My Life with Saint Joseph

Let me begin with a little disclaimer. First off, I am no expert on the saints. Neither do I hold a degree in Theology. I am just a regular husband and dad of 22 years. I am a cradle Catholic who has found a deeper love for our saints in rediscovering my faith. Let me tell you about a favorite of mine.

Last year, Pope Francis proclaimed a “Year of Saint Joseph” from December 8, 2020, to December 8, 2021. I don’t believe that it was a coincidence that we went through a family consecration to St. Joseph in the same year.

See https://www.facebook.com/100000907645140/posts/3814929441880606/?d=n.

Again not coincidentally, the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines featured a 5-minute sharing I gave on the same subject on the feast of the Holy Family the year before that.

Kindly view https://www.facebook.com/112884358764451/posts/2856892711030255/?d=n.

And now this – another chance to celebrate a great example of what is lacking today, the key to overcoming confusion and chaos so prevalent in our current culture – Saint Joseph.

I want to focus on three facets of Saint Joseph’s character to reveal the spiritual father I found in him. These characteristics follow the 9-Day Novena found in Fr. Donald Calloway’s Consecration to Saint Joseph.

Saint Joseph, Powerful Intercessor

As the foster father of Jesus, St. Joseph is a great advocate before Our Lord. It makes sense to entrust our cares and needs to him, trusting that he will bring them to his son, Jesus, together with Mary, his wife.

During our consecration to St. Joseph, I went back to a memory from my troubled youth. I remembered it had reached a point where my parents had no choice but to ask me to leave our home. It was at the beginning of the school year, so the only option I had was to convince each batchmate to put me up for a couple of nights.

On one of these occasions, while sitting at dinner with the family of my schoolmate, his mom adamantly and vigorously refused to have me sleep over. Suddenly, I found myself out on the street at nighttime without a place to stay. Walking a couple of blocks aimlessly, I came upon a house that was under construction.

I approached the group of carpenters and asked if I could spend the night. They gave me space to sleep and fed me, and taught me how to use a newspaper as a blanket. In recalling this memory, I felt that St. Joseph was giving me a gentle nudge, saying, “It was me who took you in that night, through the carpenters.” He has always been looking out for me; I didn’t see it.

Saint Joseph, Good Provider

Like most, I had a poor understanding of what the word “provider” meant in my marriage. I thought that as long as I made enough to cover our household’s financial needs and brought my family to church, I would be considered a “good provider.” I was wrong!

When our younger son turned 12, my wife, Marsha, and I agreed to do without any household helpers. It meant taking on their work by dividing it among ourselves. We believed that this would be good preparation for both our sons, Miguel and Joaquin, who were 16 and 12 at that time. Since I had work, most of the chores fell on my wife’s lap, who was at the same time homeschooling our boys. The result was just too much for anyone to handle.

On top of that, Marsha was diagnosed with fibromyalgia, a musculoskeletal pain disorder accompanied by fatigue, sleep, memory, and mood issues. Learning more about this disease made me ashamed of the number of chores she had to do and my attitude towards how and to whom we assigned the different tasks. All this time, she was uncomplainingly dealing with her pain and exhaustion.

Today, I find genuine fulfillment in taking on more of the work at home, and my family loves me dearly for it. I even discovered a passion for cooking, which I never knew I could do. Through the example of St. Joseph, I learned the true meaning of being a good provider.

Saint Joseph, Man of Peace and Joy

In 2017, we ended a long bout with unemployment that seemed to go on forever. After burning through all our savings and investments, we came to a point when we had to sell both non-essential and essential items at home, including the family van. We came together and decided to pray a novena for discernment before pushing through with it. Meanwhile, I went ahead putting up “for sale” signs on the windows and began entertaining inquiries.

At the end of the novena, we went to Mass and agreed to make a group decision right in front of the altar. We took turns saying, “YES” or “NO,” and the no’s were unanimous. The months after our decision was a lot more complicated than just signifying an agreement or otherwise; after all, there were still some installments to be made on the van. Each month passed, and somehow we made it through every installment.

Five years later, and we still have our family van. On top of keeping it, we now have two young men who are firm believers in the power of family prayer. We ask St. Joseph daily to pray that we keep our peace of soul. As head of the Holy Family, he understands the stress and challenges of raising a family in the counter-culture we live in.

Let Saint Joseph accompany you to Our Liberator, Jesus, as he did to me.

Conclusion

Another wonderful reminder of Saint Joseph’s presence in my life is how he has been hiding in plain sight in the person of my father. My father’s name is Lito, short for Joselito, or Joseph Jr. Our relationship was difficult.  As I mentioned earlier, I was asked to leave home. That house was eventually sold when my parents moved to the United States, so I never got a chance to return home. When this happened, it felt like being condemned for eternity.

But I came to realize this was not true.

Through my father, the Lord paved the way to reconciliation. I had an Nth chance to clean up my act and restore my relationship with my Maker. In 1997, I was reunited in my parents’ home in Virginia, where Papa led a family retreat focused on healing. The retreat took place on the weekend of the Feast of the Holy Family, which happened to be my father’s birthday.

Thank you, Lord, for giving me a spiritual father in Saint Joseph and allowing me a tangible expression of your love in my father.

Saint Joseph, Pillar of Families, pray for us.

Ite ad Joseph – go to Joseph. He understands you more than you think.