BIG C CATHOLICS

March 17, 2017 Saint Joseph truly followed the will of God. When an angel came to Joseph and told him about Mary and the child she was carrying, Joseph took Mary as his wife. He did so without any questions, doubt or hesitation. He knew God's will for him, and he chose to accept it and live unconditionally for the glory of Jesus Christ. Today we pray that we may all be more like St. Joseph; more open to the will of God in our own lives. Let us pray for clarity in our discernment and for the same confidence St. Joseph had as we devotedly strive to follow God's will in all things. Day 7 – St. Joseph, Husband of Mary Novena Saint Joseph, you are the faithful protector and intercessor of all who love and venerate you. You know that I have confidence in you and that, after Jesus and Mary, I come to you as an example for holiness, for you are especially close with God. Therefore, I humbly commend myself, with all who are dear to me and all that belong to me, to you

March 16, 2017 Saint Joseph died with Jesus and Mary. For that reason, he is the patron saint of a blessed death. Today we pray for everyone near death, and for those who are suffering and in agony, that they may pass peacefully into eternal life. Day 6 – St. Joseph, Husband of Mary Novena Saint Joseph, you are the faithful protector and intercessor of all who love and venerate you. You know that I have confidence in you and that, after Jesus and Mary, I come to you as an example for holiness, for you are especially close with God. Therefore, I humbly commend myself, with all who are dear to me and all that belong to me, to your intercession. I beg of you, by your love for Jesus and Mary, not to abandon me during life and to assist me at the hour of my death. Glorious Saint Joseph, spouse of the Immaculate Virgin, pray for me to have a pure, humble, charitable mind, and perfect resignation to the divine Will. Be my guide and model through life that I may die in the ar

March 15, 2017 On the fifth day of the Saint Joseph, husband of Mary novena we remember all those who are hard-pressed to make a living. St. Joseph was a carpenter. He is also the patron of the unemployed. Let us pray for the unemployed, as well as those struggling to provide food, shelter and other necessities for their families. Day 5 – St. Joseph, Husband of Mary Novena Saint Joseph, you are the faithful protector and intercessor of all who love and venerate you. You know that I have confidence in you and that, after Jesus and Mary, I come to you as an example for holiness, for you are especially close with God. Therefore, I humbly commend myself, with all who are dear to me and all that belong to me, to your intercession. I beg of you, by your love for Jesus and Mary, not to abandon me during life and to assist me at the hour of my death. Glorious Saint Joseph, spouse of the Immaculate Virgin, pray for me to have a pure, humble, charitable mind, and perfect resign

March 14, 2017 On the fourth day of the Saint Joseph, husband of Mary novena, we remember in prayer families. The family is the domestic church; the place of initial instruction, devotion and witness. Let us pray for the protection of families. May all families grow in holiness and may their love and faith ever multiply with each generation. Day 4 – St. Joseph, Husband of Mary Novena Saint Joseph, you are the faithful protector and intercessor of all who love and venerate you. You know that I have confidence in you and that, after Jesus and Mary, I come to you as an example for holiness, for you are especially close with God. Therefore, I humbly commend myself, with all who are dear to me and all that belong to me, to your intercession. I beg of you, by your love for Jesus and Mary, not to abandon me during life and to assist me at the hour of my death. Glorious Saint Joseph, spouse of the Immaculate Virgin, pray for me to have a pure, humble, charitable mind, and per

March 13, 2017 Today is the third day of the novena to Saint Joseph, the husband of Mary. We continue to pray for all husbands and fathers, that they increase in purity and strength. Let us pray especially for the ability and grace to practice chastity so that we may all grow in perfect love with God, in imitation of our Savior, Christ. Day 3 – St. Joseph, Husband of Mary Novena Saint Joseph, you are the faithful protector and intercessor of all who love and venerate you. You know that I have confidence in you and that, after Jesus and Mary, I come to you as an example for holiness, for you are especially close with God. Therefore, I humbly commend myself, with all who are dear to me and all that belong to me, to your intercession. I beg of you, by your love for Jesus and Mary, not to abandon me during life and to assist me at the hour of my death. Glorious Saint Joseph, spouse of the Immaculate Virgin, pray for me to have a pure, humble, charitable mind, and perfect

Great Saint Joseph, you were chosen by God to be the head of the Holy Family. Kindly look down upon us and bestow your fatherly protection upon our home. Model of the most lively faith, obtain for all the members of our family the grace to believe firmly what God has revealed and bear witness to our faith in all that we do. May we ever remain bound together for the salvation of souls, in order to fulfill our role in the great family of the Church and be reunited after this life in the happiness of heaven. Amen.  ____________________________________________________ Grant, we pray, almighty God, that by Saint Joseph's intercession your Church may constantly watch over the unfolding of the mysteries of human salvation, whose beginnings you entrusted to his faithful care. Saint Joseph, pray for us!

