Building the Universal Church
Saint Joseph:
AM: Psalm 132 • Isaiah 63:7-16 • Matthew 1:18-25
PM: Psalm 34 • 2 Chronicles 6:12-17 • Ephesians 3:14-21
(Saint Joseph was named Patron of the Universal Church 150 years ago by Pope Pius IX)
My dad was named Joseph; my grandson is named Joseph to carry on this lineage and connection to Jesus’s earthly dad. The name is derived from the Hebrew “Yosef” meaning “God will give.” Thank you, God, for giving me 2 Josephs! This day is obviously special to me!
The Biblical Joseph was a carpenter so there is appropriately much about building in the assigned readings for today. Psalm 132 speaks of David’s determination to build a dwelling to house the Ark of the Covenant in Zion, which the Lord had chosen as a “resting place forever.” (132:14). The selection from 2 Chronicles 6 presents Solomon’s Dedication of the Temple in Jerusalem which he built to honor God and his earthly father David and to house the Ark of the Covenant (“the covenant of the Lord, which He made with the sons of Israel.”)
Once the Temple was built, pilgrims came to worship, singing Songs of Ascent as they climbed the uphill road to Jerusalem. These songs were written during the 70-year exile of the Judeans after being captured by the Babylonians in 586 BC. Both Psalms in our Readings for today were Songs of Ascent. (Read/sing the Psalms aloud and you will hear voices. Promise).
Ephesians 3: 14 – 21 wonderfully shifts the focus to the temple within. Paul tells the Ephesians that through faith and God’s love for them they “will be able to “comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and height and depth. . .of the love of Christ.” (3: 18-19). This is certainly an appropriate lead-in to tomorrow’s earthly rebirth through the Vernal Equinox. Thanks be to God who keeps on giving.