Catholic Dads

Leo XIII, St. Joseph, and Vigilance

August 11th, 2010

Last week, we looked at the brief but powerful words addressed to us by St. Peter – Pope #1.

Today, we examine some words of fatherly wisdom from Pope Leo XIII. He was the oldest reigning pope, dying at 93 years old. His pontificate lasted more than 25 years and is the third longest… which means we will read more of him.

On the 15th of August 1889 – an anniversary just around the corner – Pope Leo issued the encyclical Quamquam Pluries, on Devotion to St. Joseph.

In his letter, Pope Leo criticizes the younger generation and their decaying morality, saying the times in which they lived were “scarcely less deplorable for the Christian religion than the worst days”. Sounds a bit like today! The Holy Father then recommended increased devotion to St. Joseph, as a means of benefiting from his patronage and protection.

Among the reasons why he thought “men of every rank and country should fly to the trust and guard” of the foster father of Christ is this:

Fathers of families find in Joseph the best personification of paternal solicitude and vigilance

We can find no better example of a vigilant father than St. Joseph. And a good example, as provided by Pope Leo, is often what we need to inspire us.

Truthfully, how many times do we ignore the inspirations we receive in prayer to

pray more with the family,
spend more time in teaching our families about Christian living, or
better monitor and filter out the dross on TV and elsewhere?

Or how many times do we accept the inspirations but delay in implementation?

St. Joseph waited not a moment – and certainly not until the next morning – to respond to the angel who appeared in his dream and told him to flee to Egypt. (Mt. 2:13) And he remained there until the threat disappeared with Herod’s death. He was ever watchful and therefore able to hear the angel in the dream and act.

Prayerful silence can help, I think. Meditative prayer – where we listen to God in silence – is the start of vigilance. For we cannot see or hear what we are not focused on.

How do you remain vigilant?

By the way, Pope Leo XIII attached a special prayer to St. Joseph to the encyclical, to be recited after the rosary during the month of October. Read it on the ETWN site.

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