Catechesis At Home – First Sunday of Advent – Year C

When this week is no longer the current Mass, the readings for the Mass can be found here

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Closing the Year of Saint Joseph

REFLECTION – The Year of Saint Joseph

We have spent a year considering, contemplating, praying, and learning about this quiet, humble, strong, obscure and un-sung saint. Last December, we, the Catholic Church, embarked on the Year of Saint Joseph, rather unexpectedly. As we close it out, this week’s first reading of the First Sunday of Advent invites us to reflect on one of the attributes of Saint Joseph – he was a just man (Matthew 1:19). Matthew’s Gospel opens with the Genealogy of Jesus, which places Him in the family tree of David. The “just shoot” that comes from the Prophet Jeremiah (Jeremiah 33:15) this week is none other than our Lord. Yet, we can also see the reference to Saint Joseph, who is a direct descendant of King David. And what does it mean for Saint Joseph to be a just man? What does it mean that Jesus, raised by Joseph, is Himself the Just Judge (1 Peter 2:23)?

To be “just” means that one has been justified, which means we are free of sin and all punishment of sin, in short, we are holy. Therefore, when Joseph is described as a “just man” it implies that he is in a state of holiness, from which he has received that sanctification from God through the saving power of Christ. In God’s timelessness, He saved Mary from sin at the moment of her conception (the Immaculate Conception [Spanish]). We can recognize from the Scripture that Jesus was instrumental in Joseph’s sanctification, as He is with all of us, as a devout and practicing Jew. For St. Joseph to be so open to Christ’s grace to receive messages in dreams and follow those directions without question, he had to be “full of grace”. St. Joseph was not a prophet in the sense that he was a mouthpiece of God, but he was a prophet in the sense that he was truly “tuned in” to God’s voice. May we all be so open to the working of God in our lives and make room for Jesus in our homes this Advent and beyond!

DISCUSSION – Promises Kept to Saint. Joseph and Us

When God makes a promise, we can be CERTAIN that He will keep it. God made several promises to His People throughout the Old Testament. Some of these promises were raised to the level of Covenant. All of the covenants are brought to fulfillment in the Person of Jesus Christ. In this week’s readings we hear of promises and covenants, and their fulfillment. All of the covenants were promises of salvation. God wants to keep His crown of Creation – Man –in paradise with Him, so when Adam and Eve sinned, He promised to send a Savior. We know that Savior is Jesus Christ. In our second reading this week St. Paul prays that we are able to live the Love that God desires for us, to grow to perfection, so that at the judgment we will be found worthy to enter paradise (1 Thessalonians 3:13). One model of holiness, perhaps the best model of non-immaculate stature, is Saint Joseph. We can learn from him how to love Jesus – to serve Him through our love of and for our family, humbly being the person we are supposed to be and do what we are supposed to do to support that being: the work God asks of us (our vocation). When we trust in the fulfillment of God’s promises, we are more able to accept His will for us and to join our will with His. This is how we can please the Lord, enjoy peace of heart and mind in this life, and eternal happiness in the next.

Talk together about who you are supposed to be, paying close attention to who God wants you to be, not who you want to be.

ACTIVITY – Litany of Saint Joseph

Pray the Litany of Saint Joseph together with your family. Discuss the various titles and attributes listed within the litany. How can we emulate these in our lives? Can you see how Jesus may have learned some of these from Saint Joseph? As a child of God, we are all continually learning and growing in our faith. Let us continue to ask Saint Joseph to be our guide into all truth and righteousness as we strive for holiness.

Saint Joseph was an ordinary man who was asked and invited to participate in an extraordinary way within Salvation History – our history. We also are called to participate – through our ordinary lives – in that extraordinary Story that continues to echo. Let us not lose sight of our role in reaching for heaven and bringing as many people along with us as we can!

DIG DEEPER – Saint Joseph’s Secret Side?

Kristofer prays to Saint Joseph every day, and encourages every Man, Husband, and Dad to do the same. But he adds two “titles” of Saint Joseph to the litany that are not traditional:

Master Craftsman, pray for us
Angelic Man, pray for us

Consider and talk about what these titles mean. Explore scripture about Joseph’s encounters with angels, and look into how we know how skilled he was at carpentry.

Litany of Saint Joseph

Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world, Spare us, O Lord!
Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world, Graciously hear us, O Lord!
Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world, Have mercy on us!

He made him the lord of His household, R. And prince over all His possessions.

Let Us Pray
O God, Who in Thine ineffable Providence didst vouchsafe to choose Blessed Joseph to be the spouse of Thy most holy Mother, grant, we beseech Thee, that he whom we venerate as our protector on earth may be our intercessor in Heaven. Who lives and reigns forever and ever. Amen.

How Has the Year of St. Joseph affected you?