March 12, 2017 Today is the second day of the novena to Saint Joseph, Husband of Mary. We pray especially for fathers, that they follow St. Joseph's example. Let us pray that they grow in holiness and grace. May they become ever more like St. Joseph, our Lady's protector, and foster father of our Redeemer. We also pray for couples struggling with infertility, widows, widowers, and single people seeking a spouse. Day 2 – St. Joseph, Husband of Mary Novena Saint Joseph, you are the faithful protector and intercessor of all who love and venerate you. You know that I have confidence in you and that, after Jesus and Mary, I come to you as an example for holiness, for you are especially close with God. Therefore, I humbly commend myself, with all who are dear to me and all that belong to me, to your intercession. I beg of you, by your love for Jesus and Mary, not to abandon me during life and to assist me at the hour of my death. Glorious Saint Joseph, spouse of the

March 12, 2017 Today is the second day of the novena to Saint Joseph, Husband of Mary. We pray especially for fathers, that they follow St. Joseph's example. Let us pray that they grow in holiness and grace. May they become ever more like St. Joseph, our Lady's protector, and foster father of our Redeemer. We also pray for couples struggling with infertility, widows, widowers, and single people seeking a spouse. Day 2 – St. Joseph, Husband of Mary Novena Saint Joseph, you are the faithful protector and intercessor of all who love and venerate you. You know that I have confidence in you and that, after Jesus and Mary, I come to you as an example for holiness, for you are especially close with God. Therefore, I humbly commend myself, with all who are dear to me and all that belong to me, to your intercession. I beg of you, by your love for Jesus and Mary, not to abandon me during life and to assist me at the hour of my death. Glorious Saint Joseph, spouse of the

February 2nd, the Church celebrates the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord [originally known as the Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin] It occurs forty days after the birth of Christ and is also called Candlemas, in reference to the blessing and procession of candles in today's liturgy. The story of the Presentation is told in Luke 2:22-29. Simeon the Righteous met Mary, Joseph, and Jesus when they entered the Temple in Jerusalem to fulfill the requirements of the Torah. Simeon was a "just and devout" man of Jerusalem who had been visited by the Holy Spirit and told he would not die until he had seen the Son of Man. Scripture records that Simeon prays the Nunc dimittis [Canticle of Simeon] in which Jesus' mission is prophesied. Seeing the infant, Simeon took the baby in his arms, blessed the Lord and joyously proclaimed: Lord, now you let your servant go in peace; your word has been fulfilled: My own eyes have seen the salvation which you h

December 30, 2016 Scripture tells us practically nothing about the first years and the boyhood of the Child Jesus. All we know are the facts of the sojourn in Egypt, the return to Nazareth, and the incidents that occurred when the twelve-year-old boy accompanied his parents to Jerusalem. In her liturgy the Church hurries over this period of Christ's life with equal brevity. The general breakdown of the family, however, at the end of the past century and at the beginning of our own, prompted the popes, especially the far-sighted Leo XIII, to promote the observance of this feast with the hope that it might instill into Christian families something of the faithful love and the devoted attachment that characterize the family of Nazareth. The primary purpose of the Church in instituting and promoting this feast is to present the Holy Family as the model and exemplar of all Christian families. Excerpted from With Christ Through the Year, Fr. Bernard Strasser, O.S.B. Almighty G

Mosaic of the Journey to Bethlehem c.1315-1320 I will put enmity between you and the woman; and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.  — Genesis 3:15 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign; the young woman, pregnant and about to bear a son, shall name him Emmanuel.  — Isaiah 7:14 In those days, a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that the whole world should be enrolled. This was the first enrollment, when Quirinius was governor of Syria. So all went to be enrolled, each to his own town. And Joseph too went up from Galilee from the town of Nazareth to Judea, to the city of David that is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child . — Luke 2:1-5 Come quickly, we pray, Lord Jesus, and do not delay, that those who trust in your compassion may find solace and relief in your coming. Who lives and reigns with you in the un

The following is reposted from December of last year. We present it here for your consideration: In Matthew’s Gospel, an angel appears to Joseph in a dream and tells him, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her. She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." [Matthew 1:21]. The verse immediately afterward states, "All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 'Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,' which means 'God is with us'" This begs the question, why isn’t Jesus named Emmanuel? Matthew 23 quotes the prophet Isaiah who some 300 years earlier predicted, "Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel." [Isaiah 7:14] In this context, "name

St. Joseph’s Dream , illuminated manuscript, T’oros Roslin, c. 1260. Fr. Thomas J. Lane S.T.D. Associate Professor of Sacred Scripture Mt. St. Mary's Seminary Emmitsburg, MD  ( Click here for today’s readings ) We are all busy preparing for Christmas. A lot of preparation had to be made for the first Christmas also by Mary and Joseph. They had to prepare by saying “yes” to God’s plan for the birth of Jesus. Today our Gospel focuses on the preparation made by Joseph for that first Christmas. It was a most difficult preparation for him. At that time Jews were betrothed one year before they got married. When a couple were betrothed to each other one year before marriage they were then legally united but did not live together. A year later the wedding ceremony took place and then the couple came to live together. During the year before marriage after they had been betrothed, Joseph learned that Mary was pregnant. What suffering he must have endured. The angel Gabrie

