Upcoming Solemnity of the Annunciation

Upcoming Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord (March 25) March 21, 2021 The Fifth Sunday of Lent nool.us | (303) 469-5171 A LETTER A Letter from Deacon Julius Lule FROM OUR PRIESTS

Dear Parishioners,

Greetings from St. John Vianney Theological Seminary. On behalf of the 110 seminarians attending both St. John Vianney Theological Seminary (SJV) and Redemptoris Mater Archdiocesan Missionary Seminary (RM), I write to you with gratitude for your generous support on our journey to priesthood. I am who I am today because I know you are praying for me and my brother seminarians. May we open wide the doors of our hearts to this noble calling for the salvation of souls in this Archdiocese of Denver, in this great country and overseas (like Uganda and Myanmar). You do not only labor for our spiritual Dcn. Julius Lule formation, but also for all other areas of formation. As for me, it is at Nativity, in the shadows of the wings of your generosity and hospitality, that I have grown into a man loved by God and by the Church (you personally), a man of faith, a disciple, a deacon, and soon a disciple for mission to wherever God will call me. Your love has born much fruit in me since August 4th, 2015 when I came to the US, and it will bear more fruit by the grace of God.

God-willing, I will graduate from SJV seminary on May 15th, 2021, and return to Uganda this summer for ordination to the priesthood on August 21st, and then wait for a special secret surprise (SSS - my first assignment).

Thank you for giving me an opportunity to serve as a deacon at Nativity. Many of you have taught me so much, have given me feedback and inspired me to desire the greatness of soul that God has made me for. How can I forget the car that you gave me to help me reach out to all corners of the parish where I hear the voice calling me to serve? It is a very special gift.

And thank you for your generous financial support in the November Annual Seminaries’ Appeal. Without your gift, it would be impossible for me and for my brother seminarians to continue our formation this year. If you did not have an opportunity to contribute to the Annual Seminaries Appeal in November, and you would love to, you can still do so by visiting archden.org/- futurepriests.

Lastly, I invite all youths to be generous to God and to His Church for the salvation of souls in this culture that is crumbling in our face. God needs you, the Church needs you, this country needs you, and the world needs you. Will you give God your freedom and your humanity to make a dierence in our time? Parents, grandparents, and all of us people of God, let us show our children the beauty and the happiness of human life lived in grace.

Please continue to pray for us, and I promise to keep you always in my prayers as well.

Thank you. Deacon Julius Lule DAILY READINGS PARISH OFFICE DAY 1ST READING 2ND READING GOSPEL Location Sat 3/20     900 W. Midway Blvd Sun 3/21       Broomfield, CO 80020 Mon 3/22        Tues 3/23      Website: www.nool.us Wed 3/24        Thurs 3/25     Fri 3/26     Phone: (303) 469-5171 Sat 3/27     Sun 3/28      Office Hours: Monday - Friday 8:00am-9:00pm PARISH TIMES Saturday Mass Times Confession Drive-up Monday - Friday Thursday Communion 8:00am-5:00pm 7:00am | 9:30am 5:00-6:00pm Sunday 9:30am Fax: (303) 469-5172 Saturday Saturday Daily Livestream School: (303) 466-4177 9:30am | 4:00pm 8:00-9:30am of Mass 5:00pm 3:00-4:30pm 9:30am BULLETIN INFO

Sunday Sunday For all bulletin submissions, 7:30am | 8:30am During Mass please email us at: 9:30am | 11:00am when possible 12:00pm | 4:00pm | 5:00pm [email protected]

The submission deadline is Visit nool.us for our Sign up at nool.us or at every Tuesday at noon. Be interactive bulletin, latest app.flocknote.com/nool news, and more. on the lookout for early Nativity's main communication tool holiday submission times.

