Solemnity of St. Joseph

In the Catechism, we learn that Jesus’ Resurrection is unlike the return to ordinary earthly life experienced by those he raised before Easter. In his risen body, he passes from death to a new life beyond time and space. His body still bears the marks of his Passion, showing that it is truly the same body that was crucified, yet it also has the new properties of a glorious body and is filled with the power of the Holy Spirit. The Resurrection is a real event, witnessed through the empty tomb and the apostles’ encounters with the risen Christ, while still remaining a mystery that transcends history and human senses. Jesus revealed himself to his disciples in ways meant to awaken their faith. As a family, we can prayerfully contemplate Christ’s suffering, death, and risen glory, trusting in the Father’s power revealed in raising his Son.

The Catholic Church recognizes the evangelical counsels of chastity, poverty, and obedience as gifts Christ proposes to every disciple. Those freely called to consecrated life embrace these counsels within a permanent state of life recognized by the Church, seeking to follow Christ more closely and to give themselves totally to God. Consecrated life takes diverse forms, including religious life in community or solitude, the hidden prayer and penance of hermits, and the dedicated service of consecrated virgins. These varied callings enrich the Church’s life and holiness, serving the Kingdom and signifying the glory of the world to come. As we reflect together, we can give thanks for those who answer this call and for the many ways their lives point us toward Christ.

Religious life, born in the East during the first centuries of Christianity, remains a gift the Church has received from the Lord and offers as a stable way of life to those called by God to profess the evangelical counsels. Within canonically erected institutes, it is marked by liturgical life, public profession of the counsels, fraternal life in common, and witness to the union of Christ and the Church. Religious life serves the Church’s mission of evangelization and is called, in its many forms, to signify God’s charity in the language of our time. Secular institutes seek the perfection of charity and the sanctification of the world from within it, while societies of apostolic life pursue their particular apostolic purpose and strive for charity according to their constitutions. Through consecration, these members give themselves more intimately to God’s service and to the good of the Church, offering a witness that the world is transfigured and offered to God through the spirit of the beatitudes.