Dear Parishioners of St. James:
Praised be Jesus Christ, Our Newborn King!
God chose to redeem mankind in and through a family. Mary and Joseph, as virginal husband, and wife, raised the child Jesus from infancy to manhood. St. Luke describes the Lord’s homelife in Nazareth by saying, “The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom, and the favor of God was upon him” (Lk. 2:40). What a tremendous mystery: the Lord Jesus lived a hidden life of virtue in a poor family with seemingly insignificant parents.
What transpired in the home of Nazareth was wonderfully supernatural in the midst of the ordinary. Our Lord allowed St. Joseph to witness to the boy Christ the virtues of manliness, hard work, fidelity to his wife, and fatherly protection all the while contemplating the Presence of the God-man and the Immaculate Conception in his own home. Our Lady grew exponentially in grace in caring for her husband and exercising tender devotion to the divine Child. Together, Mary and Joseph were the human bookends for the Word of God manifesting in their midst.
Mary’s divine motherhood and Joseph’s foster fatherhood will continue eternally. Our fatherhood and motherhood also continue toward our children as God directs those relationships toward heavenly consummation in glory. The Lord has so arranged our human family for salvation in Christ. With Jesus at the center we, too, are called to holiness as members of a Catholic family where supernatural realities are the ordinary fare.
God bless you,
Fr. Geary
Saint James Catholic Church 