St. Joseph

We interrupt this Eastern Rite calendar to bring you St. Joseph. Why? Because St. Joseph (feast day March 19 on the Western calendar, patron of the universal Church) does not have a separate feast day on the Eastern calendar. This may lead…

One shivery November night in northern Indiana we went to my brother’s house for a family celebration. My brother worked construction and was still on the job when my sisters, parents, and I arrived. While my brother worked late we and his…

Think Jesus. Here’s the simplest yet most perfect prayer you’ll ever pray: “Jesus.”  The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains, “The invocation of the holy name of Jesus is the simplest way of praying always” (2668). In January the…

May 1 is the Optional Memorial of St. Joseph the Worker. Take some time to read these reflections about St. Joseph from Pope Francis. I ask for you the grace to be ever closer to your children, allow them to grow, but be close, close! They…

The Church puts great emphasis on St. Joseph and for good reason. As foster father of Christ, taking care of the young Savior and looking after his Most Blessed Mother, he is among the most distinguished figures in Christianity. And yet…

It’s perfect that St. Joseph’s Day comes just seven days before Passion Sunday this year. This Sunday we will hear how Jesus died in obedience to his Father, in heaven. This Monday we learn that it wasn’t just his heavenly Father he was…

The Nativity of Jesus has been inspiring Christian art since Christian art first began.  One of the most primitive Christian images, in fact, dating back to the third century and found in the Catacombs of Priscilla in Rome, is a picture of…

There are two types of Christmas movies: the classics such as Miracle on 34th Street or It’s a Wonderful Life and then there are the contemporary Hallmark Channel or Netflix Originals. I’ve heard people lament, especially about the latter,…

St. Joseph was chosen among all men, to be the protector and guardian of the Virgin Mother of God; the defender and foster-father of the Infant-God, and the only co-operator upon earth, the one confidant of the secret of God in the work of…

On the feast of the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Pope Francis announced a year to honor St. Joseph, blessed spouse of Mary, and the patron saint of families, workers, the sick, and the dying.…