A Heritage of Salvation
“You have turned my mourning into dancing.” (Psalm 30:11)
The legacy which we have received is to be a bearer of deliverance. Our ancestors in the faith knew exodus and exile; the Church has known and continues to know persecution in certain places.
Saint Joseph, with the Holy Family, was only too aware of what it meant to be a stranger, an emigrant who had to take flight into hostile territory because of the willfulness of Herod who wanted to kill the infant Jesus.
Saint André, his servant, had to leave his native land because of grinding economic crises to find work in the United States. Jesus drew himself near to anyone who grieved exceedingly, for example someone who suffered the loss of a child. (John 4:50) Saint Joseph believed; Saint André believed; as did the royal official whose son was dying who came to see Jesus, he also believed.
