The Joseph and Francis Evangelization Excuse: Part II

Preaching is imbibed in the office of a preacher.  Since all participants in Christ’s priestly office, all are called to preach; there is no way out. (cf, CCC 900)  The ordinary Catholic, who has the calling to preach to others by evangelizing, may by just a few words to a coworker on break who is distressed, about his upcoming divorce,  evangelize in a small way.  His pulpit and altar is the cafeteria table in the back of a big box hardware store, where he hands him a leaflet on how to pray the Rosary, calming his fears somewhat, and not stopping there invites him to come over after work, where his wife and him, after a hard day of work and impending obligations, take a copy of John Paul II’s Theology of The Body off the shelf to help him understand why he is in line at the $250 divorce lawyer office.

As Sirach 34:25 points out, “The bread of charity is life itself for the needy; whoever withholds it is a murderer.”  Hmm, could we apply that possibly as a foreshadowing to the true Bread of Charity for the spiritually poor!? Do we, as baptized Christians, withhold omissively, out of fear, like a nurse who forgot to write a note for the doctor about the patient, and is afraid to alert the doctor to this life-threatening piece of information?  Do we withhold, out of fear, as if this gift of life is ours and bury our talents in fear? (cf, Rom 14:7-9 and Matt 25:14-30) Again, that Joseph-ite holiness being our primary aim, then preaching but we must walk before we can run.  Sadly, in a good way, I suppose, many of the laity feel so obligated to evangelize that their work may and does suffer, the cornerstone of the preaching becomes flipped.

Yes, 90% of communication is non-verbal according to psychologists, but that “other 10%” is where Christ comes into play in an extra-ordinary way by going beyond the primary purpose of our baptismal call to prayer, which is to call others to prayer.  As Avila teaches, “There is but one road that leads to God, that is prayer, if anyone shows you another you are being deceived.”  And yes, Catherine also exhorts us to be as the wise virgins in the message of Jesus who put themselves first (cf, Matt 25:1-14), warning that we can lose our soul if not putting prayer and our own recollection 1st.  Remember, even Mother Teresa started her morning every day with Mass and a Holy Hour.

Back to good ole’ St Joseph. Well, according to tradition (and it makes sense, we hear nothing of Joseph after Christ his foster Son began His preaching mission) Joseph died prior to Christ’s preaching mission when Jesus laid down the angle and saw quietly and sadly but with a ring of joy, the hammer fell on the last nail in his late father’s shop.  He drew the knot on the back of the apron and hung it. Only later to tie on another apron to wash Peter’s dirty and stinky feet…  I personally have the greatest confidence if Joseph heard his Foster Son proclaim “preach the gospel unto the end of the world” (cf Matt 24:14).

Joseph, of all people, would have been first in line.  Joseph very well may have laid down his hammer and begun a new career of building men for Christ (c.f. Mark 1:17).  I wonder if Jesus saw in some Divine glimpse of his forthcoming crucifixion and death, at the sound of the last nail being set?  Dare I go further, and ask, was that last nail set in His Foster father’s coffin?  The root of Jesse now comes fully forth as a new and Giant Tree for His People, His Bride, The Church.

I quote Archbishop Fulton Sheen here, explaining that a wife is subject to her husband does not mean inferiority; no, it means complementarity, like a bow and a violin.  What did Jesus do for his wife, the Church?  He died for her, bled for her. That is what all men are called to do for their wives, suffer and die and take the public humiliation, listen caringly to her suggestions when all the guys snicker at you, hold the door even though she is more than capable.  Submission often means allowing when I can.

By the way, the wife saves the husband in one aspect by her acceptance, for she shows the man how to accept God’s will, to yield to God The Father’s call to be humble in the workplace so he doesn’t lose his job, etc.  Chivalry is at the Heart of Jesus Christ, who was and is the Ultimate Gentleman.  In fact, God does not impose, He proposes. Christ offers His Hand, with the rings of His blood encircling his fingers to save us, of course, and we are free to choose, the choice is ours, we can say, “No”, and we often do.  Thank God for confession!

Yes, Joseph was a quiet, humble man.  Francis was a hardworking humble friar, likely in my opinion to say something of the “use words if necessary” nature.  Not too many years ago, a friar speaking on this alleged statement of Francis stated: “Today, words are more necessary than ever”.

If anything, that statement sounds more like the rule and life of St. Benedict, for they are a more “stationary” group of monks for Christ.  Benedict converted Totila the Hun simply by staying put in his monastic life.  Totila came to him.

In fact, many do and shall do more harm than good if evangelizing in a certain way, as opposed to another that has a knack or gift for it.  Such was the case with Moses, Aaron did the speaking for Moses, for Moses had a stutter.  Some may argue, especially among protestant thought, that we are chickening out as Jonah did (cf Jonah 1:1-3) when God called him to go to Nineveh well, I suspect that Jonah had a gift for leading and speaking, as did David, Job, etc.

Again, returning to the thought of St. Francis De Sales regarding devotion (and the “Great Commission” of Christ is the utmost of devotions) we don’t want to hamper the Gospel message by sending the wrong guys into the wrong places, i.e., a coach swapping his quarterback in place of his heaviest and most powerful tackle, yes there is always exceptions, but the exception is not the norm. We can “preach from the housetops” in various ways (cf. Luke 12:3) God is the very definition of what it is to be normal and have order.

Also, the Great Commission offers great commissions.  (cf. James 5:20) we increase the possibility of going to Heaven when leading others there as well.  It’s the Great Commission, not the great omission!  However, we must put our daily duties first, in fact, Our Lady of Fatima wanted us to focus on our daily duty in her apparitions, to offer up the penance therein with love for lost souls.  Or, in the words of Padre Pio, “duty first, even before holy things.”  I think it safe to say that giving our family shelter, food and medicine is the primary root of evangelization, charity begins in the home.

We can’t give what we don’t have, we hear that by implication in Christ’s statement through his apostle that it is better for one to not marry, (cf Matt 19:1-11) though staying single for God’s Kingdom is the highest of calls, being married is still a high call too. Each has his own gift, one this another that. (cf 1 Cor 7:7) As Our Lord also exhorts, “whoever loves his father or mother, son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.” (cf, Matt 10:37-39) Here He is stating we must put the Kingdom first, even if one’s family members disagree.  Be that a call to serve God in some capacity besides marriage or having to bear insult in a marriage in order to follow Him.

Sts. Joseph and Francis, pray for us that we live upright, but also help us to bend our egos and swallow our fears when God calls us to preach, in whatever capacity.  Yes, we must lay the groundwork of praying for righteousness and acting on it (cf 1 Cor 9:27), as Paul warns we can be “disqualified” (and that means eternal punishment) if we don’t do the right thing, for our works are but filthy rags (cf Is 64:6) and we are fools to hope that good deeds will be a bailout or a replacement for a garbage interior life (cf Luke 17:10). So yes, the Rosary and the Ten Commandments come 1^st!