{"id":145062,"date":"2024-03-01T12:00:35","date_gmt":"2024-03-01T17:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/?p=145062"},"modified":"2026-02-26T11:26:20","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T16:26:20","slug":"journey-with-a-fathers-heart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/journey-with-a-fathers-heart\/","title":{"rendered":"Journey with a Father’s Heart"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Pope Francis dedicated a year to St. Joseph. Join us in a Meditation Novena to St. Joseph, Patron Saint of the Universal Church starting March 10th.<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Written by Teresa Williams, CRC, these nine daily meditations will pull text from Pope Francis\u2019s Apostolic Letter:\u00a0Patris Corde<\/em><\/strong><\/a> (With the Father\u2019s Heart). Each day will include a text, a short meditation, and a prayer.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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<\/i><\/span><\/i><\/span>Day 1 -Introduction<\/span><\/i><\/div>

Day 1 – Introduction<\/b><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Excerpt from Patris Corde:<\/b><\/p>\n

WITH A FATHER\u2019S HEART: that is how Joseph loved Jesus, whom all four Gospels refer to as <\/span>\u201cthe son of Joseph\u201d<\/span><\/i>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Matthew and Luke, the two Evangelists who speak most of Joseph, tell us very little, yet enough for us to appreciate what sort of father he was, and the mission entrusted to him by God\u2019s providence.<\/span><\/p>\n

We know that Joseph was a lowly carpenter (cf. <\/span>Mt<\/span><\/i> 13:55), betrothed to Mary (cf. <\/span>Mt<\/span><\/i> 1:18; <\/span>Lk<\/span><\/i> 1:27). He was a \u201cjust man\u201d (<\/span>Mt<\/span><\/i> 1:19), ever ready to carry out God\u2019s will as revealed to him in the Law (cf. <\/span>Lk<\/span><\/i> 2:22.27.39) and through four dreams (cf. <\/span>Mt<\/span><\/i> 1:20; 2:13.19.22). After a long and tiring journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem, he beheld the birth of the Messiah in a stable, since \u201cthere was no place for them\u201d elsewhere (cf. <\/span>Lk<\/span><\/i> 2:7). He witnessed the adoration of the shepherds (cf. <\/span>Lk<\/span><\/i> 2:8-20) and the Magi (cf. <\/span>Mt<\/span><\/i> 2:1-12), who represented respectively the people of Israel and the pagan peoples.<\/span><\/p>\n

Joseph had the courage to become the legal father of Jesus, to whom he gave the name revealed by the angel: \u201cYou shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins\u201d (<\/span>Mt<\/span><\/i> 1:21). As we know, for ancient peoples, to give a name to a person or to a thing, as Adam did in the account in the Book of Genesis (cf. 2:19-20), was to establish a relationship.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the Temple, forty days after Jesus\u2019 birth, Joseph and Mary offered their child to the Lord and listened with amazement to Simeon\u2019s prophecy concerning Jesus and his Mother (cf. <\/span>Lk<\/span><\/i> 2:22-35). To protect Jesus from Herod, Joseph dwelt as a foreigner in Egypt (cf. <\/span>Mt<\/span><\/i> 2:13-18). After returning to his own country, he led a hidden life in the tiny and obscure village of Nazareth in Galilee, far from Bethlehem, his ancestral town, and from Jerusalem and the Temple. Of Nazareth it was said, \u201cNo prophet is to rise\u201d (cf. <\/span>Jn <\/span><\/i>7:52) and indeed, \u201cCan anything good come out of Nazareth?\u201d (cf. <\/span>Jn <\/span><\/i>1:46). When, during a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, Joseph and Mary lost track of the twelve-year-old Jesus, they anxiously sought him out and they found him in the Temple, in discussion with the doctors of the Law (cf. <\/span>Lk<\/span><\/i> 2:41-50).<\/span><\/p>\n

Meditation<\/b><\/p>\n

Pope Francis describes St. Joseph as \u201cever ready to carry out God\u2019s will as revealed to him.\u201d\u00a0 Such a statement is easy to say, but perhaps much more difficult to live out to its ultimate consequences. \u00a0 Rather than rushing past these powerful words, let us pause to take them in and visualize their meaning.\u00a0 What might it look like were I to live <\/span>ever ready<\/span><\/i> to carry out God\u2019s will in my life?\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It might be helpful to undertake a brief reflection as to what such readiness might entail.\u00a0 For those of us who tend to be go-getters by nature, this phrase might primarily invoke images of <\/span>action, <\/span><\/i>getting the job done.\u00a0 However, the Holy Father\u2019s emphasis is deliberately on readiness, an attitude of the heart that leads to action but necessarily precedes it.\u00a0 Readiness implies openness.\u00a0 It implies listening.\u00a0 It implies a delicate attitude of attentiveness to even the slightest hints of God\u2019s presence and will in our lives.<\/span><\/p>\n

If this sounds overwhelming, it does not necessarily need to be.\u00a0 Certainly, attentive readiness is a habit to be cultivated, but isn\u2019t this true in any relationship?\u00a0 Think about the capacity of a mother to be aware of her baby\u2019s every need.\u00a0 Think of two people in love and their ability to become tuned in to the needs and desires of the other.\u00a0 We are capable of attentiveness and readiness in our relationships with others, and so too, we are capable of it in our relationship with God.<\/span><\/p>\n

Questions for Reflection<\/b><\/p>\n