Bishop's Joseph's Message (May 2021)

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Dear Friends in Christ,

I am so grateful to my parents who have a great devotion to St. Joseph and they
wanted to pass this devotion on to me by naming me after him and entrusting me to
him as my patron and that of the universal Church.

This year at the invitation of Holy Father, we are celebrating the Year of St. Joseph
and in the midst this unprecedented time we earnestly entrust our Diocese of
Kamloops into his protection.

As we reflect on the life of St. Joseph, there are many wonderful insights to share
and imitate as a model of faith, a sign of hope and an example of perseverance.

On December 8 th , 2020, Pope Francis in his apostolic letter, “Patris Corde” (With a
father’s heart), said that “each of us can discover in St. Joseph a support, an
intercessor and a guide in time of trouble”.

Although little is known about St. Joseph in the Bible, what little that is known is
more than enough to know everything about him and his role in God’s plan of
salvation. We could truly call him a man of action, who was always open to the
promptings of God’s word spoken in his heart, his dreams and his life, by
recognizing, accepting, and living his vocation as protector of the holy family, as
guardian of Jesus and as husband of Mary. He doesn’t claim recognition or merits;
he simply listens, faithfully protects and lovingly cares.

In this challenging pandemic, we prayerfully look to St. Joseph, who protected and
guided the Holy Family to embrace their own challenges, difficulties, questions
and concerns. We too need to listen humbly to the Word of God, so that we may
be able to answer to the calling to make Jesus present in every moment of our
lives.

By listening to God’s words, we are able to recognize our role in God’s plan of
salvation, which is not just about God’s love. It is also about our response.
We pray that we may confidently walk with St. Joseph and if we walk with him,
we walk with Jesus.

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Saint Joseph pray for us!

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