A Year of Saint Joseph
by Father Christopher Rengers, O.F.M. Capuchin
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Saint Teresa of Avila |
 The path
of Saint Joseph through his earthly life was a quiet hidden one. The same
may be said of his devotional path through
the Christian centuries. Many have carried him silently in their hearts,
have looked at his statues
in the Christmas stable scene. And they have
understood that he was an intimate,
important part of the silent night when a Star
shone from above, and the song of the angels
joined the praise of the shepherds. But, as Cardinal
Newman has pointed out, Joseph himself
was long a star dimly seen in devotional practice, a man
quietly loved by many, but waiting,
so to say, in the vestibule until the strong voices of Saint
Bernardine, Saint Teresa of Avila and others summoned him into the sanctuary.
It was only in 1870 that Pius IX
declared him universal Patron of the Church
and extended his major feastday
to the whole Church.
His path, though hidden, has deep, broad
roots. The reasons for honoring Saint Joseph
and his place in the Church
were given classical expression in the great encyclical Quamquam Pluries
by Pope Leo XIII in 1889. Pope
John Paul II chose the centenary of this writing to issue his Apostolic
Exhortation Redemptoris
Custos (Guardian of the Redeemer).
He did so, that all may grow in devotion to the
patron of the universal Church and in love for the Savior Whom he served
in such an exemplary manner. He did so to help the Church on the road to the
future to discover her own
identity within the redemptive plan, and so
be enabled to guide humanity also called to redemption. In his way of
presenting Saint Joseph, the Holy
Father indicates a new kind of universality through his
intercession, and by his example as leader of the Holy Family.
Saint Joseph will play a personal role
Saint Joseph, the Pope
says, had a definite place in that fullness of time when Jesus was born. Now he
has a definite place in the new fullness of time we
are coming into with the advent of the third Christian
millennium. Our prayers and the very person of Joseph
have renewed significance for the Church in our day in light of the third Christian
millennium. The very person of Joseph indicates that Saint
Joseph will play a personal role, beyond
intercession, in the years to come.
We might speculate on what shape that role will take.
From the present weak shape of
the family we can well assume that the role of Saint Joseph will be to strengthen
the family. His way of loving Jesus
and Mary, his
steadiness and calm in the face of
danger and difficulty,
his peace
in poverty, his leadership
in making decisions about when to leave for Egypt, about where to live on
their return - provide guidance for husbands and fathers.
He will come with the Child
 According to the revelations at Fatima
in 1917, Saint
Joseph will come with the Child
to bless the world, and a new era of
peace will follow. In other words, he
will come as a father to guide fathers
in their way of loving their wives
as he loved
Mary, and their children as
he loved
Jesus. He
will be seen as a husband who inspires
trust and guarantees
stability in the family.
Lord Jesus, Come we pray during the Advent season. Perhaps during this time of
preparation for the third Christian millennium
we can act on the promise of Mary at
Fatima and say, Come Saint Joseph with the Child.
Perhaps Our Lady is inviting us to make this
an insistent invitation.
A layman made a suggestion a few years ago
that would incorporate our invitation in a formal way by asking the Holy Father
to declare a Year of Saint Joseph.
Acting on this some of his friends have
written to bishops and superiors of
Religious to present the idea. Responses have in general been
encouraging, but much more could be done to indicate a genuine movement of the Holy Spirit in the Church.
The time for prayer and more definite action is now.
  With the greatly
improved means of travel and communication the time is ripe for a great new spread of the Gospel
in the 21st century. One big portion of
humanity is dedicated to Saint Joseph but
has heard little about him. He is the Patron of China. There alone an immense field is
ripe for the harvest. A Chinese-American friend has had thousands of prayer cards printed
with the invocation: Pray for China.
The conversion of Russia promised by Mary
at Fatima has seen its beginning in the
remarkable fall of Communism
in 1989. We can also recall that in 1937, Pope Pius XI made
Saint Joseph the Patron
against Communism.
In his encyclical outlining vast preparations for the
year 2000 A.D. Pope John Paul II
says that the effects of Vatican II are still in the process of entering
into the life of the Church and the world.
We may recall in this regard that Saint Joseph
was named Patron of Vatican II
before it began by Pope John XXIII. Logically then, Saint
Joseph remains the special saint
to call upon so the Council may bear the fruits
it hopes for.
Good effects of a Year of Saint Joseph
 If the Holy Father would declare a Year
of Saint Joseph, it would stimulate devotion and study, and bring
much joy to the Church. The focus would be
on the man "closest
to Christ" as the title of one of the books by Father Francis
Filas, S.J., proclaims. It would be the occasion for meetings of scholars, for
festivals for workingmen, for renewed piety
in so many parishes and institutions and religious
congregations which claim him
as patron.
Thinking more of Joseph would help to revive
the practice of virtues associated
with him: justice, humility,
purity. It would give occasion for wives
and children to look to husband and father
as "the Joseph" in their family. Perhaps a
Year of Saint Joseph would help to
bring about the inclusion explicitly of Saint Joseph's
name in every Eucharistic Prayer, as was
intended by Pope John when he put Joseph's
name in the old Roman Canon of the Mass.
The universality of Saint Joseph's
patronage and his place in our new fullness of time are set forth very plainly in the prayer
which concludes the Apostolic Exhortation Redemptoris
Custos (Guardian of the Redeemer).
May Saint Joseph become for all of us an exceptional teacher
in the service of Christ's saving mission, a mission which is the responsibility of each
and every member of the Church: Husbands and wives, parents, those who live by the work of
their hands or by any other kind of work, those called to the contemplative life and those
called to the apostolate. This just man, who bore within himself the entire heritage of
the old covenant, was also brought into the "beginning" of the new and eternal
covenant in Jesus Christ. May he show us the paths of this saving covenant as we stand at
the threshold of the next millennium, in which there must be a continuation and further
development of the fullness of time that belongs to the ineffable mystery of the
Incarnation of the Word. May Saint Joseph obtain for the Church and for the world, as well
as for each of us, the blessing of the  Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
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