PARISH STAFF

Pastor Parish Sacristan Director of Music IT Specialist Fr. Michael Carvill, FSCB Marylou Sivigliano Dr. Marcia Marchesi Jim DuBey [email protected] | ext. 114 [email protected] | ext. 136 [email protected] | ext. 123 [email protected] | ext. 115 Assistant Sacristan Faith Alive Direct Number Admin. of Parish Reception & Ops Jen Kuzik Associate Pastor Ron Kaiser (303) 731-0425 [email protected] | ext. 100 Fr. Accursio Ciaccio, FSCB Director of Faith Alive Executive Assistant to the Pastor [email protected] Mark Thomason Admin. Assistants - Front Desk Roberta Hebert [email protected] | ext. 104 Lindsay Smith Associate Pastor [email protected] [email protected] | ext. 112 Fr. Emanuele Fadini, FSCB Director of Religious Education Stacy Logay [email protected] | ext. 166 School Principal Diane Irby [email protected] | ext. 112 Holly Peterson [email protected] | ext. 103 Rose Pearson Associate Pastor [email protected] | ext. 141 Faith Alive Assistant [email protected] | ext. 112 Fr. Matteo Invernizzi, FSCB Tricia Fankell [email protected] Facilities Manager Business Manager [email protected] | ext. 103 Mike Hebert Deacons Kyle Hubbart [email protected] | ext. 122 [email protected] | ext. 108 Parish Registrar Huan Nguyen Past. Associate, Charity & Outreach Merrilyn Sikora [email protected] Accounting and HR Manager [email protected] | ext. 110 Lynne Gallagher Steve Vallero Carol Sullivan [email protected] | ext. 101 [email protected] [email protected] | ext. 109 Director of Stewardship Director ofv Communications David Arling Diane Denfeld Accounting Assistants Jacquie Fankell [email protected] [email protected] | ext. 106 Suzie Sloan [email protected] | ext. 135 Sisters [email protected] | ext. 140 Director of Development Communications Associate Srs. Teresa and Marilú Candy Gritz Ilene DuBey Lauren Abeyta [email protected] [email protected] | ext. 140 [email protected] | ext. 116 [email protected] | ext. 135 3 SAINT OF THE WEEK ARCHBISHOPʼS PRAYER

Leader: For the Archdiocese of Denver, that All: Come, Holy Spirit. Fill through the fatherly intercession of St. the hearts of your faithful Joseph, patron of the universal Church, the and enkindle in them the Holy Spirit will stir into flame our local fire of your love. Send forth Church; boldly focused on mission and your Spirit and they shall committed to announcing the Gospel of Jesus be created and you shall Christ. Together we pray. renew the face of the Earth.

LAZARUS SACRISTY LAUNDRY CATHERINE WELLER Saturday, March 20

MASS INTENTIONS Saturday, March 20 (Sunday continued) Wednesday, March 24 Saturday, March 27 9:30 † Fr. Fabio Baroncini 12:00 - 7:00 - 9:30 † Cornelio Bosetti by Sister Marilú 4:00 One Year Ann. Death 9:30 † Paul Boudrias by Sister Marilu 4:00 Kathleen Le of Ivano Marchesi by Mary 4:00 - by Thanh Trinh by The Family 5:00 † Mary Horvat 5:00 Kathy Swart 5:00 - Thursday, March 25 by her family 7:00 The Missionary Sunday, March 21 Monday, March 22 Sister of St. Charles Sunday, March 28 7:30 † Lucia 7:00 Thanh Le Borromeo 7:30 - by Thanh Le by Thu Van 9:30 † Paul A. Rask 8:30 - 8:30 - 9:30 Iveta Andrasova by Maria Rask 9:30 People of The Parish 9:30 People of The Parish by The Fejka Family 11:00 - 11:00 † Tom Carroll Friday, March 26 12:00 - by Joan Carroll Tuesday, March 23 7:00 † Emma Bedoya 4:00 - 7:00 † Giudetta by Allan Kassik 5:00 - by Sister Marilu and Ligia Villegas 9:30 Iveta Andrasova 9:30 † Jozef Strazan by The Fejka Family by Hilda Fejka

