Faculty Corner

With A Father’s Heart

REV. ADAM PARK ‘05, VICE-RECTOR FOR SEMINARY LIFE

hen plans do not go the way we expect, when surprises get thrown our way, and life gets W stressful and lonely, there in the messiness of our situation, we encounter Jesus Christ, and what better example can we have to help us persevere in our vocation during hardships than St. Joseph.

Was it exactly according to Joseph’s plan to have our Savior born in

Bethlehem in a stable? What plans did he come up with to welcome the

Son of God into the world? But none of his plans happened. I wonder the amount of frustration and anxiety

Joseph had, knowing that Mary was close to giving birth but having to make a one-hundred-mile journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem, and finally, upon arriving in Bethlehem, lacking a decent place to stay. What feelings of inadequacy or failure did

Joseph have with what he was asked to do? How messed up this whole situation would have seemed as

Mary gave birth to Jesus Christ.

But while everything seemed messed up, that was the situation into which

God wanted to be born. For God to become man, Jesus did not avoid all the imperfections of the situation, and it was in that messiness that Joseph saw God incarnate. The first time

Joseph held the infant Jesus in his arms, none of that messiness mattered, because how quickly he came to know his role as father.

Patris corde. “With a father’s heart: that is how Joseph loved Jesus.” In

Seminarians and priests from the Archdiocese of Washington pose for a photo in front of the refectory Christmas tree.

these opening words of the Holy Father’s Apostolic Letter proclaiming the Year of St. Joseph, and especially in light of the messiness of the pandemic situation, Joseph provides us a helpful lens to see what really matters in the midst of hardships.

Receiving the gaze of his Savior from the eyes of the infant child, Joseph’s fears and anxiety, his frustration over the situation, all melted away, and the only thing that mattered was to be faithful to his vocation. Letting go of all his fears and frustrations, and making room for divine love to fill his heart, changed Joseph, who immediately seized his role to be a father.

With a father’s heart is how the men at the College have persevered this year. They have shown an admirable spirit of cooperation and understanding—honest with the hardships but remaining positive and encouraging with one another. Without formal apostolates, they have reached out in service to our community. Without travel opportunities, they have organized fraternal events in house. Without being able to visit Roman churches, they have been renewed in their faith with our time together in prayer and worship.

As our Holy Father wrote, “Joseph found happiness not in mere self-sacrifice but in self-gift. In him, we never see frustration but only trust. His patient silence was the prelude to concrete expressions of trust,” and I am grateful that members of this community have continued to place their trust in God in order to persevere in their vocations during this extraordinary time.

Not knowing what the months ahead will bring, the men of the College will uphold St. Joseph as our model, and may his intercession, along with that of his beloved spouse, help us all to receive the gaze of our Savior and seize our vocation with a father’s heart. n