Sleeping Saint Joseph
In Mathew’s Gospel, God speaks to St. Joseph in four dreams. In the first dream, an angel tells him to bring Mary into his home as his wife, because the child was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit (Mathew 1:20-21). Putting his faith in God, Joseph took Mary as his wife.
And in his fourth dream, Joseph is asked to go instead to the town of Nazareth in Galilee and make it his home to fulfill the prophecy that Jesus would be called a Nazorean (Mathew 2:22). Our parish will have a second Sleeping St. Joseph statue inside the Mission Blvd entry vestibule of our renovated church. Both statues were funded by generous donations. Together with our Mission church, named in 1797 at its founding in honor of St. Joseph (“La Mision del Gloriosisimo Patriarch San Jose”), and our St. Joseph shrine near Mission Blvd, the statues of Sleeping St. Joseph establish our parish as a devotional destination for our patron saint. Patron and Protector of the Universal ChurchSt. Joseph is the patron saint and protector of the Universal Church and patron saint of families, fathers, expectant mothers, travelers, immigrants, house sellers and buyers, craftsmen, engineers and working people, among others.
That’s the Power of faith: it can sustain us and fill us with hope, no matter what we are facing. Financial hardship, family infighting, racial prejudice, chronic illness, you name it. We’ve all faced, or are facing now, situations that appear hopeless. We’ve all faced, or are facing now, the temptation to give up. So thank God for this poor, silent carpenter from Nazareth. Thank God for his witness of deep trust in the Lord. May we all follow in his footsteps and, through his intercession, find the grace to continue hoping against hope. “St. Joseph, watchful guardian of the Holy Family, teach me to live in unwavering hope!” Pope FrancisIn 2015, during his trip to the Philippines, Pope Francis popularized the image of St. Joseph lying on his side, fast asleep. “I like St. Joseph very much. He’s a strong man of silence. On my desk, I have an image of St. Joseph sleeping. Even when he is asleep, he looks after the Church. Yes! We know that he does that,” Pope Francis said, “So when I have a problem, a difficulty, I write a little note and I put it underneath Sleeping St. Joseph, so that he can dream about it! In other words, I tell him: ‘Pray for this problem!’” Certainly St. Joseph knows how to rest peacefully with God! He rests with trust in God’s divine plan and acts with divine inspiration. We can learn from him how to refrain from anxiety in the middle of our busy lives and work hard according to God’s plan, and not run the risk of being busy with things that do not matter much eternally. Pope Francis says the way St. Joseph responded to his dreams — by rising and doing as God had asked — shows St. Joseph was a man who was willing to immediately do the will of God. “Those precious moments of repose, of resting with the Lord in prayer, are moments we might wish to prolong. But like St. Joseph, once we have heard God’s voice, we must rise from our slumber; we must get up and act.” ![]() A Prayer to Sleeping Saint JosephO Saint Joseph, you are a man greatly favored by the Most High. The angel of the Lord appeared to you in dreams, while you slept, to warn you and guide you as you cared for the Holy Family. You were both silent and strong, a loyal and courageous protector. Dear Saint Joseph, as you rest in the Lord, confident of his absolute power and goodness, look upon me. Please take my need (mention your request) into your heart, dream of it, and present it to your Son. Help me then, good Saint Joseph, to hear the voice of God, to arise, and act with love. I praise and thank God with joy. Saint Joseph, I love you. Amen. |
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