Children at Assumption Parish take part in Year of St. Joseph celebration

MORRISTOWN  To Samuel Milligan, 8, of Assumption Parish here, St. Joseph is “God’s hero.”

During recent classes of Assump­tion’s Catechesis of the Good Shep­herd program, Milligan set down his thoughts about the beloved saint in a short, simple poem, which described him as “the father of Jesus, the husband of Mary, God’s hero.” It was one of more than 120 poems, prayers, and drawings that children of the parish’s faith formation program and Assumption School made for the Year of St. Joseph, now being celebrated by the Diocese and the universal Church.

Milligan’s poem will be featured in an upcoming Assumption bulletin, where the parish has been publishing the children’s insightful and beautiful tributes to St. Joseph each week. It started — appropriately — on Father’s Day weekend. After learning about St. Joseph either during in-person classes at the parish or school or at home with their families, students took time to create their great works of prayer, literature, and art for St. Joseph. Like Milligan, they included children, 3–15, from Good Shepherd, a part of Assumption’s expansive faith for­mation program.

“It was fun,” Milligan told The Beacon about writing his poem. He has three other siblings, 6–10, in the faith formation program. He also listed some other facts that he remembered about St. Joseph from class, such as “he traveled with Mary to Bethlehem, where Jesus was born.”

The heartfelt homages to St. Joseph at Assumption are among the many activities that parishes across the Diocese have been sponsoring for the Year of St. Joseph. They are part of celebrations of the saint that are taking place throughout the Universal Church by decree of Pope Francis through Dec. 8, the Feast of the Immaculate Concep­tion. The Diocese has been holding a full schedule of Year of St. Joseph events throughout this year. These activities will give local Catholics numerous opportunities to honor and be inspired by the faithful example of St. Joseph. For a list of activities in the Diocese, visit the diocesan website www.rcdop.org or the website for St. Paul Inside the Walls in Madison, www.insidethewalls.org/year-of-st-joseph.

“I’m delighted by the language that the children used in their poems and prayers and the wonderful images in their pictures,” said Linda Macios, Assumption’s parish coordinator and director of faith formation. The idea, she said, came from Father Lukasz Wnuk, Assumption’s parochial vicar. “Everything we know about St. Joseph appears in Matthew and Luke, but that was enough for the children to draw inspiration from [for their creations],” she said.

The children in Good Shepherd learn about St. Joseph as a regular part of their studies but have been focusing more on him in this special year. The students in all three levels look at him in the context of the “mystery of the Incarnation” by reading the Nativity narratives and learning about feast days in the Church, such as the Epiphany, said Tara Speer, coordinator of Good Shepherd, which forms students through “hands-on” learning and activities.

For this Year of St. Joseph project, volunteers and students examined Pope Francis’ writings about St. Joseph and other materials, such as “Scriptural Novena to St. Joseph,” a book by Bishop Emeritus Arthur Serratelli for older students, Speer said.

Younger students in Good Shepherd responded to the Nativity narratives and life of St. Joseph by composing meditations, such as prayer cards with his image, or a simple prayer, artwork, a Scriptural passage, or simple litany with one name of St. Joseph. Older students also composed a list of the seven Catholic virtues lived by St. Joseph: chastity, temperance, charity, diligence, patience, kindness, and humility, Speer said.

“We looked at the literature about St. Joseph and talked about him as a worker, who stood in the shadows, sacrificing for the kingdom of God without accolades but with great love,” said Speer, who also shared additional materials and prayers on Flocknotes, one of Assumption’s digital communication tools to families. “The children know St. Joseph already and are motivated to learn about him and the Communion of Saints. They hear his name at Mass: ‘St. Joseph, pray for us.’ He also is relatable to the children as a father — the earthly father of Jesus and the father of the Church,” she said.

Another Good Shepherd student, Emily Gingrich, 9, made a list of virtues of St. Joseph that included other human virtues that she learned about in class, such as “constancy, sincerity, obedience, modesty, penitence, respect, and diligence.” She also drew simple stick figures of Joseph and Mary with Baby Jesus before their journey to Egypt. Joseph tells Mary, “Let’s Go!” and Mary, holding Jesus, replies, “OK!”

“St. Joseph was good and protected Mary and Jesus,” said Gingrich, who told The Beacon how her father, Andrew, models the saint’s love. “My dad helps me, takes care of me, works all day to make money for me, and helps me read from the Bible. God is awesome!” she said.

Emily’s mother, Gina, who has another child, Alex, 15, with Down syndrome, also of Good Shepherd, said, “The kids are learning that St. Joseph helped Jesus grow into who he is now.

“They also remember to treat everyone with love, like St. Joseph did,” Gina Gingrich said.

Assumption did that by holding St. Joseph’s Tables, an Italian religious tradition, over the course of the year. Families were encouraged to collect food and basic necessities for their brothers and sisters in need and bring them to Mass. Also in observance of St. Joseph, Father Wnuk facilitated with Claudia Nardi, music minister, an evening Taizé prayer in the church, attended by faith formation students, their families, and parishioners, Speer said.

Impressed, Msgr. John Hart, Assump­tion’s pastor and diocesan director of Clergy Personnel, told The Beacon, “Father Lukasz and I are both extremely proud of our children in Assumption School and faith for­mation program for the inspiring pictures, poems, and prayers that they created honoring St. Joseph, during this year dedicated to the patron saint of the Universal Church.

Msgr. Hart thanked The Beacon for highlighting the children’s work. “Our children’s beautiful art is a tribute to the faith that they are learning in their families and in Assump­tion, a family of families,” Msgr. Hart said.