Day: March 21, 2024

Solemnity of Saint Joseph, Husband of Mary

March 19, 2024
Saint Maria Goretti Catholic Church
Arlington, Texas

Numbers 3:5-9
Psalm 96:1-2a, 2b-3, 10
Romans 4:13, 16-18, 22
Matthew 1:1-16, 18-21, 24a

Today in her liturgy the Church offers us a respite from Lent in all its purple and penitence, in giving us this great solemnity of Saint Joseph, Husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary. On this day, the Gloria returns for one celebration until the Vigil of Easter and the triumphant color of white for the purity of the saints made so by Christ’s conquest of sin and death is returned for the moment as we celebrate this solemnity of Saint Joseph, Most Chaste Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Foster Father of Jesus, and Patron of the Universal Church. It is more than fitting that we celebrate the ordination to the diaconate of Isaac McCracken on this great solemnity of the Church’s calendar that we might enter more deeply into the mystery of the Church’s call to holiness.