Learn to laugh at yourself.
AND take your faith seriously!Today is the Feast Day of the good “Pope of St. Joseph” – Pope Saint John XXIII.
Known for having a great sense of humor he’d tell people, “God knew from all eternity I was going to be pope. Couldn’t God have made me more handsome?”
The faithful lovingly called him “Good Pope John,” during his papacy, because he was a man who lived confidently by Christ’s teaching – faith over fear. His attitude was, no matter how many times you fail or what challenge you face, don’t let fear rule you, put your trust in God.
Pope Saint John XXIII kept a journal from his young teens until his death. It is available as an autobiography entitled, Journal of a Soul. Through his writings and his public addresses, it is clearly evident that the Italian born pope was so fascinated by the life of St. Joseph. He continually praised the Guardian of the Redeemer. He lovingly became known as the Pope of St. Joseph.
He was devoted to teaching and focusing on the human history of the Holy Family, and the fact that no one was closer to Jesus and Mary than St. Joseph.So today, on this Feast Day of Pope Saint John XXIII, let us pray the prayer written by our good “Pope of St. Joseph,” and shared on a radio broadcast from 1960:
Saint Joseph, guardian of Jesus and chaste husband of Mary, you passed your life in loving fulfillment of duty. You supported the holy family of Nazareth with the work of your hands. Kindly protect those who trustingly come to you. You know their aspirations, their hardships, their hopes. They look to you because they know you will understand and protect them. You too knew trial, labor, and weariness. But amid the worries of material life, your soul was full of deep peace and sang out in true joy through intimacy with God’s Son entrusted to you, and, with Mary, his tender Mother. Assure those you protect that they do not labor alone. Teach them to find Jesus near them and to watch over him faithfully as you have done. Obtain for us that in every family, every office, every laboratory—wherever a Christian works—everything may be sanctified in charity, in patience, in justice, and in seeking to do good, so that the gifts of heavenly predilection may come down on us in abundance. Amen.
