Egypt and Other Rough Places

“Out of Egypt I called my son.” (Matthew 2:15)

In Egypt they venerate the places where the Holy Family lived during their quiet sojourn there. Joseph and Mary and the baby Jesus left their homeland and went to the country where their ancestors had been slaves.

Of old, in Egypt, God had shown His mighty power, working great prodigies to bring about the liberation of His beloved people. Now God came in the flesh to Egypt, an infant fugitive. And He spent time there in a state of perfect quiet, nursing at the breast, listening to His foster father and mother sing to Him the very songs that He Himself had taught King David to sing a thousand years earlier.

St. Joseph Solemnity

The southernmost point in the Archdiocese of Washington is Point Lookout State Park, where the Potomac River empties into the Chesapeake Bay.

Right around this time of year in 1634, the Ark and the Dove navigated past this point and sailed up the Potomac towards St. Clement’s Island.

On March 25, Fr. Andrew White offered the first Holy Mass in the English-speaking colonies.

…Here is a thought for you for St. Joseph’s feast day:

Imagine the following incredible incongruity: A petty dictator in a remote outpost of the Roman Empire felt threatened, so he resolved to kill God, along with all the young children of his kingdom.

Christ, of course, could have obliterated King Herod with the slightest movement of His divine will. But He did not. Instead, the heavenly Father sent an angel to His Son’s foster-father, telling him to take flight into Egypt. God dealt with the threat to His life the way that any human being would deal with it: He ran away to a safe place.

St. John Vianney, patron of priests

This is one of the countless examples of Christ’s solidarity with us. Part of being human is living in a world marked by evil, disorder, and sin. Christ, of course, never sinned. But He accepted every aspect of the reality of living in the sinful world. He is with us in everything we have to deal with.

…In June, Our Holy Father will inaugurate a Year of the Priest.

May it please God that this Holy Year will lead to greater priestly zeal and holiness, especially in the case of your humble servant.

Also, maybe someone will produce a smooth, funky song for the Year of the Priest, like this one, but with more intelligible and edifying lyrics.