One in a series of occasional articles written by Sisters of Saint Joseph.
When I first experienced God’s call to religious life, it was not devotion to Joseph that drew me to the Sisters of Saint Joseph but the life and the ministry of the sisters themselves. For me as for many, the limited references to Joseph in the Scriptures created a mystery. Joseph was a hidden though significant presence in the hidden life of Jesus.
In Patris Corde, With a Father’s Heart, Pope Francis assures us that what the evangelists have written of Joseph is more than enough to appreciate his life and mission. In this Apostolic Letter, Francis shares his personal reflection and relationship with Joseph, “an extraordinary figure so close to our own human experience.” For me, it is that connection of Joseph with our human experience that is the gift of this letter.
Patris Corde is also a reflection of the heart of Pope Francis. From his papal apartment he sees the world community suffering from a global pandemic and writes to acknowledge, appreciate and support all those hidden people — doctors, storekeepers, cleaning personnel, mothers, fathers and grandparents who, like Joseph, “play an incomparable role in the history of salvation.” It is to all of us in the world community that Pope Francis offers the example of Joseph in this time of such great human suffering.
The pope brings to life so many aspects of Joseph’s life. The paragraph which speaks most to me is his reflection on the time in Egypt:
The Gospel does not tell us how long Mary, Joseph and the child remained in Egypt. Yet they certainly needed to eat, to find a home and employment. It does not take much imagination to fill in those details. The Holy Family had to face concrete problems like every other family, like so many of our migrant brothers and sisters who, today too, risk their lives to escape misfortune and hunger. In this regard, I consider Saint Joseph the special patron of all those forced to leave their native lands because of war, hatred, persecution and poverty.
In my life with the Sisters of Saint Joseph, I have had the graced opportunity to meet families living through these same challenges.
In 1981, I traveled to Cuernavaca, Mexico, to study Spanish. As I stood in the airport waiting for someone to claim me, I saw Mexican families, children with noses pressed against the windows, waiting hopefully for family members to come into view. I had an incredible awareness that these were my sisters and brothers. I knew at a deep level that I was being called to love them as surely as I loved my siblings. As tears gathered and fell, I knew one of the deepest spiritual experiences of my life. That was the beginning of a journey that I have been blessed to travel for the past 40 years.
In recent years, I have had the opportunity to volunteer at our Mexican border. There I have seen men, fathers like Joseph, with children in hand. They have left everything they had and all that was familiar to them in order to protect and provide for their families. I remember calling a Honduran man to come for a ride to the bus that would take him across the country. I asked if he needed to go back to his room to get the rest of his things. He pointed to his slim back pack and said that this was what he had for himself and his son.
In Camden I have known so many “holy families” adjusting to living in a foreign land, after so many years still living in fear of deportation. During this pandemic, immigrants of limited economic resources have been so sensitive and responsive to the needs of others. Their own experience of sickness and loss of family members has heightened their awareness of the suffering of others. They are my mentors in Gospel living.
In Camden I met Msgr. Robert McDermott with whom I shared ministry for 15 years. He had the heart of a father. Like Francis, he was a pastor who knew the struggles of his flock. His homilies addressed the problems that burdened the hearts of his people. With compassion and courage, he acted to address the injustices that plagued our city and nation.
Pope Francis offers a portrait of Joseph, an ordinary man who lived an extraordinary life. Through her art, Sister Madeleva, CSJ does the same. “Displaced, a common worker, no name but carpenter this Joseph. Yet one wonders how each person, each place was neighbor to him for the Child he called Son treated none as stranger.”
This example of inclusive love that Joseph offered to his Son is the same gift he continues to offer to a church and a world divided. We see this love reflected in Pope Francis, in essential workers, and in other people who grace our lives. It is what I recognized years ago in the Sisters of Saint Joseph and it is our congregation’s ongoing commitment to witness to this inclusivity that sustains and challenges me today.
Sister Veronica Roche, SSJ ministers with immigrant leaders and immigration advocates in parishes in Camden County. (vmroche53@gmail.com)
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