This coming Friday, March 19th, we celebrate the Solemnity of St. Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and I feel compelled to share how St. Joseph has blessed my family with his friendship.

My first job at a Catholic parish was in the Bronx, NY. I went to the first interview reluctantly, thinking “Lord I’m here out of obedience, but I’m busy enough” (back then I was teaching, going to grad school and my wife was pregnant)! But the Lord had other plans. At the interview, the pastor -a Capuchin Friar- shared how every Christmas he would spend more than the Cathedral hiring an orchestra, because he believed his parishioners had to experience the same beauty available to those in richer suburban churches. (How very Franciscan). The argument of beauty won me over!