Humanitarianism is all the rage. Everyone wants to save the world. We need to save the earth, the seals, the trees, the environment, the lost souls of humanity, the imprisoned souls of religion, etc., etc. These are certainly all good causes to get behind, but here’s a question. Where is the place where the Lord established a real school for changing the world?
The answer is marriage and family! Who is saving marriage and family? Who is making this endeavor a priority? May 1st is the feast day of such a person, St. Joseph the Worker. St. Joseph was an obedient lover of the Lord. When the Lord called him to marriage, he put everything he had into it. He didn’t say, “Ok, Lord, thank you for giving me my vocation, but let me first go get a few more letters behind my name or let me succeed at the endeavors that I think are more important.” He didn’t marry the Blessed Mother and then head off to lead the charge for solving the problems of the world. No, first he immediately set to preparing to be a husband and father by doing what was required, working for his future wife and family. Then he spent his life focusing on their needs and being a husband and father.
St. Joseph is the model for taking on the duties of one’s state of life. His state of life changed and therefore so did his purpose. No, not everyone is called to marriage, but when they are, then it’s time for it to become the priority. It is in marriage and family that we will really change the world. Pope St. John Paul II said it best when he said, “As goes the family, so goes the nation, and so goes the world in which we live.” Sure things can be done in all the other humanitarian endeavors, but it’s in the marriage and family that real change will happen and will stick, thereby really changing the world. St. Joseph pray for us that we re-prioritize marriage and family in our world as the real humanitarian endeavor! Amen!
Benedicite!
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