Let us imitate the “creative courage” of Saint Joseph, spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary, especially during this week illuminated by the celebration of his solemnity.
Pope Francis speaks of “creative courage” in the apostolic letter “Patris corde.” Here is what he writes: “If the first step in every true inner healing is to accept one’s own history, that is, to make room within ourselves even for what we did not choose in our lives, another important characteristic must nevertheless be added: creative courage. It emerges above all when difficulties are encountered. Indeed, when faced with a difficulty, one can stop and abandon the field, or try to find a way forward.” When problems seem to crush us; when difficulties seem to get the upper hand, let us draw comfort from the example of Saint Joseph, take inspiration from his tenacity, and use the same creative courage! Let us live this week intensely under his special protection!

TUESDAY, MARCH 16
Beginning of the triduum to Saint Joseph

Let us prepare to celebrate Saint Joseph with three intense days of prayer. Let us turn with great trust to his intercession, remembering that “he was called by God to serve directly the person and mission of Jesus through the exercise of his fatherhood: in precisely this way he cooperates, in the fullness of time, in the great mystery of Redemption and is truly a ‘minister of salvation’” (Redemptoris custos, 8). May Saint Joseph give us trust, courage, and the ability to dream big.

For further reading:
• Pray, pray, pray
• In honor of Saint Joseph. Novena, Sacred Mantle, Sorrows and Joys
• Saint Joseph. Religious fact and theology

FRIDAY, MARCH 19
Solemnity of Saint Joseph, spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary

We live this solemnity with great joy, allowing Pope Francis’s words to help us love this great Saint ever more: «Joseph is a man of faith: that is why he was “just.” Not only because he believed, but also because he lived out this faith. A “just” man. He was chosen to raise a man who was truly human but also God: it would have taken a God-man to raise such a man, but there was none. The Lord chose a “just” man, a man of faith. A man capable of being a man and also capable of speaking with God, of entering into the mystery of God. And this was Joseph’s life. Living out his profession, his life as a man, and entering into the mystery. A man capable of speaking with the mystery, of engaging with the mystery of God. He was not a dreamer. He entered into the mystery. With the same naturalness with which he carried on his work, with the precision of his craft: he was able to fit a corner to the millimeter on wood; he knew how to do it. He was able to lower or shave off a millimeter of the wood, of a wooden surface. Just, he was precise. But he was also capable of entering into the mystery that he could not control.
This is Joseph’s holiness: to carry on with his life and his work fairly and professionally; and, when the time comes, to enter into the mystery. When the Gospel speaks to us of Joseph’s dreams, it helps us understand this: enter into the mystery. I think of the Church today, on this solemnity of Saint Joseph. Are our faithful, our bishops, our priests, our consecrated men and women, and the popes capable of entering into the mystery? Or do they need to follow rules that protect them from what they cannot control? When the Church loses the ability to enter into the mystery, it loses the ability to adore. The prayer of adoration can take place only when one enters into the mystery of God.»
Saint Joseph is also an exemplary father, and in “Patris corde” the Pope presents him as: a beloved father, a father of tenderness, a father in obedience, a father in acceptance, a father with creative courage, a working father, a father in the shadows. On the day when we celebrate fathers, let us pray for all of them and ask Saint Joseph to be for their children like Saint Joseph: guardians of their growth in age, wisdom, and grace. Guardians of their journey.

For further reading:
• Prayers to Saint Joseph
• Saint Joseph. Dignity, privileges, devotions
• Saint Joseph. Religious fact and theology
• Patris corde
• Redemptoris Custos

“All that remains is to implore from Saint Joseph the greatest of graces: our conversion.” This is how the conclusion of the apostolic letter “Patris corde” reads. May this truly be our prayer. Indeed, only a true conversion can open us to unimaginable horizons, only a true conversion can lead us out of the labyrinths of our closed-off hearts, only in this way can we open ourselves to grace.

I will conclude with some words taken from the “Letter to Saint Joseph” by the Servant of God Tonino Bello:

I think, Joseph,
that you had more courage than Mary to share her plan,
than she did in sharing the Lord’s plan.
She placed everything in the omnipotence of the Creator.
You bet everything on the fragility of a creature.
She had more faith, but you had more hope.
Charity did the rest, in you and in her.

Have a blessed journey!