Third Sunday of Lent - Cycle B

Readings: Exodus 20: 1-17, Psalm 19 “Lord, you have the words of everlasting life ”, 1Corintios 1: 22-25, John 2: 13-35

     My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, we just had our parish Lenten retreat with the theme “The year of St Joseph: aninvitation to the desert.” I believe that those who were able to participate found it uplifting and very resourceful as Idid. I wish to express our sincere gratitude to our retreat directors: Fr Justin Arockiasamy, SVD (English retreat), and Mr. Jose de Jesus Garcia Padilla and Mrs. Norma Velez de Garcia (Spanish retreat). On March 19, the church celebrates the feast of St Joseph.
     Pope Francis with his apostolic letter “Patris corde” (With a Father’s Heart), recalls the 150thanniversary of the decla-ration of St Joseph as Patron of the Universal Church. To mark that, he proclaimed a “Year of St Joseph” from  December 8, 2020 to December 8, 2021. The Holy father wrote “Patris corde” against the backdrop of Covid-19 pandemic, which, he says, has helped us see
more clearly the importance of “ordinary” people who, though far from the limelight, exercise patience and offer hope every day.
     In this, they resemble Saint Joseph, ‘the man who goes unnoticed, a daily, discreet and hidden presence,”who nonetheless played “an incomparable role in the history of salvation.”He describes St Joseph as a beloved, tender, obedient father. He welcomed the will of God by accepting Mary uncon-ditionally.  He  is a  creatively  courageous father, example  of love: he  was  able to  turn problem into a  possibility  by rusting in divine providence. St Joseph is a father who teaches the value, dignity and joy of work. He is a father  “in the shadows”, centered on Mary and Jesus.
     In his letter, Pope Francis notes how, “Every day, for over forty years, following Lauds [Morning Prayer]” he has“recited a prayer to Saint Joseph taken from a nineteenth-century French prayer book of the Congregation of the Sisters of Jesus and Mary.” This prayer, he says, expresses devotion and trust, and even poses a certain challenge to Saint Joseph,” on account of its closing words: “My beloved father, all my trust is in you.  Let it not be said that I invoked youn vain, and since you can do everything with Jesus and Mary, show me that your goodness is as great as your power.”
St Joseph, intercede for us. In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Fr. Paschal Chester, svd