Cmdr. Quinteros and Fr. Corapi: Twins separated at birth?
Earlier tonight, Husband Mike and I watched a rerun of the
Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, "
11001001". When one of the guest characters, Commander Orfil Quinteros, strode onscreen, my first thought was, "OMG, it's Commander Father Corapi!"
Judge for yourself:
Labels: priests, random, silly, tv
On getting one's butt outta bed
Awhile ago, I was thinking about how hard it is for me -- how it's
always been hard -- to get out of bed in the morning. No matter what, I Always Hate Getting Up and do everything I can to delay it. I grumble, I gripe, I continually hit the snooze button. I have absolutely no motivation to pry myself from the sheets.
I was feeling frustrated and angry at myself over this perpetual lack of motivation when the thought popped into my head, "Get your butt outta bed and into My arms!" accompanied by the image of Christ standing next to the bed, holding out His arms. Well, who
wouldn't be motivated to jump out of bed at that?
It made me realize how, every time I get out of bed, it's a chance for me to throw myself into His arms in everything I do throughout the day. Brushing my teeth, going through my to-do list, chatting with folks, sitting through insanely long meetings at work ... they're all opportunities for me to throw myself into His arms -- if only I remember to perceive them as such.
Labels: random, reflections
Josephology: List of Must-Read Books
Happily, there are Lots And Tons Of Many Great Josephite Books out there, but occasionally, I'll come across one in which the author whines something like, "Poor Joseph, there's really not much written about him! Oh, well!" To that I reply: You are full of crap!
There are
loads of excellent books written about Joseph, ranging from devotional to scholarly and all shades in-between, and whenever an "author" whines that they "couldn't find anything", it immediately suggests that he/she Didn't Do Jack in the way of
basic research. It's like plopping yourself down in a bubble bath and then whining that you don't see any water. Puh-LEEZE!
Now, I'm not a university professor or scholar or anything special, and yet, with just a teeny bit of searching, little ol'
me has managed to turn up tons of reading material over the years. I've cited a few of the titles in
my Joseph posts, and I figured hey, why not list 'em all in one spot for ease o' reference?
So, following is a handy-dandy list of Josephite books for all your Josephy needs (and I own all of 'em save the
Bibliographie, which, at 55 bucks a pop, I'm working my way up to ordering). I'll update this post as I find more, and please note that I'm only listing books that I think are
good and useful.*
Lisa's List of Happy Fun Josephy Books That You Should Read :-)The Must-ReadsJoseph: The Man Closest to Jesus: The Complete Life, Theology and Devotional History of St. Joseph by Fr. Francis L. Filas, SJ
Considered to be
the definitive Josephological tome out there, this is essential reading. Seriously. Anyone who considers themselves devoted to Joseph must read this (honkin' big) sucker; not reading it is akin to a chemist waving off study of the Periodic Table of Elements. While it's out of print, you can find a copy through used booksellers (I got mine through
AbeBooks.com) or borrow one from your local library. Get crackin'!
Joseph the Silent by Michel Gasnier, OP
If you only read one Josephite book, make it this 'un. (Though you really should also read the previous one, but hey, this'll do if you're draggin' yer heels.) Gasnier presents a vivid and moving portrait of Our Glorious Patriarch, and it's all based on extensive research and serious study. This dude knows his stuff (no whiny crap here), and he presents it all in a relatively short, yet engrossing, read.
Joseph in the New Testament by Fr. Larry Toschi, OSJ
The amount of info. that Fr. Toschi is able to draw from the NT about Joseph is just mind-bogglingly amazing. Sure, Scripture doesn't say a lot, but what it
does say offers tons of food for thought, and Fr. Toschi delivers. I luv Fr. Toschi.
The Good-to-ReadsNow that we've gotten those Top Three outta the way, here are the rest (alphabetical by title). This isn't a comprehensive list, just my faves.
Bibliographie sur saint Joseph et la sainte Famille by Roland Gauthier, CSC
THE be-all, end-all Josephological bibliography, weighing in at 1,365 pages, with 19,725 entries! As the book's description says, it's "the single most important source of information about publications of all kinds (ecclesiastical, theological, devotional, artistic, etc.) on St. Joseph and the Holy Family." I got a look at this baby thanks to the wonders of interlibrary loan requests, and hoo-boy! You could cause some
serious damage with it; it's especially useful for whacking "I-couldn't-find-anything-on-Joseph!" authors upside the head.
