazareth in Galilee to keep away from the enemies of the Child. Like Pope Francis, I know of a widow who put her petitions to St. Joseph on slips of paper under his reclining statue. Her children now have a box full of these petitions over the years, most of them answered positively by St. Joseph.

St. Joseph is patron of the dying because we assume that when he died he had Mary and Jesus at his side, something we would like to have. He is also patron of the family, since God the Father entrusted to him the care of the holy family. He is also in charge of the sanctity and happiness of our families. He is patron for our concerns and the Filipino is devoted to him, calling many of their children Jose and Josefa. Finally he is patron of the workman since he supported the holy family through his labor and expertise as a carpenter. He also taught the Child Jesus his knowledge of carpentry, so patron of carpenters. And finally we must call him patron saint of dreamers.

Several dates celebrate the feasts of St. Joseph. March 19 is the liturgical feast from long ago and May 1 Labor Day, has recently been celebrated as the feast of St. Joseph. They also attribute to him the function of match maker. They tell of a good young lady who prayed numerous novenas to various saints to facilitate that she have a good boyfriend who was worthy of being her husband. After a couple of novenas to St. Joseph, she got frustrated and threw the image of St. Joseph out the window. Her window happened to look out on a street. A young man who was passing when the statue fell picked it up and rang the bell to return the statue to the owner. He explained to the door opener that he picked up the statue which fell from the window. He kept up the visits and eventually became her husband. True or not, it is a good story in favor of St. Joseph as match maker.

I am not sure if he is a patron saint of this country but it would be good for us. He would be a guardian for honesty for our politicians and to keep the good of the community the first of their objectives. There is so much to be done and no one can do it all. The President of a democracy is not an angel, nor can he be, but we must trust that he would try his best for the country. The position of President is a job that can overwhelm a man. He is not only the father of the family but also the brother, the uncle, and the godparent who seeks the good of the members of the community and of the community as a whole.

To St. Joseph then we commend our politicians, especially the President, our young ladies, our workers, especially carpenters, our youth and the dying. Intercede for us St. Jo- seph. You are most powerful with the Almighty who entrusted to your care His only begotten Son and the woman whom He chose to be mother of His Son. We ask him to be our protector and guide.