It is not that long in the liturgical calendar. It was introduced by Pope Pius XII in 1955 to highlight the value of human labor. The current Pope Francis also has a very close relationship with this saint. St. Joseph is a saint who is not often discussed, although his role in the mystery of the Incarnation is essential. When we realize how modern psychology views the importance of the father’s role in a child’s personality development, we are struck by the enormous task taken on by the one who served the incarnate Son of God in this way.

He did not fight for the place of God. It seems to me that this humble and inconspicuous figure has something to say to our culture, which is looking for a new identity and therefore a new fatherhood. He did not have a child to care for, yet he fulfilled the mission entrusted to him to the end. He did not fight for God’s place, but neither did he leave his profession. Furthermore, he did not appropriate the gifts of his Lord, but he completely took upon himself the responsibility that was placed on him. And in this constant dialogue with his God, whom he loved and worshiped with confidence, he discovered his own paternal identity while allowing the child to find his own. The viewing of the Holy Family of Nazareth illuminates our whole life in all its aspects, down to the last detail. In the existence that God himself has taken upon himself, suddenly nothing seems banal: prayer, work, family life, life around us, culture, rest – everything can be restored by the presence of the Word in the everyday lives of all people.

Just open your heart. The truth of revelation is shown wherever, from the moment God became man, people show by their behavior that every person can be a mirror of God’s face. It is not necessary to run away from human nature to find it. We can meet, serve, and love every person. We don’t have to do something extraordinary at all, open our hearts and set our palms, become a servant, and lose our lives by giving it. This is precisely what Saint Joseph did when he accepted his role in caring for him who „ although rich, became poor for you so that you would get rich from his poverty“.

FOR TODAY’S HOLIDAY the liturgy of the Church puts this prayer on our lips: „ God, you inflamed warm love in St. Catherine when she meditated on the Lord’s passion and served your Church; at her intercession, indulge, that your people, to whom you have given participation in the mysteries of Christ, may be eternally pleased when Christ appears in his glory“. These words describe the life of the saint we celebrate: a warm love for Jesus Christ, which led her to dedicate herself to serving others and the Church.

Catherine Benincasa was born in 1347 in Siena in a large family. From childhood, she cultivated a deep piety that led her to dedicate her life to the Lord, despite her family’s misunderstanding. At the age of eighteen, she was accepted among the Dominican tertiary girls in the city. She continued to live at home with her parents and led an intense life of prayer amid the natural rush of a family with many children. At the age of 21, Catherine had an experience that marked her life forever: she realized that God was calling her to devote herself wholeheartedly to acts of love and work for the conversion of sinners. St. Jose Maria was interested that this saint „was on the streets and created an inner cell in her soul, so wherever she was, she did not leave her cell. This decision marked the beginning of several years during which the young woman moved around the city of Siena to care for the sick, capturing the hearts of many people with her love for God and her neighbors.

„ A city built on a hill cannot be hidden. They don’t even light the lamp and put it under the meter, but on the candlestick so that it shines for everyone who is in the dome“ (Mt 5, 14-15). Catherine was enlightened by Jesus’ loving face and understood that his light could not remain enclosed in the walls of her house. Thus, she caused a revolution around her, which consisted of prayer and acts of service.

True wisdom is to be in harmony with God’s heart …

IN LETTERS, St. In Catherine’s well-known work Dialogue, the harmony between teaching and mystical experience is astounding, especially considering that the saint did not have the opportunity to acquire a wide cultural formation. From a young age, however, she attended the sermons of the Dominican Fathers in her city: there she listened attentively to interpretations of the Scriptures, examples from the lives of saints, and catechesis on faith. Over time, she also cultivated her inner life under the leadership of a local spiritual leader.

On St. Catherine, the words that Jesus uttered one day full of joy were fulfilled: „ I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you hid these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to the little ones“ (Mt 11, 25). „Even true wisdom comes from the heart, it’s not just understanding thoughts (…). If you know many things, but your heart is closed, you are not wise. Jesus says that the mysteries of his Father have been revealed to the little ones, those who confidently open themselves to his word of salvation feel that they need him and expect everything from him; they have an open and trusting heart towards the Lord. Saint Catherine accepted the lights that the Lord gave her, and thus achieved a deep knowledge of God’s mystery. „O, priceless, sweetest love,“ wrote. „Who won’t such great love ignite? Which heart can resist without fainting? You, abyss of love, as if you are mad for your creatures, as if you cannot live without them, even though you are a God who does not need us. Your greatness does not grow by our good deeds, for it cannot change; no harm arises from our evil, for you are the highest and eternal Good. Who will move you to such mercy?

