St. Joseph - A Role Model for Strength, Faithfulness and Goodness

Announcer: Welcome to the Saint Coleman Catholic Church podcast from Pompano Beach. Be sure to follow us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify so that you could be notified every time we release a new episode from Saint Coleman. Welcome to episode 66 of the Saint Coleman Catholic Parish podcast. On behalf of everybody at the parish, we hope you're having a very blessed Lenten season. Now we're having Stations of the Cross every Friday throughout Lent.

We're doing that in the church, 05:30 on Friday. So we hope you'll come be a part of it. If you've never been, it's a really special time. It actually deepens our spiritual reflection. We get to contemplate the suffering, the sacrifice, and the love of Jesus.

It encourages empathy because as we walk through each station guided by our priests, we really get a chance to sort of put ourselves in the moment of the journey that Jesus was on through the 14 different stations of the cross. And it's a great way to strengthen our parish community. When you come and and you participate in this devotion in a group, we really, really get a chance to go on this journey together. So we hope to see you on Fridays at 05:30 for Stations of the Cross. Now Wednesday night of this week, the Saint Coleman Women's Club is gonna have a guest speaker, doctor Mary Carter Warren.

She's a pastoral theologian, a very highly sought after speaker for retreats. She has a doctorate of ministry. So, she's currently the mission leader at Holy Cross Health. Everybody is invited to come. That is Wednesday night, March nineteenth at 6PM.

We're ordering lilies that are gonna beautify our parish during the Easter season, and your donation will help us pay for that. Your offering can be in remembrance of loved ones, in thanksgiving for prayers answered, or a special intention. We're also going to publish the names of everyone who helps us out in the Easter bulletin. Now envelopes for Easter lilies are in the back of the church and can be put in the offertory basket. You can also call the church office, (954) 942-3533, if you'd like to order some.

And there's still two more Fridays to come out to the Saint Coleman men's club Linton fish fry. Okay? That is gonna be March 28 and April 11. Tickets are $15 for adults and just $10 for kids.

PSA: As we continue to journey through Lent, let us take time to reflect on our lives and examine our hearts. Let us ask God to reveal to us any areas where we need to repent and seek forgiveness. Let us also seek to grow in virtue and live out our faith more fully.

Announcer: Saint Joseph is the spouse of the blessed Virgin Mary, and he's the foster father of Jesus. And he's a man worth looking up to, especially for guys today. Saint Joseph shows us what it means to be strong, faithful, and good. Now Saint Joseph wasn't rich or famous. He was a simple carpenter, a hard worker who used his hands to provide for his family.

He protected Mary and Jesus even when it meant leaving everything behind to keep them safe. He didn't complain or brag. He just did what was needed to be done. That's an example of real strength, stepping up for the people you love even when it's tough. Saint Joseph is a great example to remind us to be steady, dependable, and faithful.

Pope Francis admires Saint Joseph so much that he made sure that Saint Joseph's name got added to the Eucharistic prayers, you know, the prayer that the priests say during the consecration of mass. Now Pope Francis did this because he wanted us to remember Saint Joseph's quiet, powerful role in God's plan. It's the church gently reminding us, don't forget about Saint Joseph. He's a pretty big deal in the church. Over the years, several popes have written about Saint Joseph.

We can go back to 1889 when pope Leo the thirteenth wrote an encyclical, calling Saint Joseph a protector of the church and a model for workers and fathers. In 2021, pope Francis wrote with a father's heart, to celebrate a hundred fifty years since Saint Joseph was named patron of the universal church. Pope Francis used an interesting phrase. He called him a father in the shadows, someone who did not seek attention, but loved and served with his whole heart. Now in both these examples, popes are writing about Saint Joseph almost two thousand years after he lived.

He's still very relevant to our lives today. You know what's interesting? Saint Joseph never says a single word in the gospels, not one. But his actions, they are loud and clear. When the angel told him in a dream that Mary's baby was from God, he didn't argue.

He didn't doubt. He didn't ask 50 questions. He trusted God and took Mary as his wife, even though people might have gossiped about her pregnancy. Later, when the angel warned him to flee to Egypt because King Herod wanted to kill Jesus, Joseph didn't hesitate. He got up that night and took his family to safety.

His obedience saved the savior of the world. Saint Joseph teaches us that you don't need words to show faith. Your choices, your actions can say it all. Saint Joseph had many amazing qualities. He was just, a good and honest man who followed god's law.

He was humble, never putting himself first. He was brave, facing danger to protect his family. And he was faithful, trusting God even when things didn't make sense. These virtues make him a saint, and we can all try to copy them, especially men who are charged with leading their families. The last time we see Saint Joseph in the gospels is in Luke chapter two when Jesus is 12 years old.

Mary and Joseph take him to Jerusalem for a feast, but on the way home, they realize that Jesus is missing. They search for three days. Imagine how worried they were. Finally, they find him in the temple talking with the teachers. Joseph doesn't say anything here either, but you can feel his steady presence, supporting Mary and trusting god.

After this, the gospels don't mention him again, so many think he might have passed away before Jesus grew up and started his ministry. But even in his last scene, he's quietly doing his job, raising Jesus and keeping the family together. Let us pray. Saint Joseph, teach us to trust God, protect our loved ones, and live in faith, and pray for us so we can follow your example every day. Amen.

Thanks for listening to the Saint Coleman Catholic Church podcast. If you wanna be notified every time we release a new episode, you can follow us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. And be sure to spread the word about our parish podcast.