Family life is sacred

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The Lord Is My Chef Easter Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Wednesday, Memorial of St. Joseph the Worker, 01 May 2024
Colossians 3:14-15, 17, 23-24     >>> + <<<     Matthew 13:54-58

Praise and glory to You,
God our Father in entrusting
Your Son Jesus Christ to the most
noble and holiest of men,
St. Joseph who came from the
lineage of King David.

Though he never spoke a word
in the Gospel, St. Joseph's obedience
in doing everything as You had
commanded him (Mt. 1:24) proved
his being a model disciple too 
of Jesus like his wife,
the Blessed Virgin Mary.

On this first day of May
when we celebrate his memorial as
St. Joseph the Worker,
our beloved Patron shows us how
family life is so sacred as part
of Your Divine plan, O gracious
Father in heaven.

St. Joseph worked as a carpenter,
a provider to the Holy Family who must
have also experienced every dad's problem
of never making enough for Mary and Jesus;
most likely, the Holy Family he headed
did not live a perfect idyllic life, 
living through scandals and gossips 
as our gospel today showed when 
the people of Nazareth rejected 
the adult Jesus Christ,
taking offense at him by asking,
"Is he not the carpenter's son?"
(Mt. 13:55, 57).

Dear God,
grant us the same grace
You gave St. Joseph who lived
through scandal and gossip in a 
righteous way, just like what St. Paul
had told us in the first reading,
"And over all these put on love, 
that is, the bond of perfection"; 
help us to be like St. Joseph 
who "let the peace of Christ 
controlled his heart" (Col.3:14-15)
in everything to show us that holiness
in life is not a poster card
but one lived in the ambiguity
and complexity of this world
rooted in Jesus our Lord.
Amen.

St. Joseph,
Protector of the Child Jesus
and Mary,
Pray for us!