Page 14 - Reflections on St. Joseph
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privilege of pronouncing and imposing the name of Jesus upon the child, which had been
revealed to him at the moment of his “annunciation”: “and you will call Him Jesus, because He
will save His people from their sins.” (Mt. 1,21)
Joseph contemplates the Son in the ordinary places of daily life: at home, at the workplace, in
the courtyards, on the streets, and he takes on that attitude of admiration and wonder, typical
of persons who find in Jesus their reason for life.
“...that happy synthesis left to you by Marello...”
The title of this section comes from Pope Francis’ discourse to the participants in our last
General Chapter, in which he traced out the ideal of the Oblate of St. Joseph: “I encourage all of
you, therefore, to continue to live and work in the Church and in the world with the simple and
essential virtues of the Spouse of the Virgin Mary: humility, which attracts the benevolence of
the Father, intimacy with the Lord which sanctifies all Christian undertakings, silence and
hiddenness, united to zeal and the spirit of work according to the will of God, in the spirit of
that happy synthesis left to you as a motto and program by Marello: ‘Be Carthusians indoors
and Apostles outdoors.’ This teaching, always being alive in your spirits, obliges all of you, dear
brethren, to maintain in your religious houses a climate of recollection and of prayer, and the
favoring of silence and opportune community activities. The spirit of family should cement the
unity of the community and of the entire Congregation.” (Agli Oblati di S. Giuseppe, 8/31/19)
Without entering into the discussion about the various forms of contemplation, I would limit
myself to say that this term comes from the Latin contemplum, or platform, which existed in
front of the pagan temples, from which the priests could scrutinize and study the heavens - the
stars and the heavenly bodies - so as to understand the designs of the pagan gods and formulate
their predictions.
Instead, theologically, contemplate means to have one’s “gaze turned to the Lord” (CCL 2709)
so as to acquire an “interior knowledge of the Lord” and be able to love Him more. (CCL 2515)
Contemplation helps to center life in Christ and leads to familiarity with Him and promotes the
intimate knowledge of His Person.
On the other hand, you can speak of the contemplative dimension of existence which consists
in an attitude of reflection and of meditative pause so as to integrate one’s experiences and not
allow oneself to be overcome by the vortex of their activities.
The task of synchronizing and harmonizing our being certosini (interior life, contemplation,
study, prayer, recollection, time for reflection) with external activity (apostolate, regulating
the flow of information, the networks of real and virtual social contacts) constitutes one of our
challenges. In the end, we must seek to find a balance between prayer and apostolate, between
the announcing of the Word of God and the time dedicated to meditation.
Unfortunately it is often the case that this contemplative dimension is the first victim of our
many daily tasks. Our culture today does not help to create a contemplative climate, immersed
as it is in many stimulations, risking to live in a continuous search for the gratification of our
immediate needs and in the anxiety of activism.
However, at the same time, the contemplative dimension is one of the secrets of the renewal of
our personal and consecrated lives, because it leads to an experiential knowledge of Christ. Only
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