PARISH CALENDAR

Sunday, March 21 Tuesday, March 23 Thursday, March 25 Saturday, March 27 7:30am Mass 7:00am Mass 7:00am Mass 7:45am Cenacle Prayer Group 8:30am Mass 9:30am Livestream Mass 9:00am ENDOW 8:50am Prolife Rosary 9:30am Drive-Up Mass 10:00am SVdP 9:30am Livestream Mass 9:00am CL 11:00am Mass 1:00pm Bible Study 10:00am SVdP 9:30am Livestream Mass 12:00pm Mass 4:30pm RE 4:00pm Nativity Night 11:00am Baptisms 4:00pm Mass 6:30pm RCIA 5:30pm Stephen Ministry 4:00pm Mass 5:00pm Mass 6:30pm RE 6:45pm Baptism Class 5:00pm Mass 6:00pm HS Youth Group 7:00pm Venturers 7:00pm Sojourners 7:00pm CL Monday, March 22 Wednesday, March 24 If you're going to the hospital Friday, March 26 and need a visit from a priest 7:00am Mass 5:30am St. Joe’s Men’s Group or deacon, please call the front 9:30am Livestream Mass 7:00am Mass 7:00am Mass desk at: 303-469-5171 10:00am SVdP 8:00am ENDOW 7:30am Men of Emmaus 9:00am ENDOW 2:00pm Apologetics—Mark 9:30am Livestream Mass If you have any prayer requests, 6:30pm SVdP 10:00am SVdP 9:30am Livestream Mass please contact Joanne Farver at 7:00pm Boulder CL 1:00pm ‘God Bible Study’ 10:00am SVdP 303-466-8859 or at 7:30pm St. Joe’s Men’s Group 6:30pm CL 3:00pm CL [email protected]. 7:15pm Scouts 4:00pm Cub Scouts 6:00pm Soup and Stations Prayers for the sick and for the deceased: Please see the website, nool.us, 6:30pm Scouts We pray for all who are sick, and for updated parish schedule Sign up on Flocknote for for our deceased relatives and due to changes in COVID-19 up-to-date information friends that they may speedily procedures. delivered directly into your attain the blessedness of heaven inbox at: and rejoice in the eternal treasure 4 app.flocknote.com/nool of God’s glory and love. Holy Week Mass Schedule Palm Sunday, March 27/28 Saturday 4:00pm (sign up required) 5:00pm Sunday 7:30am, 8:30am, 9:30am (livestreamed) (sign up required) 11:00am, 12:00pm, 4:00pm, 5:00pm Easter Sunday, April 4 Sunday Mass 7:30am, 8:30am Holy Thursday, April 1 9:30am (livestreamed) Confession 8:00am - 9:30am (sign up required) Morning Prayer 9:30am (livestreamed) Mass of the Lord’s 11:00am Supper 7:00pm (livestreamed) (sign up required) 12:00pm (outdoor, Adoration 9:00pm overnight to 7:00am, weather-permitting) on Good Friday Good Friday, April 2 Confession 8:00am - 9:30am Morning Prayer 9:30am (livestreamed) Way of the Cross 12:00pm (start at Brunner Farmhouse) Stations of the Cross 12:30pm (main church) Liturgy of the Passion 3:00pm (livestreamed) (sign up required) 5:00pm (sign up required) Holy Saturday, April 3 Confession 8:00am - 9:30am Morning Prayer 9:30am (livestreamed) Confession 3:00pm - 6:00pm Easter Vigil 8:00pm (livestreamed) (sign up required) IN THE FROM THE PARISH + COMMUNITY