Driven by this intense contemplation, the saint from Siena shared God’s love with the people around her. She started with those who gathered to listen to her and be encouraged in the spiritual life. However, this spillover of her inner life did not end there: she wrote letters over the years to many people, including many public figures of the time. More than once, her letters were accompanied by calls for the addressees to live according to the Gospel and seek God’s will. She drew energy from her intimate relationship with Jesus to speak clearly and gently about God.

Sharing your faith with others …

AMONG MANY CHRISTIANS, those who were inspired by the life of St. Catherine can also be found in St. Josemaria. From his youth, he had a special respect for her; for example, he called the notes he made about the events of his inner life“. „ I fell in love with the power of St. Catherine,“ says the founder of Opus Dei, “who tells the truths to the most important people, with burning passion and transparent clarity“. Therefore, in 1964, the founder of Opus Dei decided to appoint her as intercessor of the apostolate, which he held in special esteem, for informing a wide field of public opinion with the love of Christ.

Jesus is the truth that will enlighten every person and save them from darkness. Offering this light to others – striving to be ignited first in our own lives – is one of the works of mercy. Bringing your faith to others means making revelation visible so that the Holy Spirit can work in people through your testimony, as a witness, or through service. Service is a way of life (…). If I say I’m a Christian and live as one, it attracts (…). Faith must be passed on: not convinced, but offering treasure“.

Saint Catherine spent a lot of time caring for the sick in her city before urging someone to come closer to the faith. The same love that led her to devote herself to the most needy later moved her to write letters inviting them to be faithful children of the Church. The credibility of her message was based on a life from which love for God and neighbor radiated. Let us ask Saint Catherine and our Heavenly Mother to intercede with God to give us love that feeds on prayer, manifests itself in acts of love, and proclaims the truth that leads to life. „ The most profound teaching we are called to impart, and the surest certainty that melts doubt, is God’s love by which we were loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins (compare 1 Jn 4, 10).

That story is called: „Better justice“. An old legend tells of monks who argued with each other about better justice. They could not agree because each of them felt that they were in the right. Finally, they presented their case to the abbot and asked him to settle the dispute and ensure justice. The abbot wanted a night to think. The next morning, he answered two monks: „ Do you want to know about greater justice? Justice exists only in hell, mercy reigns in heaven, and on earth there is a cross“!

Yes: „The world is unfair,“ many contemporaries say, and do not understand why they should be fair. And in the Speech on the Mount, Jesus also says that the righteousness of his disciples, and therefore our righteousness, should be even greater than the righteousness of the Pharisees and scribes. Of all the people who repeatedly disrespected the righteous law of Moses, who healed on the Sabbath, who questioned the Jewish dietary and fasting laws, and criticized the temple cult, it is the one who, in Matthew’s Gospel, warns against the abolition of even one of the commandments. How does it all fit together? 

The decisive sentence that gives meaning to this contradiction is the word Jesus says about himself: ‘I have come to fulfill the law. ‘ I believe that fulfillment is the key to understanding. God’s commandment, that is, the will of God, is not fulfilled by the one who outwardly follows the law, that is, the letter of the law; especially not by the one who always transforms himself; nor by the one who is self-righteous rather than acts in his way. Only those who love fulfill God’s will, because they return their original meaning to the commandments, namely, to enable life and protect life. In love, the law was fulfilled, and all the prophets, Jesus once said. Greater justice means nothing more than putting love and thus people at the center! 

We all still have a lot to learn – in politics, in business, in society, and especially in our church communities, parishes, and families. Greater justice, that is, justice in the eyes of God, is a permanent task for us, but it is also an invitation from God to find a way back to the inner freedom of God’s children. That is, to freedom that does not calculate, recalculate, and count. To freedom that wants justice, loving justice that does not condemn, but is able and strong to forgive, that is generous and wants to give generously. Justice that remains on the path of love. This is illustrated by a story titled „New Justice Story.” One day, a thief sneaked into the rabbi’s garden and wanted to take a bag of potatoes. 

But the bag withstood its weight. Meanwhile, the rabbi was looking through the window from behind the curtain and observed the thief. The thief bent over the bag and fought. Then the rabbi quietly helped the thief lift a sack of potatoes onto his shoulders and let the thief leave with them. 
The rabbi’s family and other residents of the house shook their heads: „How can you help this thief, this scoundrel, carry a bag of potatoes?” The rabbi replied: „ Do you think that just because he is a thief, I am not obliged to help him“? This is a higher justice college for everyone. The pressure on us Christians to always do the right thing seems to be growing. 

Now, many will say, ‘But aren’t these standards too high? ‘ Isn’t this demand that Jesus established for the kingdom of God unattainable? Who can deliver? Well, look: the same God who makes these radical demands reminds us that He is a merciful God who does not want our destruction or rejection, but our salvation.  He is not a world policeman, nor a prosecutor, nor a fear-inducing god. Instead, God is a perfect father and a loving mother. With him, a way back is always possible. His door is always open. Where there is repentance, forgiveness is offered. Let’s ask for participation in God’s merciful love.

