Celebrating the Year of St. Joseph

FEAST OF ST. JOSEPH  On March 19, the univer­sal Church will mark the Solemnity of St. Joseph. Pictured here is the statue of the saint holding the Christ Child in front of St. Joseph Church in Passaic.

CLIFTON  With the universal Church in the midst of marking the Year of St. Joseph, the feast day of the foster father of Jesus is getting special attention this year. Annually, the Solemnity of St. Joseph is celebrated on March 19 and this year, throughout the Diocese, special Masses will be held on his feast day.

Bishop Sweeney will be marking the day at two sites in the Diocese whose patron is St. Joseph. He will be celebrating Mass at St. Joseph’s Home for the Elderly, Totowa, in the morning and St. Joseph Parish, West Milford, the oldest parish in the state, in the evening.

On Feb. 15, a 33-day preparation for a consecration to St. Joseph began for many throughout the Diocese, which will culminate March 19. Many will be making the consecration on that day during Masses. Many of those who have been preparing for the consecration have been guided by the book, Consecration to St. Joseph: The Wonders of Our Spiritual Father, written by Father Donald H. Calloway. On social media, the Diocese’s Facebook page has offered daily reflections on St. Joseph that will lead up to his feast day. Both on its English and Spanish language Facebook pages, people from all around the Diocese have given short video reflections on St. Joseph based on the Litany of St. Joseph.

Bishop Sweeney has also offered daily reflections during the 33-day preparation on Instagram, @bishopkevinsweeney. Many of the thoughts of the day based on Father Calloway’s book relate St. Joseph’s life to daily life today, such as focusing on family relationships, spending time and listening in prayer like St. Joseph, and defending and protecting those in need similar to any head of a household.

“A year ago, I had not heard of a consecration to St. Joseph,” said Bishop Sweeney. “After receiving two copies of Father Donald Calloway’s Book, Consecra­tion to St. Joseph, I started to learn not only about the consecration, but also about St. Joseph, what it means that he is patron of the Universal Church and how devotion to St. Joseph can truly draw us closer to Mary, our Blessed Mother, and to Jesus. Making a formal ‘consecration’ to St. Joseph can strengthen the ‘spiritual bonds’ of his intercession for us and, thus, bring us closer to the Holy Family and to God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.”

For those who missed the opportunity for a consecration to St. Joseph, other suggested consecration days are May 1 on the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker, with the start date for the preparation on March 30, and Nov. 1 on All Saints Day, with a Sept. 30 start date. Other consecration days are Jan. 23, Feast of the Holy Spouses; Feb. 2, Presentation of the Lord; May 13, Our Lady of Fatima; Aug. 17, Our Lady of Knock; Dec. 10, Our Lady of Loreto, and Sunday, Dec. 26, marking the Feast of the Holy Family.

Trinitarian Father Dennis Berry, director of the Shrine of St. Joseph in Stirling, said, “I think as Father Calloway points out in his book, Consecration to St. Joseph, this truly is a special time in the history of the Church to deepen our understanding of St. Joseph’s role in the mystery of salvation. Here at the Shrine of St. Joseph we feel very blessed to be a part of this movement of life in the Church and the world.”

More than 200 people are expected to make the Act of Consecration to St. Joseph at the Shrine in Stirling, which will host a three-day triduum to St. Joseph.

March 10 begins a novena to St. Joseph, which will present another opportunity for Catholics to celebrate the feast day and the year in honor of the spouse of the Blessed Mother. The novena will occur from March 10 to 18 and several sources have different novenas. The U.S. Bishops offer a novena to St. Joseph focusing on his life. The themes for each day are March 10: The Genealogy, March 11: The Betrothal, March 12: The Annunciation to Joseph, March 13: The Nativity, March 14: The Naming, March 15: The Presentation, March 16: The Flight to Egypt, March 17: Finding Jesus in the Temple, and March 18: The Death of St. Joseph. EWTN, the Catholic television network also offers a novena focusing on St. Joseph’s many titles.

Bishop Emeritus Arthur Serratelli has also written a book, Scriptural Novena to St. Joseph, published by Catholic Book Publi­shing, Totowa, which offers nine biblical reflections with accompanying prayers to help readers grow in knowledge and love of St. Joseph.

“The Holy Father Francis invites us to remember that it was a simple, ordinary working man whose love, fidelity, and mercy made it possible for the Good News of Jesus to transform lives and transform the world over these past 2,000-plus years,” Father Berry said. “The invitation to each of us, the baptized, is to carry on today and bring today to the world this same ‘mystery’ of God’s love and forgiveness to the world through faithfully and lovingly living out the particular mission that has been confided to each of us as God confided the mission to St. Joseph.”