March Drinking Companion
This month I’d like to talk about good ole St. Joe. Normally I like to talk about lesser known people, but since it is the Year of St. Joseph I figured I’d touch on who this man was, and still is to us. For me personally, it was May 1 that I officially began selling my coffee, which is the feast of St. Joseph the worker. March 19 is his standard day of honor and solemnity.
To begin St. Joseph has bestowed on all men a name of virtue, many confuse now days. He humbly accepted a child that was not his, or part of his plan. He promised to protect the baby Jesus. For this we see St. Joseph as protector of the universal (synonym for catholic) church, since the body of Jesus is the Church. In St. Joseph we also see his care for life. In a time when innocent children 2 and under were being killed, Joseph fled that area to protect his unborn child Jesus. We should see every child conceived with the same love as Joseph did for a child that was not his. The last time we see Joseph in the Bible, Jesus is 12 years old. Throughout the entire Bible, Joseph does not speak 1 word, but instead is always seen as a humble and virtuous man teaching Jesus this same virtue, since the Bible does say he is a righteous man and was in accordance with the law.
A little story some may have heard before, but it was my wife who was praying for a St. Joseph in her life, that led us to meeting. When I read her profile, and saw this is what she sought, I thought to myself, I can be someone that helps her around the house doing little things to assist her. This was a reasonable request at that point in my life since I was essentially a wandering monk with little possessions to provide for the standard marriage others were seeking. I realized being an Uber driver was not going to be sustainable in my contribution to a family, which led to planning and designing my business prior to that life commitment. I too wanted to be a good model of virtue and independence for my wife and eventual child. Joseph was free to do as he thought fit whether it was pilgrimage in a caravan or fleeing to Egypt, he was free to do as he wanted to serve God. I try to grow closer to this daily since I didn’t get it right in my youth.
In close, we Italians have a fun tradition with food as we always do when it comes to our Catholic faith. Every feast day should be that, a feast and celebration. On St. Joseph’s day we celebrate with what’s called the “St. Joseph” pastry. The photo for this blog on the other hand are pastries designed to look like the Blessed Virgin Mary’s breast. Our Lady of the Milk was one of the oldest devotions to Mary since it was she who nurtured Christ to become a healthy young man. The pastries are found in Sambuca, Sicily, They are a specialty of the region and are cream filled in honor of our Blessed Mother and her nurturing love. The St. Joseph pastries are meant to honor Joseph’s day.
In close, I thought I had a picture of the St. Joseph pastry, but I misjudged and was wrong as I can be often. I decided to use a picture instead of my family. Very often we see an image of “The Holy Family”, Jesus, Joseph and Mary. This is our goal, to reflect our Creator. You see when you understand the Holy Trinity, you understand the Holy Family. The love of the Father and the Son, produces the fruit of the The Holy Spirit. This is the true definition of Christianity (Council of Nicea 313 A.D).
Being made in the image of God we reflect this, through the love of the Father and the Mother, we produce the our child, which is the fruit of our love and where 2 become 1, inseparable forever. The book of Genesis echoes this thought and individually we reflect the Trinity as well. Your conscience is unseen, like the Father, both are the unseen of creation. The Son (Jesus) is the physical embodiment of that unseen thought, our body, the same. In union we too produce a spirit which we put out into the world that can have everlasting effects good and bad depending on our choices. It’s why we love at the heart of everything we do, otherwise envy and anger will divide us.