URGENT: EUCHARISTIC MINISTERS WHY ARE THE STATUES AND CRUCIFIX COVERED? The schedule of lectors and eucharistic ministers for weekend Masses during the month of March will be published this week. It is an ancient tradition to veil images during Lent, particu- larly during Passiontide (the final two weeks before Easter). Last week an email was sent to all active volunteers requesting During this time, the liturgy invites us to reflect upon our that you update your availability for March. Unfortunately Lord’s suering and death, a time when the reality of His about one-third of the emails showed no response. power and majesty were “veiled” from sight. The veiling, which serves to separate the images from our sight, is also Please visit the website: a symbol of how our sins separate us from God. The veils www.rotundasoftware.com/ministry/nativitybroomfield are removed just before the Easter vigil, bringing the to make updates to your contact information, to indicate any images back into sight as we celebrate the Lord’s triumph ‘can’t serve’ times, to change your Mass time preferences, and over the sins that separate us from Him. to view your March assignments.

If you have any questions, please contact Theresa Cooley, WAY OF THE CROSS 720-635-8975, [email protected]. Way of the Cross through Broomfield COLLECTION COUNTERS NEEDED Friday, April 2 | 12:00pm Our accounting department is in need of men and women Join us to participate in our walking Stations of Cross to volunteer their time to count the collections. If you are through Broomfield, beginning at the Brunner Farmhouse interested in volunteering in this way, please reach out by at noon. We invite you to park at Nativity, since we will email or phone to Suzie Sloan, [email protected], conclude stations at the church. Shuttles will be available 303-469-5171 ext. 140. to the Brunner Farmhouse, if needed.

40 DAYS FOR LIFE HOLY THURSDAY ADORATION 40 Days for Life Mass with Fr. Michael THROUGH THE NIGHT Wednesday, March 24 | 11:00am Adoration through the Night Fr. Michael will celebrate Mass across from Planned Thursday, April 1 - Friday, April 2 | 9:00pm-7:00am Parenthood, Denver, on Wednesday, March 24 at 11:00 a.m. All are invited and encouraged to attend. We will Following the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday, not have an organized carpool available. we will have Adoration in the church until 7:00am on the morning of Good Friday. We are looking for people to Planned Parenthood spend an hour with Our Lord in the Holy Eucharist. If you 7155 E. 38 th Ave. Denver are interested, please sign up at the front desk. If you’d like to sign up for a vigil day/time at Boulder abor- tion clinic, go to 40daysforlife.com/boulder. Abortions MEDICAL ETHICS CONFERENCE begin each week on Tuesdays and are completed on Fridays. We have a group that prays on Tuesday Ethical Challanges in Health Care mornings at the clinic, if you’d like to join us. April 10, 2021 | 8:30am - 7:30pm If you have any questions contact: Risen Christ Catholic Parish, Denver Eloise Georgen: 303-469-8156, [email protected] Join Catholic healthcare professionals from around the Carrie Kudrna: 720-261-7622, [email protected] country in April for a crucial new conference on medical Janet Carpenter: 720-939-7192 ethics. Register in person or online by visiting: [email protected] convergingroads.com. 2021 Topics: Gender Dysphoria in Children and Adults, Artificial Intelligence and the Common Good, The Social Determinants of Health and more!

6 HOSTED BY THE IN THE PARISH + PARISH

THE HOPE CORNER: A MENTAL ST. JOSEPH SIX-WEEK BOOK STUDY HEALTH MINISTRY Consecration to St. Joseph By Becky Kusick, MA, LPC by Donald H. Calloway

