St. Joseph and the Increase of God's Fatherly Presence

"(Jesus) increased in wisdom and in stature, and in favor with God and man." 

Luke 2:52

from Day 1 - Why Consecration to St. Joseph?

Like the young Jesus under the watchful care of St. Joseph (whose very name means "increase"), we too can increase wisdom, stature, and favor before God under St. Joseph's paternal care, his guidance as a spiritual father. We can also learn to radiate the virtues of St. Joseph in the world, especially those related to his appointed role as the foster father of Jesus, chaste spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and provider-guardian for the Holy Family. The Litany of St. Joseph, a prayer that dates back to at least the 1500s, can help us pray and meditate on these fatherly virtues.

El Nino con San Jose
from Art ~ Modern Icons
Jolanta Kunderska

Moreover, consecration to St. Joseph can help us live more deeply as a child of our loving Father God. St. Joseph's intercession can increase God's fatherly presence in our lives. Like Jesus, we can entrust ourselves to St. Joseph, even delight in being known as Joseph's son ("and they said, 'Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph? Do we not know his father and mother?'" John 6:42). Even though God the Father Himself does not have a human nature, we see an image of God's paternal care in Joseph's earthly care for the Holy Family and the child Jesus. In our own fallen human nature, we can better understand the love of God the Father through Joseph's example.

from Day 3 - God, the Father of Heaven, Have Mercy on Us

To be a child of God is why you were created; it's the very purpose for which you exist. And there is only one way to the Father: Jesus Christ (see John 14:6):

Jesus said to (Thomas), “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

Only Jesus has the power to take you to the Father. Yet, in God's merciful love, St. Joseph plays a very important role in your spiritual growth and journey . . . 

Donald H. Calloway, MIC

Consecration to St. Joseph: The Wonders of Our Spiritual Father

"Which one of you would hand his son a stone when he asks for a loaf of bread or a snake when he asks for a fish? If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good things to those who ask Him."

Mathew 7:11