Sending in your Petitions ….. You are invited to send in your petitions, which will be placed at St Joseph’s Altar during the Novena to be remembered in the Masses and prayers. If you would like to have your deceased relatives and friends remembered or if you have any special intentions, please list them on the enclosed slip and return to me before the start of the Novena. Thank you so much for supporting our missionary work in previous years with your prayers, your letters of encouragement and your contributions.
NOVENA NEWS
All donations towards our work are gratefully received. Could I please ask you to make cheques payable to ‘St Joseph’s Missionary Society’. Thank you.
Requesting a Booklet ….. If you would like me to send you a Novena Booklet by post to enable you to join us from home by praying the daily Novena, please write to me, enclosing a stamped self addressed envelope if possible.
Novena Director 58 Cookham Road Maidenhead SL6 7HT
by Fr . Brian Oswald MHM, Novena Director
novenamhm@gmail.com
For more information on Mill Hill Missionaries, visit www.millhillmissionaries.co.uk Registered Charity Numbers 220690 & SC039809
National Novena to St Joseph 10 - 18 March 2019
58 Cookham Road Maidenhead SL6 7HT
Warmest greetings from Fr. Brian …..
Last year, a group of parishioners gave me a rather unusual gift: a statue of the sleeping St Joseph. I have included an image of this statue on the front page of this leaflet. At the time I was given the statue, I struggled to understand its significance, as it was an image of the saint I had never really paid attention to before. Then I started to read articles about Pope Francis’ special veneration for this saint. It is no coincidence that the Inaugural Mass of the Pontificate of this Pope took place on March 19th, 2013, on the Feast of St Joseph. St. Joseph is one of Pope Francis’ most beloved saints. He explained his own devotion to this saint during an interview on his trip to the Philippines in January 2015:
speaking to us.”
These words speak about God acting in and through us even during our times of rest and sleep. Even though Pope Francis does not specifically mention how God worked through Joseph’s dreams, he is certainly hinting at this in his interview. Finally, the Pope concludes: “But like St Joseph, once we have heard God’s voice, we must rise from our slumber, we must get up and act.”
Pope Francis said on that occasion that faith does not distance us from the world. On the contrary, it brings us closer. For that reason, St Joseph is a model father for the Christian family. He overcame the difficulties of life, because he rested with God. The celebration of our Novena this year is an important opportunity to rest in God, offer our petitions to him and to rise from our slumber so that we can do his will. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your generosity, your prayers and support over the years, through your participation in the National Novena of St Joseph and also for promoting the Mill Hill Missionaries in your homes and parishes. May our celebration of the Novena this year be a time of resting in the Lord, bringing to him our cares and our worries and being also able to listen to the words that he speaks to us during this special time of grace.
“I have great love for St Joseph, because he is a man of silence and strength. On my table I have an image of St Joseph sleeping. Even when he is asleep, he is taking care of the Church!” What was the Pope’s advice to people regarding this particular statue? He advised people to leave a note under the image of the saint for help whenever they had a problem. He went on to add the following telling phrase:
“Joseph’s rest revealed God’s will to him. In this moment of rest in the Lord, as we pause from our many daily obligations and activities, God is also
May you be blessed and let this Novena of 2019 be a wonderful experience in your life. Fr. Brian Oswald MHM Novena Director