Joseph and Mary arrive at the inn. 14th century illumination Fr. Charles Irvin Senior Priest Diocese of Lansing ( Click here for today’s readings ) Nazareth was one of the most insignificant villages in Judah. When Jesus was first assembling His apostles we find the following exchange between two of them as reported in St. John’s gospel: Philip found Nathaniel and told him, “We have found the one about whom Moses wrote in the law, and also the prophets, Jesus, son of Joseph, from Nazareth.” But Nathaniel said to him, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” [John 1:45-45] Christianity goes beyond doctrines, moral norms, and teachings. It goes beyond how we behave. While all of those things are important, we need to recognize that Christianity essentially involves vision… seeing things as God sees them… seeing things in God’s Light… recognizing reality and truth. Pontius Pilate during the trial of Jesus asked the central question. Truth i

September 8th, the Church celebrates the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, nine months after celebrating her Immaculate Conception. The feast of the nativity of Mary originated in 6th century Syria or Palestine. The French church contends that it was Saint Maurilius of Angers, whose evangelization helped Christianize Gaul, who established the feast in 430. It is from the later that the date of September 8th was formalized. Since the 7th century, the feast has been observed in both the Latin and Orthodox Churches. While the circumstances of our Lady's infancy and early life are not found in Scripture, other accounts describing her birth are cited by Christian writers from the first centuries of Christendom. These non-biblical sources convey the Church’s traditional beliefs about Mary’s nativity and formative years. For instance, we know that from the very beginning, the blessed Virgin was acknowledged to be preserved from any stain of sin and that Saints Joachim and Anne were

A father's love reflects something of the infinite perfection of God. Like Joseph, who humbly accepted his role as guardian, husband and father in the Holy Family, a father should protect and provide. May fathers everywhere recognize their divine calling as models of selflessness love within their families and to the world. A blessed Father's Day to all fathers.

Saint Joseph, the spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the foster-father of Jesus, was probably born in Bethlehem and probably died in Nazareth. His important mission in God's plan of salvation was "to legally insert Jesus Christ into the line of David from whom, according to the prophets, the Messiah would be born, and to act as his father and guardian" ( Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy ). Most of our information about St. Joseph comes from the opening chapters of Matthew's Gospel. No words of his are recorded in Sacred Scripture. Devotion to St. Joseph in the early Church was nonexistent. It was the will of God that the Virgin Birth of Our Lord be first firmly impressed upon the minds of the faithful. St. Joseph was later venerated by the saints of the Middle Ages. Pius IX declared him patron and protector of the universal Church in 1870. Adapted excerpt from Catholic Culture.org and the Catholic Encyclopedia . The Life of St. Joseph St. Josep

The Blessed Virgin Mary helped Saint Joseph become the great leader and protector of his family that he was. He needed her prayers, love and support. Today, let us pray for all mothers, wives, and future wives, that they will love, respect, support and pray for their husbands or future spouses. Finally, let us pray that all families to grow in holiness. May they know and reflect God's love forever like the Holy Family in emulation of the Trinity. Day 9 - St. Joseph, Husband of Mary Novena (For an audio/video version of this prayer go here .) Saint Joseph, you are the faithful protector and intercessor of all who love and venerate you. You know that I have confidence in you and that, after Jesus and Mary, I come to you as an example for holiness, for you are especially close with God. Therefore, I humbly commend myself, with all who are dear to me and all that belong to me, to your intercession. I beg of you, by your love for Jesus and Mary, not to abandon me during life

Saint Joseph was courageous. When he discovered that Mary was pregnant with Jesus, he didn't abandon her, shame her or allow anyone else to hurt her. Joseph stood by Mary and protected both her and our unborn Savior. We are called to do the same – to protect and defend the sanctity of every human life, from the moment of conception until natural death. Let us pray for a greater respect for human life worldwide. Day 8 - St. Joseph, Husband of Mary Novena (For an audio/video version of this prayer go here .) Saint Joseph, you are the faithful protector and intercessor of all who love and venerate you. You know that I have confidence in you and that, after Jesus and Mary, I come to you as an example for holiness, for you are especially close with God. Therefore, I humbly commend myself, with all who are dear to me and all that belong to me, to your intercession. I beg of you, by your love for Jesus and Mary, not to abandon me during life and to assist me at the hour of my de

As we continue venerating Saint Joseph, guardian of the Redeemer and protector of the Holy Family , here are two more prayers beseeching his powerful intercession. The first is an ancient invocation discovered in the year 50 AD. According to popular piety, reciting this prayer protects one from an unexpected or unprovided for death, as well as other bodily or spiritual misfortunes. The second is Pope St. Pius X’s prayer to St. Joseph for success in work and fidelity to one's labors. An Ancient Prayer to St. Joseph O St Joseph, whose protection is so great, so strong, so prompt before the throne of God, I place in thee all my interests and desires. O St. Joseph, assist me by thy powerful intercession and obtain for me all spiritual blessings through thy foster Son, Jesus Christ Our Lord, so that, having engaged here below thy heavenly power, I may offer thee my thanksgiving and homage. O St. Joseph, I never weary contemplating thee and Jesus asleep in thine arms. I dare not