ToꞋday is the soꞋlemnity of St ↗Joseph ⧸ a saint of ↗scripture ⧸ the foster Ꞌfather of our ꞋLord Jesus ↘Christ ⑊ ↗Though an Ꞌobject of the uniꞋversal and absolute Ꞌfaith of the Christian Ꞌworld from the ↗first ⧸ the deꞋvotion to St Joseph came to be ↗popular ⧸ comꞋparatively at a Ꞌlater ↘date ⑊ ꞋWhen once it be↗gan ⧸ Ꞌmen seemed sur↗prised ⧸ that it had not been Ꞌthought of beꞋfore ⧸ and ↗now ⧸ we hold him Ꞌnext to the Blessed ↗Virgin ⧸ in our reꞋligious aꞋffection and vene↘ration ⑊

ꞋAs you take one Ꞌlong Ꞌlook at the choirs of Ꞌsaints in Ꞌheaven in your mind’s ↗eye ⧸ you catch Ꞌsight of saints Ꞌdazzling in all ↗colours ⧸ in terms of Ꞌwitnessing to Christ’s Ꞌlife in their ↗lives ⧸ as Ꞌmartyrs in royal ↗red ⧸ wonder-↗workers ⧸ Ꞌeloquent ↗preachers ⧸ Ꞌeminent ↗authors ⧸ Ꞌmighty ↗leaders ⧸ unꞋtiring ↗missionaries ⧸ and Ꞌnumerous Ꞌothers with their multiple ↗talents ⧸ and most treꞋmendous human ac↘complishments ⑊

ꞋThen you come to to↘day’s saint ⑊ ꞋWhat dazzling Ꞌcolours is he found ↘in ⑊ ꞋNot of course in the royal Ꞌred of ↗martyrs ⧸ nor the Ꞌgold of a world ↗leader ⧸ nor the Ꞌpulpit of a great ↗preacher ⧸ nor the Ꞌscroll of a great ↘author ⑊

↘No ⑊ What is caught ↗sight of is ⧸ just a Ꞌsmall ↗workshop ⧸ Ꞌadjacent to a little ↗hut ⧸ the ↗door of which says ⧸ ꞋJoseph and ↘Son ⧸ ↘carpenters ⑊

But Ꞌthen when the whole Ꞌgalaxy of saints in Ꞌheaven start telling Ꞌstories of their Ꞌearthly aꞋccomplishments and a↗chievements ⧸ Ꞌwhich of them has the Ꞌlast ↘laugh ⑊ It’s Ꞌnone other than the Ꞌsaint of the ↗day ⧸ St ↘Joseph ⧸ the Ꞌhumble ↘carpenter ⑊ ꞋWhich of the other Ꞌsaints had the Ꞌhonour of being en↗trusted with ⧸ the Ꞌearthly paꞋrental Ꞌrights over child ↗Jesus ⧸ conꞋceived in ꞋMary from the Holy ↘Spirit ⑊ ꞋWhich of the other ↗saints ⧸ except ↘Blessed Mother ↗Mary can say ⧸ every Ꞌday for almost Ꞌthirty ↗years ⧸ I sat at Ꞌtable with the Ꞌgrowing ↗boy ⧸ who was the ꞋSon of God and the ꞋSaviour of ↘mankind ⑊ ꞋDaily I Ꞌwatched Him shaping into ↗manhood ⧸ and Ꞌhelped him grow into Ꞌgood ↗stature ⧸ so as to eꞋnable him to undertake his public ↗ministry ⧸ in view of the salꞋvation of ↘man ⑊ I Ꞌtaught him his ↘prayers ⑊ I Ꞌshowed him Ꞌhow to make Ꞌchairs and ↘tables ⑊ I couldn’t Ꞌcount the times I held him in my ↗arms ⧸ when he was ꜖little ⧸ the Ꞌtimes he Ꞌhugged me and ↗kissed me ⧸ the Ꞌmeals we ate to↗gether ⧸ the Ꞌmiles we travelled to↗gether ⧸ the Ꞌjoy we had in ↗working together ⧸ and in the ↗end ⧸ my having had the good Ꞌfortune of enjoying a Ꞌpeaceful ↗death ⧸ in the Ꞌpresence of ꞋMary my ↗wife ⧸ and ꞋJesus my Ꞌson in their ↘flesh ⑊

↘Prayer

St ↗Joseph ⧸ foster ꞋFather of ↗Jesus ⧸ you Ꞌare and always Ꞌwere a Ꞌhumble ↗man ⧸ a Ꞌgood and ↘holy man ⑊ You gave proꞋtection to child ꞋJesus and ꞋMary the ↘Mother ⑊ You Ꞌever kept Ꞌclose to ꞋJesus and ↗Mary ⧸ and proꞋtected them from all imꞋpending ↗dangers ⧸ that were to be↘fall on them ⧸ and thus Ꞌsaved the ꞋHoly ↗Family ⧸ the Ꞌmodel of all ꞋChristian Ꞌfamilies and the ↘Church ⑊ O Ꞌguardian St ↗Joseph ⧸ we Ꞌpray that Ꞌyou be ever ↗with us ⧸ and interꞋcede for us in ↗heaven ⧸ for our proꞋtection and sal↘vation ⑊
A↘men ⑊