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Glimpse of God for the week of June 21, 2026  …….Father’s Day

Let me begin by saying Happy Father’s Day to all those men who are Fathers, Fathers, Foster Fathers, Fathers by adoption, Blended family Fathers, God Fathers, Grand Fathers, and father figures. Let us remember all our Fathers, especially those who are deceased, and entrust them to the loving embrace of God. If we were estranged or hurt by our fathers, let us seek the grace from God to forgive them so that we can entrust them to the eternal and loving embrace of God. 

Let me offer praise and gratitude to all the Priests that we call Fathers who lead us closer to our Heavenly Father by their love for God, the administration of the Sacraments and their love for the flock that God has placed in their care. Let us remember women who are single parents due to divorce, death and separation, and as they fulfill both roles of father and mother and seek to protect and provide for their family. Let us encourage and support them as they try to raise their children with all their strength courage, trust, and faith in God and in those are present as support and encouragement. Let us be mindful that Joseph is the foster father of Jesus and the husband of Mary. He is the patron saint of workers and Patron of the Universal Church. Joseph is the man in the shadows of Mary and Jesus, yet he played a crucial role in protecting Mary and Jesus from harm and death. Joseph was a man that listened to God, followed His command given to him through an angel and with courage, commitment, and love, and trusted as He was led to the unknown and uncertain. Joseph was the protector and provider of the Holy Family, and he taught Jesus the skill of being a good carpenter and a good son. He is seldom mentioned in the Scripture, yet He played a very crucial and significant role in our salvation history.

How are you and I followers of Saint Joseph, how do we show our love for Saint Joseph in our daily life? What qualities of Saint Joseph do we exude as we strive to follow Jesus and become our best self, the person that God created us to be and have the potential to become? What do we see in Saint Joseph that we want to possess?

As followers of Christ and imitators of Him, we know that the person Jesus became was due to the upbringing that Mary and Joseph provided.  Joseph exuded the qualities that a good Jewish boy becoming man and a believer in God would want to possess; love, mercy, compassion, understanding, patience, faith, courage, perseverance, humility, trust, hope, and joy.  It is in and through those qualities, that Jesus learned as he was growing up, how to be His best self and share that self with others. As a follower of Jesus and lover of Saint Joseph, how do I want to be more like Him? Although Joseph was a father, any person that desires to possess his qualities and His faith is one with him. In several dreams the angel appeared to Joseph and told him what he needed to do to so that he, Mary, and Jesus would be safe. Although Joseph did not understand, he listened and did as he was commanded. He trusted and followed blindly if you will, because he knew that that message that was spoken was from God. In his fear, anxiety, and the uncertainty of the direction that he was to go, he submitted His will to God and went forward.

Every day, we, like Joseph, are called to surrender our will to the God who knows all and sees all, and trust that we will emerge from our tombs to a new life, one that has been transformed and renewed through the power of and love of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. We are being called to go forward and live in the light of God’s love with the eyes of our heart and spirit focused on him and not on what the world has to offer. 

For all Fathers who are striving to be the best father that they can be, I hope and pray that they seek the guidance of Saint Joseph as they seek to be their best self, the person that God created them to be and have the potential to become with their children, their spouse, their siblings, their God. As a Man and a Father, as a Grandfather, God Father, Uncle, Brother, these men have chosen to follow the example of Saint Joseph as they provide for their family and build up their family with the building blocks of love, patience, peace, joy, faith, humility, hope, trust, fidelity, respect, harmony, compassion and understanding. 

Saint Joseph leads us to Mary and Jesus. He protected, provided for, and embraced the love of God that he experienced through the love of Mary and Jesus.  We might not hear the message of God through the voice of an angel, and we might feel inadequate to do what He asks of us, but the reality is that He knows what we are capable of and He calls us to trust in His knowledge and direction that he chooses for us to go. I believe that Joseph may have felt inadequate to take on the responsibility to raise the Savior, the Son of God, the Holy One, yet he trusted in the God who called Him, and He went forward each time with that same trust.

As we reflect on Father’s Day, I composed rosary consisting of the events in Joseph’s life that made Him the man that God created Him to be and the example of true faith, trust, and hope that we all desire. I hope it helps as you desire to follow on the road that Saint Joseph walked, one that consisted of trust, faith, hope, understanding, inner peace and love, joy, and humility. He walked with Jesus, he carried Jesus, he raised Jesus. He was able to do so because he possessed selfless, unconditional, and eternal love for God, Mary, Jesus, and himself.        

