With a heart full of hope

One day I was visiting an old friend of mine. Long before I met her – when she was a mother of eight children and pregnant with a ninth – she lost her husband in a car accident.

She was distraught and threw herself at the foot of her crucifix, begging, “Lord, don’t let me down! “At over 85 years of age, Alice was testifying to me that the Lord had never abandoned her. She told me, “You know, even though I live alone in my house, I am not afraid. In fact, I am never alone. The Lord is there, I feel Him very present at my side and with Him I am never worried about what may happen.” Her heart was full of hope and serenity about the future.

Remembering this meeting, I said to myself: this is surely how Joseph faced life. Nor was he lacking in trials: the mystery that enveloped the birth of Jesus, the flight into Egypt to escape Herod’s fury, the loss of Jesus in the temple…. Always, Joseph knew how to “overcome anger and sorrow”.  He had a very keen awareness of the love of God in whom he placed all his trust. As with Alice, God was close at hand. God’s love freed him from “unsuspected forces” that enabled him to “become a craftsman of harmony”.

Brother André used to say, “Pray to Saint Joseph, he will always be your father and your guide.”

In this time of pandemic and anxiety, don’t we need such a companion? I think I hear Brother André saying to us: “Pray to Saint Joseph; he will know how to guide your steps on a path too often obscured by the harshness of the present life and a future that is not very reassuring. He will know how to make you discover “the ways of God” and make you meet this Father who loves us so much. Your heart will then be filled with the peace and hope that comes from Him. »

Jean-Pierre Aumont, c.s.c.