Denver Catholic

23 DENVER CATHOLIC | MARCH 14-27, 2020 Go to confession this Lent, it is beautiful and practical to do something life-changing… In each of these circumstances, how- ever, Joseph obeyed immediately. He teaches us how to have Christ's obedi- ent mindset. Third, he was obedient precisely because he was faithful. He believed in what God was telling him through the angel and therefore did what God was commanding. Pope Benedict said in 2009, "Throughout all of history, Joseph is the man who gives God the greatest display of trust, even in the face of such astonishing news." During this season in which we are called to repent and believe in the Gospel, Joseph is, like Abraham, a true father in faith who shows us what believing the Good News looks like. Fourth, he shows us how to be a "just man" (Matthew 1:19). To be just means to be "righteous" or in right relationship with God, in short, to be holy. Lent is a season of training in holiness and Joseph shows us what holiness is. It's to "ad-just" ourselves to God's will, something that he con- stantly did and teaches us to do. Fifth, he is a man of humility. Lent is a season in which we humble ourselves and learn "to walk humbly with [our] God" (Micah 6:8). Our pen- itence and penances are humble signs of our need for God and our almsgiv- ing is meant to form us, like Christ, not to be served but to serve and give our life for others (Matthew 20:28). St. Joseph learned humility not only through putting himself totally at the service of God's plans for Jesus and Mary, but even in the way he exer- cised his leadership in the holy family. Joseph, not the Immaculate Virgin or the Word-made-fl esh, would have, in accordance with Jewish tradition, led the prayers in the home in the morning, evening and on principal religious feasts. He would have been the one who trained the One through whom all things were made to be a carpenter. The lesser one was placed over the Greater. Such activity can only overwhelm one with humility. Sixth, he is a man of chaste love. The devil's supreme temptation is to corrupt love, since we were created in the image of God who is love, and are called to love God with all we've got and others as Christ does. One cannot be holy without chastity, which helps to keep love pure. That's why St. Paul, as soon as he writes, "This is God's will for you, your sanctifi cation," adds, "Therefore, avoid all unchas- tity" (1 Thessalonians 4:3). Holiness is the perfection of love; chastity keeps love unselfi sh. In a promiscu- ous and pornographic age, one that cannot understand Christ's celibacy, the chaste celibacy of priests and religious in his image, and the call to chaste continence for those outside of marriage and chaste love of those within, St. Joseph is a model and intercessor who shows our culture how to turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel. Seventh, he teaches us how to pre- pare well for death. On Ash Wednes- day, we were reminded that we are dust and unto dust we shall return. As we prepare to enter liturgically into Christ's death, we are meant to prepare for our own, by losing our lives in order to save them (Matthew 16:25). St. Joseph is the patron saint of a happy death because, Christian piety has always believed, he died in Jesus' and Mary's arms, entrusting them to God the Father's providence and receiving from them prayers and comfort. He shows us not just how to die in their arms but to live in them, as they seek to accompany us, as they did him, through death into eternity. This Lenten season, and 2020 as a whole, is a time for us to place ourselves anew under Joseph's pro- tection and patronage, in imitation of Jesus and Mary. S ome time ago I was speaking at a large Catholic conference and the organizers had put some time for confession into the program, so I joined with the other priests and spent a couple of hours hearing confessions. There were nearly a thousand people signed up for the conference, so all around the room there were long lines of ordinary people waiting to make their confession. In seeing this, I thought of the sheer practicality, dignity and grace of this beautiful sacrament. Here were probably fi ve or six hundred people who had the oppor- tunity for someone to listen to them. They were able to consult with (hopefully) a wise, cheerful, well- trained man who even for a couple of minutes would give them his undi- vided attention, help them see things more clearly, point the way through the thicket of their problems and assure them that they were loved and accepted for who they are. This was not some sort of shallow self-help pep rally, but a down-to- earth, dignifi ed, simple and personal connection for ordinary people. They don't need umpteen sessions of psychoanalysis. They don't need expensive treatments. They just need a bit of help, a bit of guidance, a bit of forgiveness, a bit of attention, a bit of love. These were ordinary people with ordinary broken hearts, broken mar- riages, broken relationships, broken lives and broken hopes. These were ordinary folks who wouldn't normally run to see someone with their prob- lems full of self-pity. Instead, they were doing the best they can, seeking God, seeking holiness, seeking hap- piness, seeking all that is beautiful, good and true. But of course, confession is more than therapy for people with low self-esteem. On the contrary, these were not humiliated people groveling before a fearsome God. They were people with great dignity and maturity, for one of the most dignifi ed and fully human things you can do is to admit you are not totally together and you need help. It is not a sign of weakness, but a sign of strength and self-reliance and true self-respect to say, "I can do better than that." It is a full human and mature thing to say, "I am better than that, and I'm going to fi nd for- giveness and pick myself up and try again and if I need to — to get some help." Everybody who has ever become great and done great things has come to that point. What each person also got was a sacrament. The sacraments, remem- ber, are a physical means of grace. They got a pat on the back, a quiet word, a smile, a gentle hug, a bit of encouragement from another human being — Jesus in the form of a priest. The ordinariness of this sacrament is therefore a most beautiful and simple thing. God coming to us in the form of Jesus in that priest. So, I looked around at my fellow priests. They were there with me for over two hours. They were patient and kind. They were attentive and listening. I spotted one fellow wiping his brow. It's hard work. I saw another check his watch. "Yes, you really have been here for over an hour and the lines are still long." An attendant sidled up and asked if I needed a bottle of water. I said, "Could I have a bottle of whiskey instead?" The folks in the line heard me and laughed. So, this is not the gloomy, dark and guilt-ridden sacrament lapsed Catho- lics so often complain about. This was God's people meeting God together. For remember — grace is given. Grace is given not only for forgive- ness, but for the power to overcome the sin. Grace is given that we might move ever upward to "grow up into the full humanity of Jesus Christ." This was heaven come down to Earth, with forgiveness in its wings. This was children talking to their fathers. This was prodigal sons and daugh- ters on the journey home. Guest Column Father Dwight Longenecker was an Anglican minister in England before converting to Catholicism and becoming a priest. He is the author of twenty books and numerous articles. FATHER DWIGHT LONGENECKER PHOTO BY PIXABAY

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