Detachment (St. Joseph's answer to my Prayer)

The Feast of St. Joseph..

Today is March 19th.  A red letter day for me. First because it is my own Dad's birthday as well as that of my "spiritual father," Joseph Leslie.  And second, it is because it is the feast day of our other father -- (Papa) St. Joseph, my favorite saint.

They say when one makes a novena, whatever you wished for at the onset becomes true by the time the novena is through.  So when I began the novena to St. Joseph eight days ago, I wished prayed for a positive favorable result when the bar exam is released.  True enough, on the ninth day, my prayer was answered, albeit contrary to what I initially wanted, through the reflections of this novena prayer.

I asked St. Joseph to help me embrace my state and yes, to let me pass the bar.  The results came out on March 17th (8th day of my novena) around 515pm. I did not make it.  But it did not occur to me that the answer will come on the final day of my novena.

Virtue in Focus:  DETACHMENT.  "What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and suffer the loss of his own soul?"

Poignant line.   Very appropriate for my state of the moment.

Then it goes..

DETACHMENT meant for St. Joseph that he could center his thoughts and affections on things Divine.  Detachment for St. Joseph meant that he was not engulfed in worldly affairs, that after his work in the carpenter shop, he could have the rest of the time for thoughts and conversations on things Divine.  He was detached from riches because of his poverty which he loved; he was detached from honors because of his humility which saved him the agony and tribulation of those who aspire to hear the applause of men.  He was detached, because of his chastity from those more terrific temptations against purity.

REFLECTION (also from the novena)

What of your detachment from things of this earth?  Are you regulating your life so that you can truly say that your thoughts are centered upon things Divine?  Are you engulfed in pleasures that never satisfy?  Are you keen to hear your praises sung knowing that those flatteries cause, after all, more pain than joy?  Are you ambitious, knowing that ambition makes us uneasy, makes us dissatisfied with our present state and simply drives us from one condition to another as a storm might blow a small piece of paper from place to place?  Are you detached at least in the sense that you value heavenly treasures more than worldly awards?  Are you detached in that you can concentrate upon your eternal destiny using earthly things in proportion as you need them, yet never allowing yourself to become a slave of honors, of ambition, of vanity, of the more base sins that our nature is heir to?  Are you detached so that if God called you as He called the rich young man, "Come follow Me," you could as the apostles, "leave all things" and realize your vocation, if such were your good fortune? 

My Prayer:

Thank you St. Joseph for helping me see through this state.  I now understand.. 

Amen.

St. Joseph: the Greatest Foster Dad

March is a special month for me for many reasons.  For one, it commences the summer season, a most awaited respite after ten months of a regular school year. For another, it also is the feast month of my favorite saint - Jesus' foster father -- St. Joseph. My very own earthly father was born on St. Joseph's feast day as well as my dear friend, Joseph Leslie.  So yes, I have a few Josephs in my life.  And they are all very dear, and influential figures to me.


I cannot quite recall how my devotion to St. Joseph began exactly.  I am guessing it started sometime in college already -- in my age of awakening.  My dad, Jose, left us.  It was also the time I came to know Joseph -- the friend I found in a then, confidant.  

I have not gone to the extra mile of getting to know better other saint other than St. Joseph.  The unhappy events that transpired in our family life has left in me a deeper, more thorough veneration for the Saint.  In fact, I has often yearned in the past for Him to send me a man who would love me and take me the way He loved Mother Mary.  To me, St. Joseph was the perfect gentleman.  He epitomized the virtues of a man who obeyed God's will, surrendered Himself completely and remained faithful to the duty that was entrusted to Him by the Almighty.  His humility is beyond compare that as one priest in the past described it, "God's Son, Jesus, has once walked in the shadow of this man, Joseph.  He was the one who taught Him carpentry.  Isn't that Jesus came to be known as the Carpenter? What could be a greater honor then than to foster God's very own son?"

Considering that now His feast is approaching, I have decided to undertake a 9-day novena dedicated to Him.  The truth is, the Novena booklet I now hold has been with me for quite sometime already but eversince I bought it for PhP18 (about 4US cents) at St. Paul bookstore, I never have had the privilege of reading it in its entirety.  Now, I am in deep awe reveling in the magnificence of the contents of the flimsy pages of this wonderful work.  No, it does not indicate any author..  Which is why I undertake to share the contents by posting them here... No, not to plagiarize the blessed soul who has eloquently expressed such powerful devotion to the blessed Saint but to impart this joyful treasure which is a source of delight and inspiration to my weary soul.


The novena booklet consists of 40 pages and is divided into two parts: one for a nine-day daily devotion (which can also be made into a nine consecutive Wednesday devotions) and a nine-Sunday devotion in honor of St. Joseph.  I opted for the nine consecutive day devotion and began mine on March 10th.  The daily prayer begins with a statement of the virtue which should be the focus of the day's meditation. Such virtue is one which has been lovingly exemplified by St. Joseph.  The virtue is followed by a short relevant quote by another saint or one lifted from the scriptures.  Then a short descriptive analysis of how St. Joseph manifested the virtue mentioned follows after which comes the reflection.  The reflections, I discovered, are  beautifully written.  Each is seemingly a guide in self-introspection.  It enables one to reflect more on the virtues of St. Joseph on a more personal basis.  Thus, it leads into the realization that such virtues are realistic and are indeed worth-emulating.


The last part is the prayer which varies from day to day.  It is short but in its brevity, it nevertheless encapsulates the very essence of St. Joseph's blessedness.  


(I shall post the contents, dividing them in days, in the succeeding posts..)