“Saint Joseph was good to me.”

One day early in the year, after Mass, an older woman in a wheelchair made a gesture to call me over. She handed me an envelope and wished me a Happy New Year. She had a look on her face of pure serenity and peace. It made an impression on me.

I went back to my office, and I opened the envelope. I read, “When I was young, I had a very serious health problem, and I asked Saint Joseph to come to my aid. Today I am 82, and getting ready to join the good Lord. I’ve come to thank Saint Joseph who was good to me and who sustained me my whole life long.”

What a comforting testimony, and so touching in its simplicity. Saint Joseph was a support for this woman, and a first-rate guide. She had defeated sickness and after a fulfilling life, she came to give thanks to the Lord for all the good things with which she had been generously blessed.

Today, with the coming of the pandemic, we feel more vulnerable than ever. Often we feel powerless to affect the course of events around us and in the world. However, the example of Saint Joseph and of his friend Brother André shows us that for those who place their trust in the Lord and take forth-right action, all sorts of limitations and obstacles can be overcome.

We can only be in awe at so many people today offering gestures of solidarity and compassion towards the elderly and less fortunate in this moment of humanitarian crisis. That’s where I see signs of hope, signs of the Spirit’s work in our world.

We can feel reasonably uneasy about what the future holds for us. Like this woman, who was troubled at the beginning of her life, we can turn towards Saint Joseph and ask for his help in guiding us, that he give us his charity, his faith, his tolerance, his courage; so that we might become witnesses of compassion and solidarity all our lives as he did. And then one day, after a fulfilling life, we too can thank him for being good to us.

Jean-Pierre Aumont, CSC