And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. (Mt 1:19, ESV)

During this Covid-19 pandemic, it is truly a blessing to have friends or family rally around us to help us through those difficult moments. Life is not meant to be a one-player game. Though many live by the motto that people should “pull themselves up by the bootstraps,” there is a point at which self-reliance becomes a false idol. As Catholics, we believe in the powerful intercession of Mary and the Saints. We ask them to pray for us; to be intercessors for us. We ask the saints by their powerful intercession to obtain for us God’s favors and graces. Together with them, we appeal to God. We similarly have done that when we ask the angels for aid and protection, be it an archangel or our own guardian angel. Therefore, it’s good and most appropriate to supplicantly invoke them. In the Gospel of Luke we have the story of Lazarus and the rich man (16: 19-31). The rich man always ignored Lazarus, a poor beggar, who would lie by his door begging. When men die, Lazarus goes to heaven and the rich man does not.  From hell the rich man asks Abraham if Lazarus could be sent to his family to warn them not to be like him. Jesus chose to tell this story in a parable to teach us about the intercession, an individual pleading from outside of heaven to one who is in heaven, asking them to perform some action for those on earth. Since saints are holy people who are known for their “heroic sanctity” and who are thought to be in heaven, it is absolutely OK to ask them to pray for us. Therefore, I invite you, during this special year of St. Joseph, to turn to St. Joseph, the patron saint of the Universal Church. He is the foster-father of the Son of God and is also a father to us, who have become God’s sons and daughters in baptism. We pray that, through his paternal protection, he will watch over all of us during this difficult time and we may one day join him with Mary and all the Saints in the glory of heaven!

To you, O blessed Joseph, do we come in our afflictions, and having implored the help of your most holy Spouse, we confidently invoke your patronage also.

Through that charity which bound you to the Immaculate Virgin Mother of God and through the paternal love with which you embraced the Child Jesus, we humbly beg you graciously to regard the inheritance which Jesus Christ has purchased by his Blood, and with your power and strength to aid us in our necessities.

O most watchful guardian of the Holy Family, defend the chosen children of Jesus Christ; O most loving father, ward off from us every contagion of error and corrupting influence; O our most mighty protector, be kind to us and from heaven assist us in our struggle with the power of darkness.

As once you rescued the Child Jesus from deadly peril, so now protect God’s Holy Church from the snares of the enemy and from all adversity; shield, too, each one of us by your constant protection, so that, supported by your example and your aid, we may be able to live piously, to die in holiness, and to obtain eternal happiness in heaven. Amen.

O blessed Mother Mary, please intercede for us all. Hail Mary full of grace…

Peace in Christ,

Father Vincent-Vuong Nguyen

St. Clare of Assisi

I invite you to join us at St. Clare’s Eucharistic celebration:

Looking forward to  welcoming y’all!