"Go to Joseph and do whatever he tells you" (Gen 41:55).

I definitely had a deep devotion to St. Joseph before I entered the Marian Fathers, but it really grew during my novitiate in Stockbridge. Every day, we would go to Mass at the National Shrine of The Divine Mercy. When you enter from the Shrine residence, on the left before you get to the sanctuary, there's a beautiful statue of St. Joseph.

My love and my relationship with him really blossomed during that year because pretty much every day, I went over for at least a few minutes and poured my heart out to him, asking him to help me be holy and grow in virtue. I would pray for tons of different intentions: family situations; people who were asking me to intercede for them; and so forth. I just laid all that out constantly, day after day, at the feet of St. Joseph. Doing that really gave me the confidence to "go to Joseph," to take everything to Joseph.

In the Old Testament, the phrase was Ite ad Ioseph, "Go to Joseph" (Gen 41:55). Well, that's what saints have been saying for centuries, saints like St. Theresa of Avila, who said she always received graces when she prayed to St. Joseph; saints like St. Francis de Sales, St. Lawrence of Brindisi, St. Andre Bessette, St. Josemaria Escriva, Bl. William Joseph Chaminade, St. Bernardine of Siena, and so many others. "Go to Joseph."

Our times require us to turn to him, not only in intercession, but also in imitation. All children imitate their parents. When we look at Joseph, we can see that maybe we should be a little more quiet and not so sarcastic or critical, especially on social media. Maybe we should imitate our spiritual father a little more and keep our mouth shut. We can maintain a certain equilibrium, move forward, and not be paralyzed, but continue to strive towards virtue.

We need our spiritual father more than ever these days, in light of the chaos of the times. There's disorder, there's disunity in society and, sadly, even in the Church. There's a lot of confusion and a lot of people against each other right now. But we're a family. What do families do? During the holidays, we all come home. So even if relatives are arguing or fighting, generally people sit down at the table in their father's house and share a meal and put the sword away, so to speak, or bury the hatchet. Just so do we need to return to the fatherhood of St. Joseph to have unity and to have peace.

"Go to Joseph and do whatever he tells you" (Gen 41:55).

Fr. Donald Calloway