It may seem like no time at all, or it may feel like the longest year of Wednesdays for Six Weeks your life since the World Health Organization classified COVID-19 as Begins March 24 | 7:00-8:30pm a pandemic on March 11, 2020. It might be dicult to remember when there was no mask wearing, social distancing, school and work from Join Deacon David Arling each Wednes- home. In 2021, you may be having thoughts or memories of where you day for six weeks as we read through were one year ago. It might be the memory of your last day in the Calloway’s book study and prepare to oce, the last day the kids were in school, the last time you met face to entrust ourselves to the spiritual father- face with a group of friends, or the last time you hugged someone. It hood and care of St. Joseph. may also be a loved one’s illness or death, your own illness, joblessness This book responds directly to the heart of our times, or social isolation. Your brain marks these pre-pandemic memories, answering the longing of the human heart to find in the Church remembers the anniversary, and it could bring up an “anniversary the stability, hope, and strength we need to respond to the reaction” to this traumatic event. You may have had previous anniver- challenges we face today. Calloway shows us that it is through sary reactions on the dates of a past trauma, significant loss, or event in St. Joseph that God desires to grant us these graces in our your life. During anniversary reactions, you may have unsettling times. feelings, thoughts, or memories. During these times, feelings about the traumatic event can come up and be almost as strong as they were Email or call Deacon David at [email protected] or right after the event. Some of the reactions may involve fear, anxiety, (719)250-2775 if you are interested in joining us for this irritability, diculty concentrating, nightmares, and diculty sleeping amazing six-week study! and eating. You may feel fatigue as well as muscle tension, stomach problems, increased heart rate, grinding teeth, and headaches. These are all normal reactions in an anniversary reaction of a traumatic event.

The coping strategies for an anniversary reaction are similar to when the event actually occurred. First, allow yourself to have your feelings. TWENTY-FOUR HOUR ADORATION: Addressing the feelings from the pandemic is crucial to returning to the new normal. Talk to a friend, support person, or loved one. Include FOR OUR PRIESTS walking or some form of exercise to reduce the stress hormones and increase endorphins. Practice daily gratitude. Do something creative. Morning of March 25 - Morning of March 26 Participate in a hobby, cook, craft, listen to music, read, write poetry, or Main Church | In Honor of and Petition for Our Priests write in a journal. Engage in activities that are self-nurturing or soothing. Pray, light your favorite candle, say the rosary, watch the On the feast of the Annunciation, join us for a twenty-four hour sunrise or the stars at night. Addressing feelings from COVID-19 is an period of adoring Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament to celebrate important step to finding your new normal. If you’re reading this, you and pray for our priests who have faithfully served us amidst the survived 2020. We are still here, standing, resilient, and there is hope pandemic. Through our time in front of the Blessed Sacrament, ahead! we want to oer our time and prayers to ask for grace, blessings, and refreshment for our priests around the world who have Crisis Lines: served us faithfully in our parishes, hospitals, and communities! Metro Crisis Service 888-885-1222 Emergency Psychiatric Service 303-447-1665 There will be a paper sign-up at the front desk. We will hold the Suicide Prevention Lifeline, 1-800-273-TALK (8255), Text HELLO to exposition of the Blessed Sacrament in the main church begin- 7417, www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org/chat/ ning after the 7:00am Mass on Thursday, March 25 and close Veterans Helpline 1-800-273-TALK out with benediction prior to the 7:00am Mass on Friday, National Crisis Text Line, text “home” to 741741 March 26. Registered adorers can arrive for their adoration time Substance Abuse and Addiction Hotline 1-800-662-HELP (4357) in the main chapel—those signed up during the evening hours overnight between 9:00pm - 6:00am will receive information The Hope Corner is a free mental health ministry committed to on how to contact us to enter the main church for their time instilling hope and reducing stigma. Please contact The Hope Corner slot. No Adoration will take place in the Adoration Chapel with any questions or comments. If you or a family member are in need during this 24 hour period. Committed adorers from the of a referral, information or community-based resources, contact: Chapel will be notified to take their regular hour in the main Becky Kusick, MA, LPC at, [email protected] or Church. 303-907-6499. If you are having a mental health crisis, please call Colorado Crisis Services at 844-493-8255 or text “TALK” to 38255. For questions, please reach out to Joan Bridges, [email protected].

