AMERICA/DOMINICAN REP. - The Bishops: "St. Joseph supports us in our daily struggles, no one like him knew how to go through difficult times"

Santo Domingo (Agenzia Fides) - In the context of the celebration of the hundredth anniversary of the coronation of the Virgin of Altagracia (see Fides, 19/1/2022) and of the Year of Saint Joseph that has just ended, the Bishops of the Dominican Republic have published a pastoral letter entitled "Saint Joseph, guardian of the Redeemer and model of the believer" in which they invite us to look at the Spouse of the Virgin Mary as "a model of man obedient and faithful to God's plan". "In this particular time that we are given to live - they write - turning our gaze towards Saint Joseph gives us courage and comfort".
Humanity in the third millennium is facing an unprecedented epochal change, the Bishops write describing the general situation, and "recent years have been marked by a terrible pandemic, never in recent history has there been a phenomenon of such magnitude".
"The real drama of our century is the lack of God in the souls of so many peoples and the real pandemic that afflicts us is spiritual anemia", they underline, highlighting at least four current pandemics: lies, violence, thirst of money and hedonism.
Looking at this situation in the light of faith, the Bishops recall that the Good News of the Gospel consists in showing how, "despite the arrogance and violence of earthly rulers, God always traces a path to fulfill his plan of salvation", and St. Joseph teaches us to transform "a problem into an opportunity, always putting trust in Providence first".
The Letter therefore dwells extensively on the figure of St. Joseph in the Holy Scriptures: "in him we find the incentive that drives us and supports us in our daily struggles, no one like him knew how to go through difficult times". Saint Joseph is "a model of respect for his wife" and we can imitate him "in the virtues of faith, trust, love, commitment, sacrifice, tenderness and docility". Finally, the Bishops recall that "St. Joseph is the man for our time, a model of adult faith for the whole Church. His presence and his testimony are today more necessary than ever to save Christian civilization, seriously threatened by the culture of death". (SL) (Agenzia Fides, 20/1/2022)

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