FIRST REVELATION: The resurrected Christ was given to Mary Magdalene; that’s what the evangelist Mark tells us. Jesus then accompanied the disciples to Emmaus and finally appeared to the eleven apostles (compare Mk 16:9-15). In all these revelations, Jesus wanted to restore their peace, stimulate their faith, and revive the apostolic mission to which they were called. It is true that when Master needed them the most, his disciples were cowards. Even after the resurrection, they were still confused and full of doubts. Christ „ revealed himself to the Eleven as they sat at the table and reproached them for their unbelief and hardness of heart for not believing those who saw him resurrected“ (Mk 16, 14).

Despite everything, Jesus did not hesitate to confirm them in their vocation: they were chosen as his witnesses, and he did not want to replace them with others. God’s commission ended this visit: „Go into the whole world and preach the gospel to all creation“ (Mk 16, 15). The gift of a vocation for an apostolic mission belongs to them, even if they are not particularly strong or exceptionally well-prepared. This explains the commotion caused by Peter and John when they healed a paralyzed person after a few weeks: „ They knew that they were unlearned and simple people, so they were shocked “ (Acts 4, 13).

Apostles with their gifts and faults will be „fishermen people“ sent to all the seas of the earth. This is how everyone realizes that salvation is God’s work. „Every man and every woman is a mission, and that’s why they live on earth (…). The fact that we are in this world without prior decision of our own leads us to realize that there is an initiative that precedes us and calls us into existence. Each of us is called to think about this fact: I am a mission on this earth, and therefore I am in this world“[1].

God reckons with our strengths and weaknesses …

SAINT PAUL he understood well what it means to be an apostle of Jesus Christ and expressed it in these words: „ So I will rather boast of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. That is why I delight in weaknesses, in disgrace, in need, in persecution, and anxieties for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am intense “ (2 Cor 12, 9-10). Our own weakness can be a strength for the disciple, because when we find ourselves without our own resources, we find that we have the greatest gift that always remains to us: God, who gives himself entirely to us. That is why the apostle of the nations boasts of his weaknesses. „ He does not boast of his actions, but of the action of Christ, who works precisely in his weakness“.

When proclaiming Christ’s message, the experience of our own vulnerability does not have to shake us if we have a humble attitude and complete trust in God’s action. The evangelization of the Church belongs to him, and not to us. We feel, like St. Paul, that we are a „ clay vessel“ (2 Cor 4, 7), which God fills with the treasure of his grace, and thus in it we undeservedly receive priceless jewels. 

The kingdom of God is not realized only because of a good human strategy, nor does it rely only on our ability to face new challenges. Although all this can certainly be part of our contribution, we find strength and knowledge for our mission in God. The Lord unites us with his kingdom because he wants to count on us to expand it: and that is wonderful. „ As our union with the Lord grows, and our prayer intensifies, we too go to the essence of things and understand that it is not the power of our means, our virtues, our abilities that bring about the kingdom of God, but that it is God who works miracles precisely through our weakness, through our inadequacy to the task.

Finding strength in the Risen Christ …

„GO WORLDWIDE and preach the gospel“ (Mk 16, 15). This is the imperative command of the Master. They were gathered in the same house, perhaps at the same table, where Jesus gave them his Body to eat and his Blood to drink. The apostles did not apologize for their lack of fidelity or moral strength. They did not even speak to the Risen Lord, although they certainly thought that the mission was too great. How did they feel when they heard those words of Jesus? They certainly felt as if they were dizzy, having been entrusted with such an ambitious message. „Shall we reach the whole world?“ they asked. „ After all, we couldn’t even show ourselves to those in our own city“.

When they only looked at themselves, it was easy to convince themselves that this mission was utopian. But the sight of the Risen Lord changed everything: they looked at the palms of his hands, at his side, at his eyes; if Jesus wanted them to travel the whole world, they would do it in his name. For this mission, St. Josemaría proposed the following itinerary: „Know Jesus Christ; make him known to others; take him with you everywhere. This mission, which concerns all the baptized, is carried out primarily by allowing ourselves to be attracted by Jesus. „ Let yourself be loved by him, and you will be witnesses whom the world needs so much“. As with St. Peter, our own experience with the Lord’s love is the starting point for attracting others to this love: “We cannot fail to talk about what we have seen and heard” (Acts 4, 20).

Faith grows through personal testimony, it is strengthened in mission. This is how we are sure that making Jesus known to other people is the most precious gift we can give. As a good mother, Mary encourages us to be able to give our best with God’s grace.

We humans often lose heart, just like the apostles who witnessed the end of their beloved Master. Only very slowly do they begin to perceive the events that had paralyzed them. And after the testimony of women who bring fragrances to anoint Jesus’ body and discover, with astonishment, that the great stone guarding the entrance to the tomb is rolled away, the apostles begin to act.

Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified, was resurrected! The reality of the empty tomb is preached to the disciples by the women. When the women announce what has happened, they are to remind the disciples of the meeting that Jesus spoke about at the Last Supper. The testimony of the empty tomb in them renews the courage and interest to follow the Master again, and they still have no idea how much power the Master will fill them with. After a personal encounter with Jesus and the surrender of the power of the Holy Spirit, the apostles are truly transformed. The same apostles who, fearing for their lives, leave their Master and hide so that no one can convict them, enter the temple to testify about what they have seen and heard.

To the dismay of the powerful, they testify that the case of Jesus of Nazareth is not over. The disciples even perform in the temple, proclaiming the resurrection and fully aware of the power they received from Jesus. They announce, heal, and testify! Therefore, the council gathers, powerful forces are concentrated, and they are furious that someone threatens their power again. They feel threatened by the news about Jesus, which they now have to deal with once more. The event of Peter healing the sick is especially unpleasant for them because they have to admit that something truly special had happened.

And now he is afraid of the reaction of the people, but especially of the transformation of the apostles. Peter is invited to explain who allowed him to do good deeds! Great tension and confusion can be felt from the speech of the apostles present, and they try to avoid the question that would lead them to the already solved case of the Master of Nazareth. Peter, already another Peter, new, strong, and filled with the Holy Spirit, testifies to the essence of his deeds. Everything I do is in the name of the one you wanted to silence, Jesus of Nazareth. Now Jesus acts and speaks through the new Peter. 

Brothers and sisters, Jesus’ resurrection is, without a doubt, a demonstration of God’s power. Today, I do not want to dwell on how God did it. We know that the resurrection of a dead body is incomprehensible and impossible from a rational point of view. We can only marvel and remain standing in silent amazement at how God works. Furthermore, we can rejoice that the power of death does not have the last word. We can let the peace and certainty pervade us that just as God acted in the case of his beloved only-begotten Son, he will one day act in the case of us.

I want to reflect on, above all, the reactions that Jesus’ resurrection has provoked among people. This unique event in history divides people basically into two groups. Unbelievers and believers.

Let’s look at how the evangelist Matthew describes the reaction of unbelievers to the event of Jesus’ resurrection. The guards before him were trembling with fear. They remained dead. For the unbelieving man, the resurrection of Jesus Christ is a terror, a calamity, an unmitigated disaster. Why? Simply because the “Judge” is alive. If we have not accepted Him as Savior, or rejected Him as Savior, what can we expect from Him as “Judge” from a human point of view? That He would be gracious to us? That He would have mercy on us?

We see the Roman guards of the tomb, trembling with fear and remaining as dead – an accurate illustration of what awaits the unbeliever when he meets the risen Christ – fear… We may not like to hear it, but it is the truth.

And whether that is why the unbelieving man tries to keep Jesus “dead”, to keep Him in the grave. After all, the dead will no longer admonish us, the dead cannot and will not prove to us that we have misunderstood anything. The unbeliever would rather invent a fairy tale about how Jesus was stolen at night from the tomb guarded by professionals by His amateurish, frightened, and determined disciples, who waited until the Roman guards were peacefully asleep and then began to announce everywhere that He had risen from the dead… How sad and pathetic it is when one cannot look the truth in the face!

And what is the reaction to the resurrection of believers? There appears to be awe. It is a mixture of wonder and awe at the mystery of the resurrection. Awe is a typical human reaction to something unknown. The awe of the believer, however, is different from the fear experienced by unbelievers. The German religionist Otto describes this difference very nicely when he speaks of the mysterious tremendous and the mysterious fascias. The mystery is the fear of a God who is inscrutable and unreadable, who can hurt us and punish us.

On the other hand, there is the mysterious fascination. This is a fear that, at the same time, attracts us, fascinates us, and fills us with joy and inner peace. Hence, also among the women we read, they went quickly from the tomb, and with fear and great joy they ran to tell his disciples. For believers, then, this is joy.

This joy cannot remain only in the private sphere. It must be shared. It needs to be proclaimed, to be spread. The women of the Gospel understand this and act: they run to tell his disciples. Let us run too! Let us proclaim to our neighbors that Jesus is alive! Let us proclaim this good news of the Gospel to all those who grieve and mourn! To those who are depressed in life! Let us proclaim that there is still hope for man. Dear brothers and sisters, the resurrection of Jesus not only shook the earth at that time, but also.. Where are we in all this? For me, today is the day of Jesus Christ’s resurrection, a day of joy and gratitude. For in the risen Christ I recognize my personal Redeemer, and I know that my eternal salvation is sure. I wish you joy, appreciation, and assurance of salvation today.