7 IN THE HOSTED BY THE PARISH + COMMUNITY

SEEKING FULL-TIME NANNY ST. VINCENT DE PAUL Is It That Simple? Seeking full-time nanny to care for our six-month-old baby boy from May to August. Infant care experience required. We’re a "Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of bright, Catholic home and are looking for someone who will mesh the poor and the oppressed. Rescue the weak and the well with that. We're a covid-conscious family and are looking for needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked." (Psalms someone who is similarly so. Spanish-speaking is a plus! Contact 82:3-4) Mariana at [email protected]. Lent is a time for personal renewal, to evaluate our relationship with Jesus, and to exercise our faith through prayer, fasting, and charity. Lent gives us a time to let go of our self-centered lives and express generosity and thanks by taking a close look around us. Christ said, “Whatever you do for the least of these, you have done for me.” He makes it very clear that to love Him means to love those less fortunate, bringing us closer to Him. It is human nature to not think about the poor; the topic makes us feel sad, frustrated, and hopeless, especially when we think there is little we can do. Lent is a perfect opportunity to reflect on the situation of the poor and realize that God has a special place, connection and love for the ones without a voice, the powerless, the ill and the hungry. When we consider the challenges faced by those in need who are elderly or children, and those who have lost their way, we can nurture our desire to become more attentive and supportive. We can strive to grow our understanding of what it is like to be more like Jesus. The conclusion is very clear: We must hear the cry of the poor. When we reject people in need, it is a form of reject- Listen to the Weekly Homily ing Christ himself. When Jesus commanded us to love our neighbor, He meant for us to demonstrate it by how we treat others, especially the poor. Search for “Nativity Homilies”

NOOL.US/ HOMILIES ACADEMIC DECATHLON

Two of our amazing seventh grad- ers, Gabriela and Amelia, represent- ed our school and the Archdiocese of Denver in the National Academic Decathlon competition last week- end—Gabriela in the English cate- gory, and Amelia in the Literature category.

Amelia, pictured right, earned 2nd place overall! Way to go, Knights!

FIRST RECONCILIATION

Father Accu visited the second graders, answer- ing all their questions about the Sacrament of Penance prior to the First Reconciliation, which will take place this week. Please keep our second graders in your prayers!

IN THE CLASSROOM

Mrs. DaSilva's fifth graders work on creating models of the solar system!

In middle school language arts, sixth graders are reading dier- entiated novels based on their STAR scores: Zora and Me, 40 Acres and Maybe a Mule, Ghetto Cowboy, and Glory Be. Students make plot timelines to discuss the main idea and theme. 9 Parts 5b-7a A LETTER FROM OUR POPES

