THE MAN BEHIND THE SCENE
INTRODUCTION
Today we celebrate the feast of St. Joseph. We see statues
of him on pedestals— or pictures of him on walls - in churches and homes and on
memorial cards. We see images of him with the tools of his trade in his
hand—Joseph the Carpenter—or with a flower, a symbol of his purity—as husband
of Mary - or holding the Christ child or teaching him a trade.
QUESTION—WONDERING
When it comes to saints, I often wonder why it is or what it
is that makes this particular saint, this particular person stand out from the
rest of people. To stand out enough to be put up on a pedestal!
What is the energy! What part of us does the life of this
saint touch that we want to accentuate!
That’s what hits me about saints. Or in other words, “Patron
Saint of What?” and “Why?”
ST. JOSEPH
We know so little about St. Joseph. Yet the name “Joseph”, “Saint Joseph” hits
certain cords in people’s hearts.
What is it?
What is it about St.
Joseph?
What is it that makes him a big name among the Italians—a
Jewish boy—famous among the Italians. Giuseppe! Today is a big feast day. There
are lots of pastry and special ones just for this day.
What is that makes him a special saint among the Poles?
What is it that makes him so popular that so many orders of
religious women chose to be named after him: “Sisters of St. Joseph!”
Today, this has lessened, with less kids being named Joseph.
But still, what about Joseph? Why Joseph? Why the fame? What
myth, archetype does he touch? What does he touch in our life that makes him
famous?
OTHER JOSEPH’S
In the scriptures we know more about Joseph of Arimathea
than about Joseph of Nazareth. We know even more about Joseph of the OT. So
what is it about St. Joseph
that makes him so popular?
ANSWER
I think the answer is the reality that 99 % of the people on
our planet are what we call: THE NECESSARY PEOPLE BEHIND THE SCENES OF LIFE.
That is the universal vocation of all: to keep all moving—to
keep life going—to keep the planet going.
And I think Joseph is the patron saint of the anonymous
people—all those people behind the scenes—while the main characters and actors
on stage get the credit.
EXAMPLES
Take our everyday life.
Somebody puts the bread out and cereal out and someone fills
the juice machine. We only know those things exist till they are missing and we
have to go to the back box to get milk or the big plastic racks for bread. We
only know the juice needs replenishing when its light is blinking.
Today’s papers. Who are the people who put the paper on the print
presses? Who are the copy people? Who drives the newspapers to small and big
stores, so the store has them at 7:00 or
8:00 AM?
Who drives the bus? Who are the truck drivers?
Who does the dishes in the diner or the restaurant? Who put
the cable down or cable up for our telephones or TV?
We watch the evening news and there is anchor woman or man. We don’t see the camera crew. We don’t see the
people who drove Martha Raditz to
Capital Hill and set everything up. Their name might be at the end of the news
in small print, but we don’t stop to see it.
ST. JOSEPH
So I see St. Joseph
as the example, the model, the archetype, of the person behind the scenes.
He represents Parents, Teachers. Doctors, Truck Drivers, etc.
And what about telephone operators and air traffic
controllers. What about FDA researchers who look at drugs. And what about those
who put the weather together?
We only see the stars.
We really don’t see the dad after he walks his daughter down
the aisle.
THE ENERGY
That’s where I see the energy when it comes to St. Joseph. We need a bit
of encouragement every once and a while and on the feast of St. Joseph, the message is that everyone
counts. Everyone is needed. We are the little people on the planet, but every
little one counts. Today we celebrate Joseph. One of ours has made it.
_____________________________________
Picture on top: Holding Heaven - Dicianne
