18 March 2021 · 2021-03 newsletter
March 19 – Solemnity of St Joseph
On 19th March we celebrate the Solemnity of St. Joseph, spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Pope Francis in his Apostolic Letter “Patris corde” (“With a Father’s Heart”), describes Saint Joseph as a beloved father, a tender and loving father, an obedient father, an accepting father; a father who is creatively courageous, and a working father who teaches the value, dignity and joy of work. He spoke of St. Joseph as a father in the shadows who knew how to love with extraordinary freedom. He never made himself the centre of things. He did not think of himself but focussed instead on the lives of Mary and Jesus. In this way he exemplified true fatherhood which is so often lacking in today’s society.
The Holy Father said that he wrote this letter against the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic, which, he says, has helped us to see more clearly the importance of “ordinary” people who, though far from the limelight, exercise patience and offer hope every day. In this, they resemble St. Joseph, “the man who goes unnoticed, a daily, discreet and hidden presence,” who nonetheless played “an incomparable role in the history of salvation.”
He further said that the contemporary world required examples of true fatherhood. “Our world today needs fathers. It has no use for tyrants who would domineer others as a means of compensating for their own needs,” he wrote. “It rejects those who confuse authority with authoritarianism, service with servility, discussion with oppression, charity with a welfare mentality, power with destruction.”
The pope added: “In every exercise of our fatherhood, we should always keep in mind that it has nothing to do with possession, but is rather a ‘sign’ pointing to a greater fatherhood. In a way, we are all like Joseph: a shadow of the heavenly Father, who ‘makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust’ (Matthew 5:45). And a shadow that follows his Son.”
At the conclusion of his Letter, Pope Francis added a prayer to St Joseph, which he encourages all of us to pray together:
Hail, Guardian of the Redeemer,
Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
To you God entrusted his only Son; in you Mary placed her trust;
with you Christ became man.
Blessed Joseph, to us too, show yourself a father
and guide us in the path of life.
Obtain for us grace, mercy, and courage, and defend us from every evil.
Amen.
March 19 – Name Day of Father Joseph Kentenich
On 19th March we also remember the name day of our father and founder – Father Joseph Kentenich. Perhaps as a special gift to him on this day we could say a prayer for his beatification:
Eternal Triune God, for love of you and your Holy Church,
Schoenstatt’s founder always strove to do your will
and win many hearts for you.
Through Mary, the Mother Thrice Admirable and Queen of Schoenstatt,
give him what he asks on our behalf and grant that he may soon be raised to the honours of the altar,
so that he may work even more fruitfully than while on earth for you and your kingdom.
Amen
25th March – The Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord
At the great moment of the Annunciation, Mary spoke her humble, Ecce ancilla Domini, and she never withdrew it. She served selflessly from the first to the last moment of her life. In order to serve she hastened over the mountains. She wanted to serve at the marriage at Cana. Her quiet life at Nazareth was loving service and self-surrender. She served her Child, her royal Child, the eternal God. She did not ask what her heart desired, she did not serve herself. She, the great Queen, served the great God as the little, simple handmaid. Thus her life was a royal service and we want to share in this royal service.
(From: ‘Sign of Light for the World’, Fr. J. Kentenich)
Holy Week and Easter
At the end of March we celebrate Holy Week, with the Good Friday ceremonies of the Lord’s Passion (2nd April) and the celebration of the resurrection of Christ on Easter Sunday (4th April)
With these ceremonies in mind, I would like to share with you an extract from a sermon that Father Kentenich gave on Easter Sunday (18th April 1965) in St Michael’s Parish church in Milwaukee. In that sermon he said:
“As we have done each year, so this year we again wish one another a richly blessed feast of Easter. So what do we wish one another? Easter joys, which are mainly rooted in the fact that we become inwardly aware that Christ is present as the transfigured, as the risen Lord in our own hearts, but also in the hearts of our children, of our relations, in human hearts in general……
Christ, the Lord, carried out the work of our redemption – and hence the most perfect glorification of the Father – through the paschal mystery, that is, through the Easter mystery. Our Lord carried out the work of redemption through his glorious suffering, through his resurrection from the dead and through his ascension…. We should remember that not just the cross, the suffering of our Lord, but also his glorious resurrection should be an example for our lives…
We should see Easter as a mystery, as a life-process, that has become a reality in us at baptism. Baptism should be a reflection of the Easter mystery.”
May the blessings and joys of the Easter Season be with you and your family.
Christ is Risen, Alleluia!
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