The Gospel does not tell us how long Mary, 6. A working father PATRIS CORDE Joseph and the child remained in Egypt. Yet they certainly needed to eat, to find a home An aspect of Saint Joseph that has been Week 4 of 5 and employment. It does not take much emphasized from the time of the first social imagination to fill in those details. The Holy Encyclical, Pope Leo XIII’s Rerum Novarum, is 8 December 2020 Family had to face concrete problems like his relation to work. Saint Joseph was a every other family, like so many of our migrant carpenter who earned an honest living to brothers and sisters who, today too, risk their provide for his family. From him, Jesus learned lives to escape misfortune and hunger. In this the value, the dignity and the joy of what it regard, I consider Saint Joseph the special means to eat bread that is the fruit of one’s patron of all those forced to leave their native own labour. lands because of war, hatred, persecution and poverty. In our own day, when employment has once more become a burning social issue, and At the end of every account in which Joseph unemployment at times reaches record levels plays a role, the Gospel tells us that he gets even in nations that for decades have enjoyed up, takes the child and his mother, and does a certain degree of prosperity, there is a what God commanded him (cf. Mt 1:24; renewed need to appreciate the importance 2:14.21). Indeed, Jesus and Mary his Mother of dignified work, of which Saint Joseph is an are the most precious treasure of our exemplary patron. faith.[21] Work is a means of participating in the work In the divine plan of salvation, the Son is of salvation, an opportunity to hasten the inseparable from his Mother, from Mary, who coming of the Kingdom, to develop our “advanced in her pilgrimage of faith, and talents and abilities, and to put them at the faithfully persevered in her union with her service of society and fraternal communion. It POPE FRANCIS Son until she stood at the cross”.[22] becomes an opportunity for the fulfilment not only of oneself, but also of that primary cell of We should always consider whether we society which is the family. A family without 1:31). In a similar way, Joseph ourselves are protecting Jesus and Mary, for work is particularly vulnerable to difficulties, acted as a father for his whole they are also mysteriously entrusted to our tensions, estrangement and even break-up. life.[25] own responsibility, care and safekeeping. The How can we speak of human dignity without Son of the Almighty came into our world in a working to ensure that everyone is able to Fathers are not born, but made. state of great vulnerability. He needed to be earn a decent living? A man does not become a defended, protected, cared for and raised by father simply by bringing a child Joseph. God trusted Joseph, as did Mary, Working persons, whatever their job may be, into the world, but by taking up who found in him someone who would not are cooperating with God himself, and in the responsibility to care for only save her life, but would always provide some way become creators of the world that child. Whenever a man for her and her child. In this sense, Saint around us. The crisis of our time, which is accepts responsibility for the Joseph could not be other than the Guardian economic, social, cultural and spiritual, can life of another, in some way he of the Church, for the Church is the continua- serve as a summons for all of us to rediscover becomes a father to that tion of the Body of Christ in history, even as the value, the importance and necessity of person. Mary’s motherhood is reflected in the moth- work for bringing about a new “normal” from erhood of the Church.[23] In his continued which no one is excluded. Saint Joseph’s work Children today often seem protection of the Church, Joseph continues reminds us that God himself, in becoming orphans, lacking fathers. The to protect the child and his mother, and we man, did not disdain work. The loss of employ- Church too needs fathers. Saint too, by our love for the Church, continue to ment that affects so many of our brothers and Paul’s words to the Corinthians love the child and his mother. sisters, and has increased as a result of the remain timely: “Though you Covid-19 pandemic, should serve as a have countless guides in Christ, That child would go on to say: “As you did it summons to review our priorities. Let us you do not have many fathers” to one FR.of the MICHAELleast of these who are members implore Saint Joseph the Worker to help us (1 Cor 4:15). Every priest or of my family, you did it to me” (Mt 25:40). find ways to express our firm conviction that bishop should be able to add, Consequently, every poor, needy, suffering or no young person, no person at all, no family with the Apostle: “I became dying person,CARVILL every stranger, every prisoner, should be without work! your father in Christ Jesus every infirm person is “the child” whom through the Gospel” (ibid.). Paul Joseph continues to protect. For this reason, 7. A father in the shadows likewise calls the Galatians: “My Saint Joseph is invoked as protector of the little children, with whom I am unfortunate, the needy, exiles, the afflicted, The Polish writer Jan Dobraczyński, in his again in travail until Christ be the poor and the dying. Consequently, the book The Shadow of the Father,[24] tells the formed in you!” (4:19). Church cannot fail to show a special love for story of Saint Joseph’s life in the form of a the least of our brothers and sisters, for novel. He uses the evocative image of a Being a father entails introduc- Jesus showed a particular concern for them shadow to define Joseph. In his relationship ing children to life and reality. and personally identified with them. From to Jesus, Joseph was the earthly shadow of Not holding them back, being Saint Joseph, we must learn that same care the heavenly Father: he watched over him overprotective or possessive, and responsibility. We must learn to love the and protected him, never leaving him to go but rather making them capa- child and his mother, to love the sacraments his own way. We can think of Moses’ words to ble of deciding for themselves, and charity, to love the Church and the poor. Israel: “In the wilderness… you saw how the enjoying freedom and exploring Each of these realities is always the child and Lord your God carried you, just as one carries new possibilities. Perhaps for his mother. a child, all the way that you travelled” (Deut this reason, Joseph is tradition- ally called a “most chaste” father. Continued next week. 10