A Reflection – A Swiss Camino

RESTING WITH CATARINA AND GIUSEPPE OCTOBER 25, 2015. PRADA IS IN THE BACKGROUND.

The Gospel glimpses of Joseph are very few. He has his own Annunciation story telling him that Mary will have a son. It that encounter, there are a few words, that described him as “a righteous man” (Matt. 1:19). Joseph is mentioned again, protecting Mary and Jesus as he escapes King Herod who tried to kill the child (Matt. 2:13-15). Finally, he returned to Nazareth, and by traition, taught Jesus to be a carpenter. There is no other mention of Joseph in the Gospels after Jesus is found in the Temple (Lk. 2:51). Joseph’s death is traditionally painted as above your side altar dedicated to St. Giuseppe.

I first met Giuseppe and Catarina in their home just a few doors away. As they spoke to Graziano, I kept hearing,…. “SHE, SHE.” I thought to myself SHE must be very important. So, I asked Graziano, “Who is this person that your parents know so well? They kept mentioning “SHE, SHE.” He gave my my first lesson of the Poschiavo dialect: “SHE is really Si, YES!” I still smile when I hear that as I walk in Prada and Poschiavo.

We bring Giuseppe to be with his dear wife, Catarina. She was his Si,, the woman to whom he said YES in the Sacrament of Marriage. We reunite them today in their sleep of death as they await the Resurrection. St. Paul writes that we who believe in Jesus, do not grieve like those who have no hope ( I Thes.3:14). Let this be my final prayer for him, written by the Dominican priest, Fr. Bede Jarrett.

We seem to give Giuseppe back to You, O God,
who gave him first to us.
Yet as You did not lose Giuseppe in giving,
so do we not lose him by his return.
Not as the world gives, do you give, O Lover of souls.
What You give, You take not away,
for what is Yours is ours also if we are Yours.And life is eternal
and love is immortal,
and death is only a horizon,
and a horizon is nothing,
save the limit of our sight.Lift us up, strong Son of God, that we may see further;
cleanse our eyes that we may see more clearly;
draw us closer to Yourself that we may know ourselves
to be nearer to our loved ones who are with You.
And while You prepare a place for us,
prepare us also for that happy place,
that where You are we may be also forever and ever. Amen