About a month ago, on the Solemnity of the Epiphany, I spoke in my homily about how I have been struggling in prayer about how best to evangelize in a post-Christian culture. It is still overwhelming and daunting. Part of the problem is that I am trying to find a human answer using human means. I clearly am struggling to give up control and trust that God is with us. So, how blessed and fitting it is to
have a year dedicated to St. Joseph.

St. Joseph didn’t live in a post-Christian world, but he did live in an age that sought to take the life of his Son shortly after His birth. How did
St. Joseph respond to such hostility? He did what God asked of Him. Nothing more and nothing less. The angel told Him to take the Holy Family and flee to Egypt. He did. The angel told Him to return to Nazareth. He did. He listened and did what God asked of Him. He gave up control and placed his trust in His Most High God. I can only imagine that He had his moments of doubt and uncertainty as he struggled to see the bigger picture that God was unfolding. Despite that, from what Scripture tells us—he always did what God asked of him, no hesitation.
He trusted in God and His Divine Providence.

Simply acknowledging this doesn’t help to ease the weight of the question—how do we evangelize in a post-Christian culture? But diving deep into the life of St. Joseph and learning about him and his power as an intercessor will help us to imitate him, open our ears, and trust in God. I know I need this—I am too unsettled with the unknown. I look forward to diving into this year of St. Joseph to see how the Patron of the Universal Church teaches us, leads us, and helps us to grow in his virtues.
 
Here are three opportunities for us to dive deep into the life of St. Joseph:
 
1. Parish Consecration to St. Joseph:         Using Fr. Donald H. Calloway’s book   Consecration to St. Joseph: The Wonders of our Spiritual Father, we will begin the Consecration preparatory prayers on      February 15 in order to make the           Consecration on the March 19 Solemnity of St. Joseph. If you’d like to join us, please purchase or borrow a book.
 
2. Wednesday Mornings with Jesus and  St. Joseph: Wednesdays are the day of the week dedicated to St. Joseph, so    every Wednesday between now and March 17, we will have Eucharistic       Exposition from 7:15-8:15am at OLR.      A great way to adore our Lord and    practice listening!
 
3. Faith Formation Fridays on St. Joseph: Based on the sections of Patris Corde,   the Pastoral Letter from Pope Francis announcing the Year of St. Joseph,        various fathers from the parish, staff,  and priests will discuss St. Joseph each Friday on the WWPR FB.
 
I am sure that there will more information and opportunities to help us learn from St. Joseph during this great year!
 
In Mary’s Immaculate Heart,
Fr. Jeff