IN THIS YEAR OF SAINT JOSEPH

Fr. Denis Wilde, O.S.A. has penned an article on the husband of Mary and Patron of the Universal Church in this 150th anniversary of the papal proclamation designating him as such.

From CatholicExchange.com (catholicexchange.com/all-of-us-should-go-to-st-joseph):

All of Us Should Go to St. Joseph by Fr. Denis Wilde, O.S.A.

“Ite ad Joseph” (“Go to Joseph”) is one of the ancient cries of the Catholic Church. This year in particular, celebrating the 150th anniversary of Blessed Pius IX acclaiming Saint Joseph as the universal Protector of the Church, Pope Francis has invited us to do just that in the Year of Saint Joseph, encouraging both prayer and intercession, petitions, inspiration, and even Consecration. 

The Feast of St. Joseph, March 19, is upon us.  

Were it not for the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, we would just have a passing reference to his name in Mark and John.  The precious accounts of Christmas are Matthew’s and Luke’s alone. And of these, Matthew pivots on St. Joseph more than does Luke, both reverencing the Divine intervention first in Mary. In all, Joseph is silent. Not a word in scripture do we have from him. Yet the Church has echoed down through the ages “Go to Joseph!” And he is considered the greatest of the Saints after Mary.

Silent but ever responsive, he is obedient to the dream of God’s inspiration.  His first dream allowed him to understand from God’s messenger his betrothed and beloved Mary’s pregnancy after her three month Visitation to her elder relative Elizabeth, who was carrying John the Baptist. Could Joseph have accompanied her there and then returned?  And if so had he heard the mysterious words from Elizabeth addressing Mary as “Mother of the Lord”?  What would he make of that?  

Some translations from Matthew’s Gospel have Joseph deciding to “divorce” Mary according to his legal rights. For violating the betrothal, under Jewish law Joseph also could have had her stoned to death.  But there was no violation, and once Joseph received the angel’s confirmation “that through the Holy Spirit this child was conceived in her” (Mt 1:20), he was to “take her into his home” as he originally intended, his misgivings replaced with wonder and reverence.   Instead of entitled legal self-regard, Joseph intended to distance himself, welled by humility before the power of God uniquely enacted in Mary.  He was looking for the welfare of the other and drawing on God’s plan above all personal “rights.”   It was not an abandonment. 

Joseph’s response to the angel’s message is immediate, trusting, magnanimous, self-sacrificing (his own fatherhood), chaste and courageous. He is pre-disposed as just, but more than that. He looks to God, then Mary and does so without fanfare.

The next journey from Nazareth is back to Judea, this time not to Elizabeth’s home, but nearby Bethlehem. That was obedience to an imperial census, displacing all to their home of ancestry. Joseph and Mary had to settle for a home for animals and a feeding trough for the Divine Birth after the arduous journey. One can only imagine Joseph’s repeated disappointment on not being able to provide, as any good husband would, a place for accommodation for a birthing mother—for this Mother and for this Child!  Yet no complaint rings forth from the Gospel.  

Taking refuge in the Sinai desert is no picnic but that is where the next dream from heaven’s angel ordered Joseph, as leader and provider for the Holy Family. Again, prompt obedience to God’s plan in escaping the slaughter of the innocents in Bethlehem drew this head of the Holy Family into action: Escape to Egypt! In 1871 the Church honored Joseph with the title Protector of the Universal Church, reflecting his protection of the Head of the Mystical Body, Our Infant Lord. He is also revered  as ”savior of the Savior,” a powerful term applied not even to Mary. 

It is vital to recognize that the Annunciation of Mary,  the “saving” of the Savior (from Herod) by Joseph and the Passion and Death of Jesus 30 years hence were explicitly pivoted on all giving obedience to “let this be done” according to a higher order than man’s law, convenience or logic, but to God’s Will ultimately to save us. 

