Year of St. Joseph Reflection

I’ve been asked to reflect briefly on “The Importance of the Year of St. Joseph.” In other words, why is St. Joseph relevant to us? It’s a great question, especially as we observe the 60th anniversary year of our Diocese of Baton Rouge in this year dedicated to him, our patron saint.

Pope Francis offered some ideas already in his pastoral letter of Dec. 8, 2020, entitled “Patris Corde” (“A Father’s Heart”). He noted the Bible identifies St. Joseph as the protective foster father of Jesus our redeemer, but a silent one. He never says a word! The Holy Father also noted St. Joseph’s importance in the church, especially in recent popes’ teachings. As a patron, St. Joseph guides and intercedes for us.

Then the pope mentioned this past year’s worldwide pandemic and how meaningful St. Joseph was to him during it. Amidst COVID-19, Pope Francis noted, we’ve become more aware of how “our lives are woven together and sustained by ordinary people, people often overlooked … doctors, nurses, storekeepers and supermarket workers, cleaners, caregivers, transport workers, men and women providing essential services and public safety, volunteers, priests, men and women religious, and so very many others.” These people don’t look for headlines, just how to do the right thing to help in any way they can.

So I think there’s another great point of relevance: we can become “Josephs” for others too. In fact, it’s necessary for Christians to do this, and to do it humbly, like our patron saint!

Father Paul Counce
Pastor, St. Joseph Cathedral