Today as we celebrate the feast day of the great St. Joseph, I hope you are not just worrying about getting your Italian cookies. St. Joseph is such a powerful example to us mainstream Catholics and Christians as well. His obedience to God's requests brought the world Jesus Christ. His protection of the Virgin Mary and Jesus caused such a revolution that we are still contemplating the consequences. St. Joseph was a terrific husband and father and now is a great time to look to him for guidance. Look at his conversation with God's messenger in the Bible. Look at how he stood by his commitment to our Mother Mary when there was immense pressure to walk away. Look how he moved his family quickly to safety every time the leaders of the time changed their minds. Look at his influence on Jesus. Now more than ever, when many men are turning their backs on their own children, Joseph is the perfect example of what a real man does. His devotion and allegiance to Mary and Jesus is really quiet shocking in modern day terms. But that is why God chose Joseph, isn't it? God knew that the world would look at Joseph as a role model and so God chose carefully. So today as you pause to consider your life, ask God to give you the wisdom, patience, loyalty, and grace that Joseph was given.
The twelve apostles chosen by Jesus formed the bedrock of the early Church , and their Catholic identity is deeply rooted in their direct relationship with Christ and the mission He entrusted to them. The Catechism of the Catholic Church highlights this foundational role, stating that Jesus "instituted the Twelve as 'the seeds of the new Israel and the beginning of the sacred hierarchy'" ( CCC 860 ). These men were not simply followers; they were handpicked by Jesus, lived intimately with Him, witnessed His miracles and teachings firsthand, and were specifically commissioned to preach the Gospel to all nations ( Matthew 28:19-20 ). Their unique position as eyewitnesses to the life, death, and resurrection of Christ, and their reception of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, established them as the authoritative leaders of the nascent Church, a reality echoed in the writings of early Church Fathers like Ignatius of Antioch, who emphasized the apostles' authority as repre...