The lesser known beautiful litany of Saint Joseph derives from the 16th century and personifies this Joseph who first saw the Divine Infant and surely was blessed by Him at Joseph’s death. Here are excerpts worth pondering:

Foster-father of the Son of God,
Watchful defender of Christ,
Head of the Holy Family,
Joseph most just,
Joseph most chaste,
Joseph most prudent,
Joseph most valiant,
Joseph most obedient,
Joseph most faithful,
Mirror of patience,
Model of workmen,
Example to parents,
Patron of the dying,
Terror of demons,
Protector of the Church, pray for us.

All of us, but particularly fathers, husbands and laborers, should “go to Joseph” in prayer for manly inspiration — most just, chaste, obedient, faithful, prudent, patient, listener, silent, God-fearing, provider and protector of both born and unborn!

Indeed, “Ite ad Joseph.”  Saint Joseph, protect us!

Next Justice and Peace 2021 Webinar Series

The next Justice and Peace Webinar Series: Solidarity and Prison Ministry is April 21st at 7:30 P.M. Presenter Dr. Kathryn Getek Soltis, Director, Office of Justice and Peace, Villanova University.

Register Here

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Justice and Peace Ministry

Fr. Richard L. Foley, O.S.A., May 21, 1934—March 12, 2021

Richard Leo Foley was born on May 21, 1934, in Salem, Massachusetts, the only child of Leo B. Foley and Mary E. Hyde, and was baptized on June 12, 1934, at Immaculate Conception Church, Salem. He attended Saint Clement Academy, Canton, MA, Howe-Manning School, Middleton, MA, Richmond School, Danvers, MA, and Saint John’s Preparatory School, Danvers, MA. He transferred in 1951, before his last year of high school, to Augustinian Academy, Staten Island, New York, as a postulant. Dick was received into the Order as a novice on September 9, 1952, and following a year at Good Counsel Novitiate, New Hamburg, NY, he professed simple vows on September 10, 1953. He then attended Villanova University from which he received a BA degree in Philosophy in 1957. On September 10, 1956 he made his solemn profession of vows at Villanova. He pursued theological studies at Augustinian College from 1957 to 1961 and was ordained to the priesthood at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Washington, DC, on June 4, 1960, by Bishop John McNamara. He also studied at LaSalle College, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he received an MA in Religious Education in 1971.

Father Foley was assigned to Saint Joseph Friary and Msgr. Bonner High School, Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, where he taught from 1961 to 1968. He then taught for a year at Austin Preparatory School, Reading, MA. Beginning in 1969, and for the next forty-three years, he ministered as an associate in various parishes of the Province. From 1969 to 1976, he was assigned to Saint Mary Parish, Waterford, NY. In that latter year he was transferred to Saint Augustine Parish, Andover, MA, where he remained until 1982. He spent one year at Holy Rosary Parish, Lawrence, MA, and then went to Saint Augustine Parish, Troy, NY in 1983. In 1992 he was reassigned to Saint Augustine Parish, Andover, MA, until, in January 2012, he retired for health reasons to Saint Thomas of Villanova Monastery, Villanova, PA. In the last several years there he was cared for in the Health Care Unit where he passed away on Friday, March 12, 2021 at the age of 86, in the 68th year of religious profession and the 60th of priesthood.

Father Foley was a quiet, reserved friar, who carried out his responsibilities with great thoroughness, especially notable in the preparation of his homilies. Though initially hesitant about the thought of leaving the smaller community lifestyle he had become accustomed to for the larger community experience of the Villanova monastery, he quickly adapted to his new environment and spoke gratefully of the opportunity that had been given him.

Tuesday, March 16, 2021

Viewing and Funeral Mass:

St. Thomas of Villanova Church, Villanova, PA

9:30 -10:30 am (Viewing)

10:30 am (Mass)

Burial:

Following the Funeral Mass

Calvary Cemetery

West Conshohocken, PA

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Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord.

And let perpetual light shine upon him.

May his soul, and the souls of all the faithful departed,

through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.