This past Tuesday, I felt very weak while celebrating the 8:30am Mass. I did not get much sleep the night before, something that just happens to me from time to time, despite my efforts to go to bed & wake up at the same time every day in order to be in sync with my circadian rhythm (that sounds pretty medical when I see it in print). Anyway, I then went out to breakfast with the Berigan’s, something I rarely do anymore due to my intermittent fasting (now I’m really sounding like a health nut), but I couldn’t eat even half the meal. I grew more & more exhausted during the day & then had a temperature of 100°. Out of an abundance of caution, I cancelled the remaining weekday Masses and went to get a COVID test first thing Wednesday morning. Since my first vaccine shot 3 weeks, I had a small cough for just a couple of days & had the chills a few times though these were mild & didn’t last long at all. While I’m still waiting for the results of the COVID test, I’m confident I do not have the coronavirus but again, don’t want to take any chances with making anyone else ill. I’ll know by the time you read this what the results of my test are but again I want you to know that I would not do anything to put any of you at risk. I want to give you what information I have & ask that you continue to join me in prayer for all those who have fallen victim to this pandemic.
This Friday, March 19th, is the feast of St. Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Actually, it is considered a “Solemnity” which means it ranks high above all other feasts in the Church. And so the requirement to abstain from meat on the Fridays within the season of Lent is dispensed for that day. If you chose to make use of this special dispensation, you are encouraged to choose another day during this week to abstain from meat as part of your Lenten observance.
On this solemnity, it is the custom in some places to bless bread, pastries & other food & to give a large portion of it to the poor. A family ritual for this St. Joseph’s Table blessing may be fond on the Office for Worship website which is part of dioceseofcleveland.org.
Pope Francis recalls the 150th anniversary of the declaration of St. Joseph as Patron of the Universal Church. So the Holy Father has proclaimed a “Year of St. Joseph” from this past December 8, 2020 until December 8, 2021. It was Blessed Pope Pius IX’s declaration of St. Joseph as Patron of the Universal Church which Pope Francis is recalling here. Pepe Francis wrote an Apostolic Letter entitled Patris Corde (translated “With a Father’s Heart”) in which he described St. Joseph as a beloved father, a tender and loving father, an obedient father, an accepting father; a father who is creatively courageous, a working father, a father in the shadows.” The Pope wrote this letter against the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic which he says has helped us see more clearly the importance of ordinary people who, though far from the limelight, exercise patience and offer hope every day. St. Joseph is “the man who goes unnoticed, a daily, discreet and hidden presence,” who nonetheless played “an incomparable role in the history of salvation.”