"Patris Corde": an Apostolic Letter of Pope Francis on St. Joseph: Patron and Guardian of the Universal Church

Pope Francis has given us a Holy Year dedicated to St. Joseph, beginning December 8, 2020 and continuing to December 8, 2021.  This marks the 150th anniversary of Pope Pius IX's letter naming St. Joseph the Patron and Guardian of the Universal Church.  This falls midway through the holy year proclaimed by Bishop Callahan for the Diocese of La Crosse which runs from May 1, 2020 to May 1, 2021, the Feast of St. Joseph the Workman, principal patron of the Diocese of La Crosse.  Enjoy the accompanying letter!

As I pointed out in my homily this past weekend, it's interesting that this would be proclaimed by two prelates who each have included a symbol for St. Joseph in their coat of arms: Pope Francis' coat of arms includes a sprig of "spikenard" on the lower right of the shield, which is typical of Hispanic countries (the star on the left represents St. Mary); Bishop Callahan's coat of arms includes a fleur-de-lis, traditionally a symbol of purity (on his coat of arms there are two, one each for St. Mary and St. Joseph).

                      

Jesus of Bethlehem - our King

As we enter our last week of preparation for the solemn feast of the Incarnation, it is fitting that we come to our reflection on Jesus of Bethlehem.  We have already reflected on Jesus of Bethany – our friend, and Jesus of Nazareth – our brother, as well as Jesus as Divine Physician.  How lovely then that we come now to a further consideration of Christ as King.

This past November 22 (October 25 in the Extraordinary Form) we celebrated the annual feast of Christ, King of the Universe.  In that celebration we see Christ very much enthroned in heaven; we have visions of Him in power and majesty.  In this we can find ourselves, if we are taking this all as seriously as it deserves, very much overwhelmed; our submission, our obedience could very easily take on an aspect of subjugation – lacking in free will.

As we celebrate the solemn feast of the Incarnation, we are presented with a king Who presents Himself to us clothed in our own flesh – an infant.  In this, He presents Himself as one who desires to gain our submission, not on overwhelming power and majesty, but on love; He wants our submission to Him motivated by love and affection, not fear and subjugation.

Our consideration of Christ as friend, brother, and even divine physician, over these past three weeks have prepared us to understand the kind of king our Lord, Jesus Christ, King of the Universe really is.  In this we come to understand why He hasn’t come among us after the pattern of the old testament experience, but rather, has patiently waited for us, enticed us, loved us into His own Most Sacred Heart, so that we would in turn open up our own hearts to Him who first loved us.

This Christmas will be for us all, I hope, a new beginning of experiencing the Babe in the manger, not as some merely emotional experience, but as a truly heart felt encounter with our God, Who has taken on our humanity so as to impart to us the full dignity of our friendship and our brotherhood to so great a King, by imparting to us His divinity.

Whether we accept that gift is up to us.  But in it, we will find the true meaning of Christmas and will never again be heard to say, “Christmas doesn’t have any meaning for me anymore”.  I pray that we will all open our hearts and receive so wonderful a gift of grace.

So, celebrate, Celebrate, CELEBRATE!  And on the last day of Christmas, the Feast of Epiphany, we will renew our consecration to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus.  I will then be available for the solemn enthronement, or renewal of consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in the homes of our parishes.

Jesus of Nazareth - our Brother

 Next in our preparation for enthronement of the Sacred Heart of Jesus we rejoice that our Lord, Jesus Christ is not content that we be “friends”, indeed, He desires that we be “brothers & sisters” of Him who is Lord, and King.  This explains so much of the familial imagery and language used not only in the Gospels, but throughout the Scriptures – both Old and New Testaments.

But how do we become brothers & sisters of Christ, Who is God?  That’s the easy part: Baptism!  The hard part is this: God has done His part; what’s left is for us to do our part in activating the graces given us through that singularly important sacrament (remember that this sacrament is SO important that the Church recognizes as valid any Baptism performed by anybody, even one who is not a Christian; as long as the person to be baptized desires it, and the one baptizing intends to do what the Church does when She baptizes, if even only implicitly).  This activation of the graces of Baptism is one of the several reasons we are preparing ourselves for the re-consecration of our parishes, homes, and hearts to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, and His enthronement in those homes in which He has not yet been enthroned.

