Today's Pause+Pray features Joseph, celebrated as a man of pure heart for embracing God's will. He found fulfillment in serving God's purpose through his devotion to Mary and Jesus. In them, Joseph found the visage of God, a sight from which he never diverted.
These writings encourage us to navigate life's challenges with faith, and a steadfast trust in God's guidance and presence. We are never alone.
Please join me today in supporting Franciscan Media’s mission to share God’s love with your gift. Donate today!
Born in Igolomia near Kraków as the eldest of four children in a wealthy family, he was christened Adam. During the 1864 revolt against Czar Alexander III, Adam’s wounds forced the amputation of his left leg.
His great talent for painting led to studies in Warsaw, Munich, and Paris. Adam returned to Kraków and became a Secular Franciscan. In 1888, when he founded the Brothers of the Third Order of Saint Francis, Servants to the Poor, he took the name Albert. They worked primarily with the homeless, depending completely on alms while serving the needy regardless of age, religion, or politics. A community of Albertine sisters was established later.
Pope John Paul II beatified Albert in 1983, and canonized him six years later. His liturgical feast is celebrated on June 17.
Reflection
Reflecting on his own priestly vocation, Pope John Paul II wrote in 1996 that Brother Albert had played a role in its formation “because I found in him a real spiritual support and example in leaving behind the world of art, literature, and the theater, and in making the radical choice of a vocation to the priesthood” (Gift and Mystery: On the Fiftieth Anniversary of My Priestly Ordination). As a young priest, Karol Wojtyla repaid his debt of gratitude by writing The Brother of Our God, a play about Brother Albert’s life.
Discover St. Anthony Messenger magazine!
For over 130 years the magazine has been helping its readers become more joyful, loving peacemakers by exploring many of the issues that are facing the Church and the world today, through a Franciscan lens.
Just as Joseph’s life was completed by the child he raised to adulthood, so will the life of any person who seeks Jesus be free from the enslavement to sin. Joseph is the embodiment of reverence and self-control because he allowed God to cleanse and renew his heart. St. Joseph is a man of purity precisely because he availed himself of the moral law that the child presents. With Mary and Jesus beside him, Joseph could withstand the erroneous conception of human freedom as the fulfillment of any desire of the human will.
Joseph is a pure-hearted man because he accepted the will of God. The movement of the Spirit in his life yielded both decency and discretion. He was content to serve God’s plan by serving Mary and Jesus. Through them and in them, Joseph daily beheld the face of God, and from that he never looked away.
We so often go about our day without giving a thought to the habits we perform throughout them. We slurp our cup of coffee or tea while driving down the road or inhale a burger on the go without a thought. Our food is so often a lost opportunity for connection—with ourselves, those around us, and with the divine.
Pray
God who made our bodies to function so well, created the plants and animals we eat, and guided those who prepare our food or gather round our table, thank you. Thank you for the sustenance, the energy, and the opportunity to slow down and acknowledge your presence.
When we allow life to move too quickly—even though it’s almost always an unconscious decision—we are missing out on the sacredness of the present. In the hurried moments, may we remember to take a deep breath, and call to mind that you are in our presence—yes, even in line at the grocery, as we eat lunch while working, as we recite a prayer from rote memory. May this conscious interruption of the cycle of busyness enhance our spirits. Amen.
Act
If you go through a drive-thru or to a coffee shop this week, take a moment to make eye contact with the server. Commit one morning to sipping an entire cup of coffee or tea in a chair in silence without any distractions.
Today's Pause+Pray was written by Bond Strong. Learn more here!
This newsletter is not free to produce! Please consider making a donation to help us in our efforts to share God's love in the spirit of Saint Francis.
