This week we celebrate the Solemnity of St. Joseph, the husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Patron Saint of the Universal Church. Normally we celebrate St. Joseph on March 19th, but since that is a Sunday this year and St. Joseph is so central to our faith, the celebration of his feast is transferred to Monday the 20th.

   St. Bernadette Subirous, who had the vision of our Blessed Mother at Lourdes, said of St. Joseph, “If anyone cannot find a master to teach him how to pray, let him take this glorious saint [Joseph] as his master, and he will not go astray.” St. Joseph is for us, an example of the common person who wants to accomplish God’s will, but often struggles to understand it. Isn’t that all of us? How many of us perfectly understand what God’s will is asking of us all the time? I know that I don’t and neither did St. Joseph. But in his example we see a model of loving surrender to the will of God, a trust that allowed him to move forward and to act, even when he didn’t understand.

   Like St. Joseph, God calls you and to move forward and to walk with Him in trust and in faith. We may not always understand where and how God is leading us. His call for us may seem to be too much. We may struggle to understand how we are going to carry it out. But with a receptive heart like St. Joseph may we move forward in faith, trusting that God will always be in the lead.