There is a lot of language / imagery in the scriptures in which the Father reveals Himself AS “Father”.  We see this in the Psalms, in the prophets, and, of course, in the Gospels and New Testament letters.  Our Lord, Himself, speaks to His disciples (that is, US) of the “Father”: not a particularly innovative bit of language or imagery in 1^st century Judea / Israel, but what our Lord MEANS when He uses this imagery is so jarring that it brings about His passion and death.

We began by contemplating the friendship Christ desires with us.  We continued by recognizing how we betray that friendship with our sins.  We now, in a similar way, contemplate the familial relationship Christ desires with us in revealing Himself as not only Lord, and King, and Friend, but now also: “Brother”.

What does it mean to be “brother” or “sister”, beyond the obvious blood ties? What does it mean in the realm of “relationship”?  This leaves a great deal of ground for our contemplation this week.

Advent Journey #2

Last week we were invited to contemplate Jesus as friend.  We discussed how we are "friend", and how one can be "friend" to a king, indeed, God.  This week we recognize our Lord as Divine Physician, that is, as one who comes to heal and "make whole", and holy.

This is, I firmly believe, one of the great difficulties with the Sacrament of Reconciliation in our lives.  Our view of God as “judge” meeting out our idea of “justice” makes Confession seem like a court proceeding rather than a time of reconciliation with God, the Church, and our brothers and sisters.

I do know that sometimes this is abetted by priest-confessors who themselves (myself!) do not take the time we should to emphasize the healing nature of this sacrament; sometimes even pursuing questions that seek to “examine the conscience” of the penitent, rather than drawing them more deeply into the ocean of our Lord’s mercy.

It is important that we recognize ourselves, more clearly, the healing nature of this sacrament so that we go into it ourselves with the idea of our Lord’s great love for us; a love that is so perfect, so unconditional, that it makes possible not only the forgiveness of even the most grievous sins, but also brings that healing which makes us whole, and wholly capable of both receiving and sharing real love.

This process can be helped when we respect the liturgical aspect of the Sacrament of Reconciliation.  The form of this sacrament is intended to help bring us face to face with this God, Who loves us so much.  When we respect that form, including the dialogue at the end, this aspect is able to be made present so much more fully. 

Our Lord desires to be not only a friend, but that Divine Physician Who brings healing and wholeness to us through His Divine Mercy.  May we contemplate this aspect of our relationship with Jesus Christ.  Especially as we meditate (lectio divina) on those accounts from the Gospels of His healing of body and spirit.

Advent Journey #1

Our vocation to holiness is more clearly lived when we are focused on our goal; and the way to that goal is marked by any number of points along the way.  One of these key points is the recognition of Christ as King and Sovereign of our homes and hearts.  During this Advent season we will embark on realizing that particular goal.

The Church’s long experience shows that not only is it necessary for us to bring the Gospel to every part of the world, but then comes the task of keeping that commitment fresh and vigorous.  We see in the book of Revelations how most of the seven cities addressed have become tepid in their love for God and as a result, their witness to Christ; indeed, some had dropped off completely.  We have seen this as well in the history of the Church and in our own time: so many places where it seemed the faith was firmly rooted have turned their backs on God altogether; and sadly, we have witnessed this in so many of our families or individuals within families.

Experience shows that devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, which is intimately connected to the most blessed sacrament of the Eucharist, brings with it so many graces within the family and within the community that practices it.  A early promoter of this enthronement, Fr. Mateo Crawley-Boevey (1875-1961) has said, “because you have carried out His divine request to be invited to your home, He keeps His promise to bless your family and all its undertakings, to sanctify your joys and sorrows, to console you in all your trials, to keep your family united and to give to it true peace and happiness.”

As Cardinal Burke has written, “While enthroning the Sacred Heart and keeping His Commandments publicly acknowledges His Kingship and Headship, striving to love Him more and more each day is necessary if we are to preserve and deepen our friendship with Him.”  We begin this process on this first week of Advent by recognizing that this Jesus, Who is coming in glory, comes to us as a friend.  The booklets available will direct you to reflect on the Gospel story of the raising of Lazarus; and the reflection, after praying the 1^st Glorious Mystery of the Rosary (the Resurrection), reminds us of our Lord’s desire to befriend us as he did Lazarus, Martha, and Mary, as well as Zacchaeus and so many others.  As our Lord tells us in the Gospels, “You are my friends if you do what I command you.  I no longer call you slaves, because a slave does not know what his master is doing.  I have called you friends, because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father.” (John 15:14-15)

May your time of preparation for enthronement and consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, our King, make this Advent season a fuller experience of preparation for His coming again, as well as preparing for a fuller celebration of His first coming.