Dear Friends in Christ,
December 8th is coming upon us quickly. This Holy Day of Obligation will be celebrated this week. The Immaculate Conception is the Patroness of the United States of America and of the Diocese of Camden. Mary, the New Eve, was conceived without sin of any kind and is the essence of all that is beautiful and perfect. Pope Saint John Paul II said of the Immaculate Conception: “What happened to Mary turns our attention to Jesus Christ, the only Mediator of salvation, and helps us to see life as a loving plan with which we must cooperate responsibly. Mary is not only a model of the call, but also of the response. Indeed, she said ‘yes’ to God at the beginning and at every successive moment of her life, fully complying with his will, even when she found it obscure and hard to accept.” Yes, the Blessed Mother from the moment of her conception to the end of her life offered her “fiat” to Almighty God. “Let it be done according to Your [God’s] will” is true Marian spirituality. We can be so confident that when we run our concerns past the Most Holy Mother, she will help us to purify our intentions. On December 8th, the holy year of Saint Joseph will conclude. Saint Joseph in his humility is never the center of attention; he never crows with pride; nor does he steer away from his God given responsibilities. Saint Joseph raised Almighty God. Saint Joseph held the Lord, kissed the Lord and comforted the Lord. Saint Joseph is so humble that in the Litany of the Saints, he is listed after Our Lady and Saint John the Baptist. Saint Madeline Sophie Barat wrote, “Let us love Jesus above all, let us love Mary as our mother; but then, how could we keep from loving Joseph, who was so intimately united to both Jesus and Mary? And how can we honor him better than by imitating his virtues? Now, what else did he do in all his life but contemplate, study, and adore Jesus, even in the midst of his daily labors? Behold, therefore, our model.” I cannot imagine not loving Saint Joseph. If we strive to love Jesus and to love everything He loves, how can we live out His dear foster father? Think of the hours that Saint Joseph spent with our Savior. The benefits were ineffable. We must spend more time before the Most Blessed Sacrament, go to confession to cleanse our own personal house, our soul that we can receive Holy Communion worthily. We must receive the Lord, when we can receive Holy Communion, with the utmost reverence. The tender love that Saint Joseph had for Jesus is not shown when we snatch the Blessed Sacrament or one hand the Sacred Host and pop Him into our mouth like a Mentos. O Lord, how You are so defiled and disrespected! Saint Joseph, please teach us to love the Lord Jesus and the Most Holy Virgin. Help us to lovingly receive the Lord with the love that you reveal to us. You protected the Lord God, may we do all we can to protect His loving Presence in the Sacrament of Love. Joseph, you knelt by the cradle of the Lord and were humble before Him…teach us to genuflect and to kneel before the King of Kings. Saint Joseph be our model! Thank you Saint Joseph for all the graces you obtained from Jesus for us during your dedicated year. Saint Joseph is such a gift to us from God. As Pope Saint Pius IX exhorts us: “Go to Joseph! Have recourse with special confidence to Saint Joseph, for his protection is most powerful, as he is the patron of the universal Church.”
God bless you,
Father Szolack