| Thur Mar 19 | am: 69 pm: 73 | Exod 1:6-22 | 1 Cor 12:12-26 | Mark 8:27-9:1 |
FOURTH THURSDAY OF LENT – St. Joseph the Worker, Foster Father of Our Lord
LITURGICAL THEME FOR THE DAY: In the Gospel of Matthew, Joseph is depicted as a good man, a working carpenter, who trusted in God. He received God’s messenger who shared with him God’s will for him and for Mary, to whom he was engaged to be married. Luke’s gospel describes how Joseph took the newborn child as if he were his own. He was with Mary when, on the fortieth day after the birth, Jesus was presented in the Temple, ‘where every first-born male is designated as holy to the Lord’. The adoption of Jesus by Joseph also established Jesus in the descent of David, to accord with the prophecy that Israel’s deliverer would be of the House and lineage of David.
BIBLICAL MEDITATION OF THE DAY: On this feast of St. Joseph, we consider Psalm 73, which is appointed for today. When one reads the Psalm, one cannot miss the struggle between the apparent prosperity of the wicked and the suffering of the faithful.
Saint Joseph was the silent guardian of the Holy Family, living a life marked by humility, obedience, and hidden labor. Like the psalmist, he could have been tempted to compare his modest circumstances with the wealth and influence of the world’s “sons of pride.” Yet, he trusted the “faithful God” (cf. Matt 6:33) who “does not abandon those who keep
His covenant” (Ps 73:28). In the psalm, the turning point comes when the psalmist enters the sanctuary of God and sees the ultimate destiny of the proud. Likewise, Joseph’s “sanctuary” was the quiet moments of prayer and service within the home of Nazareth. There, he glimpsed the divine plan unfolding: the incarnation, the redemption of humanity, and the promise that “the righteous shall inherit the earth” (Ps 73:27). As we reflect on Psalm 73 on the Feast of St. Joseph, let us ask: Where do I place my trust? May we, like Joseph, find strength in God’s unseen providence, allowing the Lenten road to deepen our purity of heart and confidence that “nothing can turn us away” from the love of the faithful God.
PRAYER OF THE DAY: O God, who renews the world through mysteries beyond all telling, grant, we pray, that your Church may be guided by your eternal design and not be deprived of your help in this present age. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
ANCIENT WISDOM/PRESENT GRACE: “ What many kings and prophets desired to see, and saw not; desired to hear, and heard not; he [St. Joseph was allowed not merely to hear and see, but also to carry, lead, embrace, kiss, nourish, and protect.”—St. Bernard of Clairvaux
LENTEN DISCIPLINE – Turn off your car radio and/or tape/CD player as you travel to and from work. Use this time for quiet reflection on your role as a parent or the role parents have had in your life. How does this affect your living out your Christian witness?
SONG OF THE HEART, SONG OF THE SEASON – “Jospeh’s Song” by Michael Card