Allocutio March 2021. St. Joseph “in a constant sort of way” as Mary and Jesus

Allocutio on St. Joseph

We Legionaries should be attentive to St. Joseph “in a constant sort of way” as Mary and Jesus were attentive to him.

Are we attentive to him, are we conscientious of him with us? Do we look to him as our protector? We are the body of Christ. You’re hands are his hands and feet his feet. He loves Christ. We are his body so Jesus lives in us. Joseph in Heaven is still the earthly adoptive father of Jesus Christ. This gives him a special place of honor and a father hood over us. He is our spiritual father.

This is his job to protect. Do we ask His protection. This year we celebrated the 150^th anniversary that he was declared patron saint and protector of the Church.

We need his protection. Dad brings order to the house. We need him to bring order to the Church today.

It is also a time of grace where we should really turn to his prayers. Pray for the family, for families that are almost falling apart, pray for the conversion of sinners, for vocations to the priesthood and religious life that men and women may embrace chastity and be consecrated to God as He was. That men look to him to be a good father, that anyone who had a bad relationship with their father or with men, look to Joseph for healing.

As the earthly father of Jesus, will Jesus reject Joseph’s prayers? St. Teresa of Avila spoke about how powerful his prayers are. St. Andre told people to pray to St. Joseph and they were healed.

Do we ask Joseph for things when things go really hard in our life, when we are dry, when we feel alone, when you have problems such as lack of work?

Do you call on Joseph your spiritual father? In our humanity we need a spiritual father, to see his example and know his love. We are part of the Church and the communion of saints. We honor him and respect him.

Mary wants us to love Joseph. She loved him so much and she and Jesus are so grateful to him. He was essential to the coming of the Messiah. God didn’t send the angel until Mary had betrothed to Joseph.

God wanted Joseph to be there. He wanted Joseph to be an image of his own fatherhood to Jesus. This is a man that God could trust with His Son. It was Joseph that Jesus imitated and learned from how to be a man. God wanted Joseph to protect Mary. “Do not be afraid to take Mary into your home.”

St. Joseph was pure in heart. He loved God with His whole heart and always did what God asked him to do. He was a man of prayer and piety. He had a deep love and respect for God.

He was honored and overjoyed when Jesus was born. He helped make sure He had a place to be born in Bethlehem. He provided for Jesus and his body. This he still does today. He saved Jesus’ life. He is savior of the Savior. Save us today, the body of Christ wounded from our sins.

He loved Mary so much. He was truly Her spouse, her most chaste spouse.

The Virgin Mary is Joseph’s wife, his queen, and the delight of his heart. She was the only woman who could ever satisfy his chaste heart. As Adam was not fulfilled until he rested in a creature similar to himself (Eve), Joseph only found rest when he found Mary. When he took Mary’s hand in marriage, he consecrated himself to her and made a promise to treasure her femininity especially her blessed virginity. He was her beloved provider, protector, and servant.

So we ask St. Joseph to spur us on to service. He was silent and obedient. He always did what God asked him through the angel. He did it immediately. We legionaries have to be like St. Joseph: we do our work in silence and humility without human praise. We serve Him in the prison, in the nursing homes, in the hospitals, visiting Him in homes. We should count on Joseph to take under his cloak those families we visit. Joseph wants to help build up those families.

We ask Joseph to help build up our Legion, that we become strong in our faith and in love with Jesus as he was. He lived his whole life for Jesus and Mary and this is what we have to do as Legionaries.

We love you Saint Joseph. Please pray for us always. Be our spiritual Father. Amen.