I know, I know. You’re
probably saying: “Well, it’s a famous saint’s feast day, and shouldn’t we be
celebratin’?” And yes, yes, I do understand
that urge to celebrate someone famous.
After all, St. Joseph IS considered the foster-father of Jesus, I mean,
just how famous does famous have to be?
And on top of that, he is patron saint of the best country in the world,
Poland (for you doubters, check out the WSJ article, Poland is one of the
fastest growing economies in the world right now.)
So there are many reasons to celebrate the good saint’s
feast day on this Tuesday. But you
shouldn’t be going out drinking all day, all the same. Instead, like all good Polish Catholics, you
should rise early, go to mass (and wearing red, of course), say some prayers
for our families to St. Joseph, and THEN go out drinking. (Us Polacks always have our priorities
straight.)
Now I know, especially among some women, they have their
prejudices against St. Joseph. They
point out that Mary told him about the angel visiting her, and the unexpected
arrival of a son soon, and Joseph’s reaction was one of: “Riiiiiiiiggghhtt. Angel?
Sure. Um, maybe we shouldn’t go
through with these marriage plans, Mary.”
Alright ladies, I’ll concede that point.
BUT, when the angel appeared to Joseph, to set him straight (and they
probably had a couple of beers talking about it), then Joseph promptly listened
to God’s urgings. And isn’t that the
proper priority of things now, God first, THEN the little lady?
I mean, Joseph is also considered the patron saint of
families. Just look at happened the next time an angel came to him. The angel appeared in the middle of the night
and said: “Joseph!” And well, okay, he
probably just rolled over, but then the angel said: “Jesus and Mary are in
danger, you must leave town immediately.” Well, then the Scriptures imply that he
virtually flew out the door with them, aiming to protect them at all
costs. Well, I bet he even helped Mary
to pack!
When God calls, Joseph listens!
And let’s not forget that Joseph died before Jesus or
Mary. The poor man probably worked
himself to death, for the family. And so
why shouldn’t we plan to tip a few back, toasting this son of David and father
of Jesus?
I can hear some of you saying now: “But it’s Lent. It is a time of fasting, not celebrating.” Now wait just a minute there, my poor
Catholic would-be scholars, Lent is NOT a time of no fun. Did you forget what is coming up next Sunday,
Palm Sunday? Wasn’t there something
there about a parade and celebration?
And so what is wrong with getting in with the holiday by doing a bit of
celebrating on Tuesday? Did you also
forget that Tuesday is also the eve of Wednesday, the first day of Spring this
year? Hosannah and Springtime and a
model father, why I can’t think of a better day for celebratin’.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Please, no comments about Springtime also being about “green”
which reminds you of some other saint, whose name I forget right now. All this hullabaloo about this other guy, an
exterminator for pity’s sake, whose claim to fame is driving all the snakes out
of Ireland. The way I heard it told, by
the time all the snakes left, there weren’t any people LEFT in Ireland. At any rate, his fame doesn’t compare to that
of the good St. Joseph. And if you would
still make a fuss about comparing the two saints or the two countries, I have
but one further question of ye: “And just how many popes have come from
Ireland, much less ones they are now calling ‘The Great!!?” Surely you’d be jestin’ to even bring up the
comparisons.
And so if I happen to be “busy” Tuesday and not get around
to posting anything, I’ll say my Happy St. Joseph’s Day to ye this day. (Nothing else important is going on today,
anyway.)
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