Page 138 - Reflections on St. Joseph

affirm: “The question of money has kept us far too low and its time to say sursum corda. Lift up
your heart. On the occasion of the spiritual retreat may God fill them with that trust that reigned
in the our Holy Patron in all the steps of his life. In those holy days, with the spirit of piety, may
the spiritus consilii et fortitudinis descend on the Brothers of St. Joseph. May the heavenly light
allow them to see quae agenda sunt and may divine grace help them ut quae recta sunt complere
valeant.” St. Joseph is the model because, in the presence of human and material concerns
(welcoming Mary, the flight into Egypt...) he jumps in without thought and without
complaint into the mystery which God proposes to him and he welcomes Mary and begins
his “pilgrimage of faith” with an unshaken trust in Providence.

The reason for having such an unshaken faith in Providence is a recurring theme in
Marellian spirituality, precisely because it comes from imitating St. Joseph. Once again
in Letter 83, the Founder writes: “the works of the Saints, which the centuries have
respected, were always marked by this character of simplicity [...] this motive power which is,
in the end, nothing other than unshakeable faith in Providence, faith alone and bereft of
every human concern.”

The theme of the “pilgrimage of faith” instead, we find well described by St. John Paul II in
Redemptoris Custos, in n.4. The Pope first cites Vatican II with regards to the faith of Mary:
“The blessed Virgin grew in her pilgrimage of faith and faithfully preserved her union with
her Son unto the Cross”, and then adds: “Now at the beginning of this pilgrimage Mary’s
faith encounters the faith of Joseph [...]. What he did is purest ‘obedience of faith’. (Cf. Rm1,5;
16,26; 2Cor 10,5-6). One can say that that which Joseph did united him in an altogether
special way with the faith of Mary. He accepted as a truth coming from God that which she
had already accepted in the Annunciation. The Council teaches: ‘to God who reveals, is due
‘the obedience of faith’, in which man abandons himself totally and freely to God, offering
Him the “full submission of his intellect and will’ and willingly assenting to the revelation
made by Him’(Dei Verbum, 5). The above cited phrase, which touches the essence of faith,
applies perfectly to Joseph of Nazareth.”

3. Exegesis of the Text

After these necessary premises, it is now possible to attempt to do a deeper analysis of the
text of the prayer, drawing out what could be the spiritual meaning which the Founder
wanted to express. We have already said that it could become for us the “ Josephite Totus
Tuus”: it is already an expression of Marello’s total abandonment to St. Joseph, because he is
a man of interior depth but also a “practical” man, all for God, all for men.

A. Behold us all for You, O Joseph, and You be all for us

We notice first, a reference to the behold of important biblical personages: Abraham, Isaiah,
Mary... It is an expression which expresses full acceptance, sharing of the divine plan which
one is part of, an intelligent and active cooperation.

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Reflections on st. joseph