St. Arnold Janssen had attributed divine providence to the intercession of St. Joseph. For the Founder St. Joseph would be like the heavenly Schatzmeister (“procurator”) of the missionary work he had begun (cf. J. Ommerbon, Our Founder’s Veneration of St. Joseph). This was glimpsed in the issues of the Little Messenger of the Heart of Jesus (Cf. May and July 1875; February and March 1876). According to St. Arnold, all donations were fruits of this mediation of St. Joseph in those years of the austere beginning of the missionary congregations in Steyl (cf. Bornemann, Remembering Arnold Janssen, pp 80, 102, 108, 256; Mc Hugh, The Spirituality of the SVD, p.205; Rohner, Die Gebete Arnold Janssen, Analecta, 56).   

This is the basis for the devotion and assiduous invocations to St. Joseph of the provincial and missionary procurators of the SVD and SSpS. In the present post-pandemic ecclesial reality with few parishioners and benefactors donating to our congregations, it is a challenging commitment for our procurators to raise the financial contributions for the life and mission of the provinces. Their silent services are similar to St. Joseph’s of unmeasured giving.

St. Joseph never took protagonist in the life of Jesus nor in the salvific history. He remained the vital piece, but always hidden behind the backdrop. It seems to me that this is what many of our procurators do on a daily basis, looking for resources like St. Joseph.

We know that the encyclical Quamquam plures (1889) of Pope Leo XIII had given rise to a great devotion to St. Joseph throughout the Church. Various movements and piety deeds had flourished thanks to the encyclical. Our founder was no stranger to these popular devotions and to promoting them, especially in the month of March. In his apostolic exhortation Redemptoris Custos (1989), John Paul II mentions the greatness of St. Joseph analysing Mt 1: 20.  Pope Francis’ apostolic letter Patris Corde (2020) and his devotion to the sleeping St. Joseph also have great effects on various members of our Arnoldine family.

Saint Joseph shall be the paradigm of service and dedication for all members of our Arnoldina family, without seeking fame. Unfortunately, many want the publicity in the service they carry out and publish them in the social media. Seeking adulation is and remains a sting in the flesh, a very complicated issue, in Arnoldine spirituality and our community life.

Saint Joseph also received an annunciation (Mt 1, 18-24), like Blessed Mary. Like her, he also said the radical but silent yes, which is equally important. Like Bl Mary’s fiat, there is also Joseph’s fiat. In every circumstance of his life, St. Joseph knew how to pronounce his fiat, like Virgen Mary at the Annunciation and Jesus in Gethsemane (Patris Corde #3).

Virgen Mary put her fiat into immediate action when she visited her cousin Elizabeth to help her (Lk 1:38). St. Joseph also put his fiat into immediate action by receiving Bl. Mary as his wife, taking her into his home. He committed himself to her in everything, also to Jesus. St. Joseph believed in providence. To believe in providence is a sign of humility. Many members of the Arnoldine family possess this great virtue, even though some still do not. Joseph is a model in all this and inspires us.

Patris Corde (with a Father’s Heart) is an ecclesial call for all the baptised: to be a father and a mother of heart, as a prophetic sign. This would be to live being salt of the earth and light of the world (Mt 5, 13-16).  We are about to celebrate Holy Week again. It seems to me that many of us have not yet learnt anything from the self-giving, without protagonism, of St. Joseph nor from the life and service of Jesus. 

All that is in Nature are God’s creatures, and to care for them as St. Joseph cared for Mary and Jesus (LS 242), is the Josephine mysticism.

St. Joseph, pray for us. Happy Feast of St. Joseph.