As one of the first "missionaries of hope," Saint Joseph knew how to expand the tent of his heart to welcome the unexpected. How difficult that must have been for you! Moving from uncertainty to trusting abandonment in God's hand is easy to say, but we know how hard it is: how did you manage it?
On your feast day, Saint Joseph, and for the Nazareth of today, open the doors of your workshop to us, a space of shared mission, a «tent» that unfolds amidst the plurality of the world, and let us in so that religious and lay people can meet and «widen the space,» recognizing that our vocations need each other to be fruitful and evangelical.
Together, Saint Joseph, let's enter that shop-workshop to generate opportunities for spiritual conversation, cultivate seeds of dialogue, and build a culture of true interdependence, trusting one another to transform the most fragile realities of our societies.
Saint Joseph, lend us your good tools to transform our common home with your heart because we too do not want to walk and build alone:
The lens that cultivates the generous gaze of reciprocity. Let us dare to recognize that both religious life and lay vocation are necessary gifts that mutually enrich each other in and for the mission: what would the world lose without the existence of the other?
The framework for weaving true communities of dialogue. Let us strive to live together synodally, boldly promoting spaces where listening and common discernment are the basis of our actions: what helps me to open myself to the other without fear?
The mold for being artisans of hope. In a fragmented world, let us offer the witness of hopeful communion, being for others a «welcoming manger”, a comfortable house, a family home: what do I need to live hope, not as a strategy, but as that “kind of confidence that adversities will be overcome, but not alone, but with the help of others” (F. Torralba)?
Your mastery in accompanying with tenderness. Let us commit to supporting and encouraging our brothers and sisters, sharing both the challenges and the progress of our transformation process: what everyday signs make visible my heartfelt desire to "enlarge the tent" so that no one is left out?
As the Nazareth family, we feel called to "enlarge our tent" and welcome, like Saint Joseph, God's creative plans that renew our shared identity and our original mission today: to follow and proclaim Christ in Nazareth together, educating the hearts and minds of so many children and young people on the five continents.