Just Man, Husband of Mary, Guardian of Christ: An Anthology of Readings from Jeronimo Gracian's Summary of the Excellencies of St. Joseph (1597) by Joseph F. Chorpenning, OSFS
The Life and Glories of St. Joseph by Edward Healy Thompson, MA
A Manual of Practical Devotion to St. Joseph by Fr. Antony-Joseph Patriganani, SJ
Saint Joseph by Boniface Llamera, OP (out-of-print)
Saint Joseph: Patron of the Triumph by Fr. Richard Foley, SJ
Saint Joseph: Shadow of the Father by Fr. Andrew Doze
Saint Joseph Studies: Papers in English from the Seventh and Eighth International St. Joseph Symposia, Malta 1997 and El Salvador 2001 edited by Fr. Larry Toschi, OSJ
St. Joseph: A Theological Introduction by Michael D. Griffin, OCD
St. Joseph and the Third Millennium: Traditional Themes and Contemporary Issues edited by Michael D. Griffin, OCD
St. Joseph in Early Christianity: Devotion and Theology: A Study and an Anthology of Patristic Texts by Joseph T. Lienhard, SJ
True Devotion to St. Joseph and the Church by Dominic De Domenico, OP
-------
* Books like Saint Joseph: His Life and His Role in the Church Today by Louise Bourassa Perrotta, in which she whines about "not finding anything on Joseph", do NOT make the cut. (Perrotta's book is pretty lame on top of it all. How she snookered Fr. Benedict Groeschel, CFR into writing the Forward is a mystery.) Kthanx.Labels: books, joseph, josephite, josephology
Josephology: On Joseph's Fatherhood
While chattin' with pals recently, I realized that it's been awhile since I've tossed out a Josephy post, which must be remedied forthwith! For this go-round, let's look at Joseph's unique and glorious fatherhood!
"
48. So what is the most exact title we should use to express Joseph's fatherhood?In reality, none of the terms suggested entirely expresses the totality of Joseph's relationship with Jesus. As [the great Jesuit theologian] Suarez asserts, Joseph possessed 'everything proper to a father, apart from his virginity.' He shared in the very dignity of Mary, Jesus' mother. His fatherhood is unique and supernatural. Faced with the lack of any precise word to completely designate this special fatherhood, we may simply call Joseph 'Jesus' father,' as Scripture itself does (Lk. 2:27, 33, 41, 43, 48; Mt. 13:55), without adding any adjective to the title."
~ Fr. Jose Antonio Bertolin, OSJ; "Josephology 1A",
Guardian of the Redeemer, Volume XII, Number 1 (March-May 2006)
* * *
"I often explain that if a dove ... drops a date from its beak into a garden, we say that the palm tree that grows from that date belongs to the owner of the garden. If that is so, who would doubt that as the Holy Spirit, like a heavenly dove, let fall a divine seed into the 'garden enclosed' of the Blessed Virgin ... and a garden that pertained to Joseph as a wife pertains to her husband; who I ask, would deny that the divine Palm Tree, which bears the fruits of immortality, belongs to the Blessed Joseph?"
~ St. Francis De Sales
* * *
"It is most important to look first at the way in which St. Joseph is not the father of Jesus. ... There is a variety of ways in which one may be referred to as a father other than as the natural father. There is, of course, a more spiritual use of the term, such as in those who are founders of religious orders. Still, let us confine ourselves to those forms that we find in the family.
"... [W]e might speak of a man as the 'legal father' of the child. ... St. Joseph was recognized publicly and socially to be the legal father of Jesus in one sense, but not as understood in the eyes of Jewish law according to a limited sense of the term, in which a brother would attempt to have a child by the wife of a brother who died so that the dead brother could have legal descendants.
"... Another title one might bear is that of 'foster father.' ... This is most certainly a true and clear way to express the fatherhood of St. Joseph. Yet, as we shall see, it does not completely explain the way in which St. Joseph is father to Jesus. ... [This term] is far weaker ... because it often refers to a very temporary form of relationship.
"... [A]doptive fatherhood does not express the nature of St. Joseph's fatherhood. ... Jesus was not born from another marriage or relationship and then adopted. St. Thomas says, 'Christ was the fruit of this marriage; neither a child born in adultery nor an adopted son ...' ... Thus, the title of adoptive father is inadequate to explain the paternity of St. Joseph.
"... [Stepfatherhood] would not apply to St. Joseph. For Jesus was not the child of a previous marriage or relationship between a man and a woman. Thus, to call St. Joseph a stepfather would be offensive to the Virgin Mary."
De Domenico then goes on to explain that Joseph is Jesus' father (not in the biological sense): 1) because Jesus is the Good of the
marriage; 2) because Jesus is the Possession of the marriage; 3) because Joseph and Mary gave full consent to the marriage; 4) because of Mary's consent at the Annunciation, which, since
she was already Joseph's wife, by default included Joseph's consent; 5) through Joseph's holiness; 6) through
Joseph's virginity; 7) by the command of God; 8) by exercising the office of father.
Thus, "this fatherhood of St. Joseph is entirely new. There has never been anything like it. It is unique and one of a kind. The fatherhood of St. Joseph is superior even to natural human fatherhood as also adoptive fatherhood. ... 'He is father in the supernatural order, not according to nature, but according to the spirit ... In brief, he is father in the most noble, most sublime and divine sense. The bond which unites him with his august Son is moral and therefore more intimate and stronger than a physical bond.' Hence the fatherhood of St. Joseph is only surpassed by the fatherhood of God."
~ Dominic De Domenico, OP;
True Devotion to St. Joseph and the ChurchLabels: joseph, josephology
Place yer bets
After years of searching, Husband Mike finally found a St. Michael the Archangel statue -- with devil-stompin' action! -- that he likes, which we happily brought home earlier this evening:
So, how long d'ya think it'll take for
somebody ...
... to damage it,
à la Mary?
Labels: cats, the b
