Wednesday of the Third Week of Advent
“He shall have pity on
the lowly and the poor; the lives of the poor he shall save.” Psalm 72:13
Joseph, arise! Guide me
this Advent in the journey to Christmas.
The King of the Universe became poor for our sake, and He became
Incarnate in your poor, humble family. He
dwelt under your roof and was obedient to you, Joseph. How can I ever thank you for saving Mary from
stoning, taking her in, for fleeing with the Christ Child to Egypt to escape
Herod’s murderous envy, working in Egypt as a lowly immigrant, and returning to
Nazareth where you lived a hidden life of quiet labor in the presence of God
and the Blessed Mother. Blessed Joseph,
who died in their presence, obtain for me and my dear ones this blessing of a
happy death.
St. Joseph, help me to encounter Jesus deeply this Advent,
so I can celebrate His coming as a vulnerable child. Help me welcome His coming in Holy Mass, where
He comes in Sacred Scripture and Eucharist, under the humble disguise of bread
and wine. May I run to Him in the
merciful healing of Confession. Help me
to welcome His coming in each neighbor, especially the poor, sick and
abandoned. Help me seek His presence in each day He gives me. Prepare me for
His coming at the end of my earthly life and when He comes again in visible
glory.
Teach me to receive Jesus with joyous welcome when He
comes. Despite my sins, I happily receive
Him, for I trust in His merits and not my own. St. Joseph, teach me to hold the
Child Jesus, to let Him embrace me with delight, though I am not worthy to have
Him under my roof. Eradicate my
superficial spirituality, and ask Jesus to possess all the rooms of my inner
and outer life. This God, through whom
all things were made, is no distant creator.
Jesus wants intimacy. He wants me
to live and move and have my being in Him.
He desires to radiate through me like host in monstrance, a beautiful
symbiosis like no other. But this is not
biologic life. This is divine life, filled with the fullness of God. The Word of God became flesh to make us
partakers of the divine nature.[1]
St. Joseph, foster father of Jesus, pray for an outpouring
of the Holy Spirit upon Saint Louis
University. Pray for our community to be
a place to encounter Christ and be transformed by the Holy Spirit. Terror of demons, pray for our purity. Help us be sanctified by our prayers, studies
and daily work. Help each person develop
the gifts God granted, happy to serve with charity in truth. Above all, pray for us all to receive the joy
of knowing, loving and being loved by your adopted son, Jesus Christ, to the
glory of God the Father.
-Elizabeth
Abraham MD, OCDS
Dr. Abraham is an
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at SLU School of Medicine and practices
pediatric nephrology at Cardinal Glennon Children’s Medical Center. She is a member of the Secular Discalced
Carmelites of St. Louis, Missouri, under the patronage of St. Joseph.
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