Guest Post: St Joseph Pray for Us by Katherine Angulo

Working for one of the most prestigious Ivy League universities in the past three years, I have had the opportunity to meet very smart, successful, and determined students with a promising future in their hands. However, I am also surprised to see these students have a common threat that could derail their plans: the level of stress and unhappiness they are under.  So I couldn’t help myself by wondering what the reason for all their stress and unhappiness is? Is it the amount of work they have to complete as college students? It is the challenging curriculum they are taking? Is it the financial pressures of the cost of their education?

Their answer might surprise us. While all these aspects mentioned above contribute to increasing their stress and anxiety, the main reason these students are unhappy is that they have to face a new reality they were not prepared for. They are having to adapt to the idea of not being #1 at whatever they are doing. When I had the opportunity to talk to the students, their message was strong and clear:

I used to be  #1 in my class, in my school, or my city, but now I realized I am no longer #1, and I don’t know how to live with that.

This desire infused in our culture of having to be #1 as the only way to be successful has also affected our views of what to expect from the ministry. But my question to the students was:  Why is it wrong to hold the second or third position in leadership?

This thought came to me when Pope Francis declared this liturgical year to St Joseph and gave us the Apostolic Letter Patris Corde. I have developed a deep devotion to St Joseph in the last twenty years, but when I heard Pope Francis’ declaration, I wondered, how much more can we learn about St Joseph, where there is very little in the gospels about him since he was not the #1 character in the story?

For that reason, I decided to dedicate my Lenten journey to exploring more about St Joseph, not just because of who he is, but because of the similarities, I am finding between his ministry and the ministry of millions of people working in the church. Here are three points I have already found interesting:

Patris Corde says that Joseph saw Jesus grow daily “in wisdom and in years and in divine and human favour” (Lk 2:52). The work of St Joseph, in many cases, is silent because it endures every day, the recognition of the extraordinary in the ordinary. Many times volunteers that work in the church as the busy Marthas are the ones that make things happen. That constant presence in our church buildings and interacting with the people of faith helps us see the growth or lack of our communities.

No parent earns recognition because they make sure their children brush their teeth every day, yet if that did not happen and the children lost their teeth because of the lack of hygiene, then and only then their response to leadership will be acknowledged. We don’t give out awards as the parent, employee, catechist of the year, but their generosity of sharing the good news to the next generations can’t be ignored.

• Patris Corde Says: “Joseph is certainly not passively resigned, but courageously and firmly proactive.” St Joseph, in many instances, could not understand what God was asking of Him. Every time he had a dream with new instructions very deep inside his heart, he might have different plans. But he was obedient, a word that is not appreciated these days,  and followed the instructions he received from God without question.

When I spoke with hundreds of volunteers, I found a similar strength. Many of them did not understand why or how they were going to deliver what was asked of them in ministry, but above all, they wanted to respond to their baptismal call with the same courage and proactiveness as St Joseph did.

• Patris Corde Says: “Joseph found happiness, not in mere self-sacrifice but self-gift.” Every year when I am placing my nativity set at home, I always stop and look at Joseph’s view. He was the first witness to encounter the arrival of Jesus. His whole life was centered on his love for Mary and Jesus. I sometimes wonder how St Joseph felt when he was teaching Jesus the ABC’s knowing that he was teaching that basic concept to the Son of God. In humility, he decided to accept his son’s divinity and not to retract himself from his paternal duties. On the contrary, He gave himself to him in a loving way. I am certain Joseph enjoyed every minute as a father and as a husband.

On many occasions, when I get asked how I can still work in such a close-minded church? I reply to them. The human behavior of working in the church on many occasions can be hurtful, but I give my ministry to the church because, just like St Joseph, it is my response to the love that I receive from God in my life. I am not sacrificing myself; I am self-giving myself to the love that I primarily receive from God.

Interestingly, Pope Francis invites us to reconnect and heal by St Joseph’s hand in this moment of universal crisis. This critical time in our history, we call not others but the one that was considered “just a carpenter,” not the #1 of the story. And this man, St Joseph, is here to teach us the path of grace, mercy, and courage. Our communities might never recognize all the work that we do in our ministries, but we learn with St Joseph that our yes is for sure a critical piece of the history of salvation.

January 4, 2019; Katherine Angulo, Institute for Church Life (Photo by Matt Cashore/University of Notre Dame)

Katherine Angulo V. is from the McGrath Institute out of the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana. Katherine currently serves as the Program Director for the Thriving in Ministry Initiative. Born in Mexico and raised in Colombia, Katherine received a B.A. in Modern Languages in 2000 from King College in Tennessee and an M.A. in Pastoral Ministries in 2005 from St. Thomas University. She has more than 19 years of experience in youth ministry.

She began as a Youth Minister at St. Mary’s Church in Johnson City, Tennessee, where she later became the Director of Pastoral Ministries. After nine years, she became the Director of Youth Ministry for the Diocese of Raleigh. Before coming to the McGrath Institute, Katherine served for four years as the Associate Director of Youth Ministry at the Office of Formation and Discipleship for the Archdiocese of Atlanta. For more, click HERE