How interesting that Pope Francis has announced a year to honor St. Joseph. In the midst of Lent, we celebrated the Feast Day of St. Joseph on March 19th.
In this coming Sunday’s Gospel, John 12:24-26, we hear, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit.” These verses make me think of St. Joseph. He struggled when he learned that Mary was pregnant. Imagine looking forward to getting married and then everything changed. But, when God sent a message to him through a dream, he realized that he was being called to something greater. He believed in God from the depths of his heart. I’m sure it wasn’t easy to deal with the fact that he was going to be a step-father to Jesus. St. Joseph had to have deep faith in order to get through all that he did. I think that St. Joseph allowed the grain of wheat to fall to the ground and die. Perhaps, what fell to the ground was his hopes, his dreams, whatever he was planning. But, he said, “Yes” to God and allowed new life to come through the death of his own will.
Reflection: What do I need to let fall to the ground and die?
Can I say, “Yes” to God’s will for me?
~ by Lorraine Campanelli, CLM, Director