[Editor’s note: I didn’t realize until moments ago that no one hit “publish” on this post yesterday. But it’s never too late to catch up on a novena, so I’m hitting publish now! — ML]
At the beginning of the Year of St. Joseph, Pope Francis wrote an Apostolic Letter about Joseph titled, Patris Corde (“With a Father’s Heart”).
A couple of years ago I formatted the letter into a novena. This year, for the nine days leading up to Joseph’s feast day on March 19th, I’m going to publish a short podcast that will include one section of the pope’s letter about St. Joseph, Patris Corde, a short personal reflection, and a closing prayer.
Today is day one.
In the introduction to that letter, the pope says, “Each of us can discover in Joseph – the man who goes unnoticed, a daily, discreet and hidden presence – an intercessor, a support and a guide in times of trouble.”
That has been my experience of St. Joseph.
I’ve turned to him whenever I’ve had to make a decision about a new job, bought a house, or were preparing for another child. And he’s always accompanied me and my family.
One example of his accompaniment was almost exactly a year ago when I left my job as a lay minister at my parish after working there for seven and a half years. The year before I resigned I had started a three-year grad program to become a mental health counselor. I had worked out an arrangement so that I had the flexibility to work at my job and go to school full-time.
There were a lot of factors that led to my decision to resign. The problems had been brewing for a long time, but they came to a head quickly, and I wasn’t planning on resigning when I did.
Because I wasn’t expecting to leave my job, I had no other employment waiting for me, let alone one that would give me the flexibility necessary for me to continue as a grad student. But St. Joseph accompanied my wife and I through all of the decisions we had to make and his presence felt very known to us.
In this past year, and throughout our marriage, Joseph has been faithful to us. I’m excited to share my love and devotion to him with you. Please join me in praying through this beautiful letter.
You can follow this novena by subscribing to the Pope Francis Generation podcast on your favorite podcast app or by following the SmartCatholics youtube page.
Paul Fahey lives in Michigan with his wife and four kids. For the past eight years, he has worked as a professional catechist. He has an undergraduate degree in Theology and is currently working toward a Masters Degree in Pastoral Counseling. He is a retreat leader, catechist formator, writer, and a co-founder of Where Peter Is. He is also the founder and co-host of the Pope Francis Generation podcast. His long-term goal is to provide pastoral counseling for Catholics who have been spiritually abused, counseling for Catholic ministers, and counseling education so that ministers are more equipped to help others in their ministry.
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