THE HOLY ROSARY

On the crucifix, make the sign of the cross and then pray the Apostles’ Creed.

On the next large bead, say the Our Father.   

On the three small beads, pray three Hail Mary’s. On the chain, pray the Glory be….Amen. 

ACCORDING TO THE LIFE EVENTS OF SAINT JOSEPH

On the large beads, meditate on the mystery of Saint Joseph and pray the Our Father.

THE FIRST MYSTERY (the first large bead)

          The angel appears to Joseph and tells him not to be afraid to take Mary as his wife. Pray for courage to follow God’s will in the face of difficulty.

Dear Saint Joseph, please help me to have courage and trust in God when the decisions that I need to make are difficult and contrary to what others expect of me. Please help me to believe and remain hopeful even when I do not understand the situation that I am facing, when all seems impossible to comprehend, and I need to surrender my will to God completely as you did. Saint Joseph, I know that you do understand and can help me. Thank you

THE SECOND MYSTERY (the second large bead)

          The angel appears again to Joseph and tells him to take Mary and flee to Bethlehem where she would give birth to Jesus. Pray to trust God as you go forward on your journey that may be filled with some uncertainty, doubt, or disbelief.

          Dear Saint Joseph, please help me to always be open to God’s will for me even if it means beginning anew so that I can better see God more clearly, follow God more nearly and love God more dearly. As you followed the angel’s command, you and Mary left the comforts of home, family, and friends and gave birth to Jesus in a foreign land, away from home and in the midst of strangers. In your obedience to God, you and Mary realized and lived out your trust in that you were not being abandoned but guided and protected. Help me to recognize and remember that even when I feel alone and cannot be with family or friends, that I have not been abandoned and that God is always with me.

THE THIRD MYSTERY (the third large bead)

          The angel appears to Joseph to tell him to leave Bethlehem and flee to Egypt to escape Herod who was trying to kill Jesus. Pray that God protect all life from conception to natural death.

          Dear Saint Joseph, please help me to see as God sees and not be afraid when life challenges get painfully difficult, hard decisions need to be made, and I become afraid, discouraged, and anxious. May I seek to recognize God’s action in my life and trust that in whatever way He calls me to follow Him, that I trust as you and Mary did in God’s divine providence and love as you courageously went forward to the unknown and uncertain. 

THE FOURTH MYSTERY (the fourth large bead)

          The angel appears to Joseph and Mary and tells them that they can return to the Holy Land because Herod has died. Pray for the grace to have an attitude of gratitude especially when God’s action in your life is so evident and lifesaving.

Dear Saint Joseph, God’s plan for us is often different than what we planned, thought, or expected. Even when we do not understand, as His plan unfolds, we can see more clearly how He was guiding and protecting us.

          Help me to surrender my will to His as you and Mary did. As you listened and followed the Lord’s angel, may I listen and follow Him as the Holy Spirit and my guardian angel lead me, knowing that He will safely guide me to where it is that He wants me to be.

 THE FIFTH MYSTERY (the fifth large bead)

          Joseph, Mary, and Jesus settle in Nazareth and Joseph teaches Jesus about the carpentry trade. Seek to better acknowledge and share the gifts and talents that God has uniquely blessed you with, and not hide them or diminish them.

          Dear Saint Joseph, help me to always be grateful and to show my gratitude to God for the many ways that He has blessed me and has made me a better person in light and in spite of life’s challenges, crisis, and distractions. God’s gift to me is being His beloved child and possessing eternal life with Him when my earthly journey is over. As I live and grow in my relationship to God, what I do, how I use my talents and gifts is my gift to God.  As Jesus’ foster father, you showed Jesus the gift and talent of being a good carpenter. You chose to share your gifts and talents and not hide them. May I learn from you that as I discover the talents and gifts that God has blessed me with, that are meant to be shared and not hidden, that make me become and want to be my best self, that I am cooperating with God’s plan love others and help them discover their best self as well.

At the conclusion of the five mysteries:

Recite the Prayer to Saint Joseph ORIGINALLY COMPOSED BY Pope Francis

Saint Joseph, Hail Guardian of the Redeemer, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary, to you God entrusted His only Son; in you Mary placed her trust, with you Christ became man.  Blessed Saint Joseph, to us too, show yourself, a father, and guide us in the path of life. Amen.

Recite the Hail Holy Queen……..Pray for us, O holy Mother of God…..that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ. Let us pray, O God, whose only begotten Son……... Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.