EMMAUS' JOURNEY

May 2003

Hello dear friends,

Do you know that May is the special month that’s dedicated to our Blessed Mother Mary? Many Catholic schools have a special celebration called "May Crowning," in which the students crown the statue of our Blessed Mother with beautiful flowers while singing songs of prayers to honor her. Quite appropriately, May 11 is the day when we celebrate Mother’s Day. On this day, we show our appreciation for our mother and we honor her by doing something special with / for her. But as brothers and sisters of Christ, before we celebrate this beautiful day with our moms, may I suggest we start our day first by paying tribute to the Mother of all mothers - Mother Mary. Let’s thank her for saying "YES" to God’s invitation to be the Mother of our Savior, and now, our Mother. Let’s thank her for always being there, interceding for us, especially in times of need. Let’s ask Mother Mary to bless all the mothers and guide them to become more perfect, more like her in all their motherly duties.

Interestingly enough, the first day of May happens to be the feast day of St. Joseph the Worker. Yes, this is the same St. Joseph who is the husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary and foster father of Jesus. Many of us have heard and read lots of wonderful things about Mother Mary - she intercedes for us, and brings us closer to her Son, Jesus. Mother Mary is also known as Queen of Peace, Mother of Mercy, Mother of Perpetual Help..and so on. Yet, not too many people know a great deal about St. Joseph and what kind of person he really was. As for me, I didn’t really know much about St. Joseph until about 3 years ago, when I read an article about him in this magazine. That article helped me to open up my heart for St. Joseph. The more I learned about him, the more I found him to be such a humble, loving and most gentle man. There is this feeling of warmth that permeated my heart as I got to know him better. I fell in love with this holy man. He was awesome! He was like a perfect father image - in his presence, I feel safe, secure and accepted. What’s more, as if to confirm my new-found interest in St. Joseph, God gave me some extra bonuses - many of my prayer petitions were granted through the intercession of St. Joseph. He is almost like an "undiscovered" treasure. He has so much to offer us in our spiritual journey. You should get to know him better, and you’ll see for yourself what I mean. So, for this month, I would like to dedicate this column in honor of these 3 important people in our lives: Our Blessed Mother, St. Joseph, and our earthly mothers. It is my hope and prayer that as you read this column, you will grow more appreciative and feel more love for Mother Mary, St. Joseph and your own mom.

Until next time; peace and love of Jesus be with you always,

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St. Joseph is regarded as Patron of the Catholic Church because the Church originally began with the Holy Family, with St. Joseph as head of household. The Holy Family was the first basic unit of the Church which gradually extended in the course of the centuries. Today, as the Church faces so many difficulties and challenges, we need to ask even more fervently, its guardian and patron to protect it from its enemies.

Being the foster father of Jesus, Saint Joseph lovingly guarded and cared for Jesus as his own. That’s why St. Joseph was chosen as patron of the little children as well. St. Joseph will also protect all families because he was the head of the greatest family that ever existed.

Though he came from the royal house of David, St. Joseph worked all his life as a carpenter to support the Holy Family, therefore, he loves all the workers. He’s also known as St. Joseph the Worker and his feast day is on May 01.

St. Joseph also protects virgins because he himself had a pure and chaste heart. Both he and the Blessed Virgin Mary lived a virginal marriage. St. Joseph is also patron of those in exile, since he spent seven years in hiding with Jesus and Mary in a foreign land, Egypt.

St. Joseph also is invoked for a happy and holy death since he died in the arms of the two holiest people - Jesus and Mary. Lastly, St. Joseph is invoked by women who wish to find a good husband because he had all the God-given qualities of an ideal husband who loved his wife and son with all his heart and soul.

"Dear sweet and gentle St. Joseph, pray for us"

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".About Mom"

· C.M.: ". Well, one thing I like about her is that she wants the best for me and she is pretty cool. She lets me date and stuff so it’s cool. But something I don’t like about her is that she favors my sisters more than me and sometimes she can make me feel stupid. but I still love her!"

· N.B: " What I like about my mom is that she's so sweet. What I don't like about my mom is that she's really messy and she talks too much"

· LiSa: "I like my mommy’s food and I dislike my mom wearing socks with sandals."

· Marina: "The things I like about my mom is that she deeply loves me no matter what, the things I don't like is she displaces her anger on me."

· K.S.: "I like her sense of humor / I despise how she treated my family."

· Rockgirl182: "My mom always helps me, but she doesn't like the guys I would like to hook up with."

· Chris N.: "I like how she makes time for me when I need it / I don’t like her overprotection"

· Veronica S.: "I love everything about my mom. She has always been there for me to love and support me, unlike others who have run out and didn't care, she took the time for me when she never had to.and if you know my situation, that means A LOT. What I despise? Well, I think I don't like the meddling, her insistence on certain things. She's overly protective of me with good reason.

· NuKeM285: "One thing I love... she feeds me well, cuts my apples and fruits =) . Dislike: I would say that she doesn't trust me as much as I would want her to."

· VeraLiciOuS1: ."Um... I love my mom's cooking except for her lemon grass chicken. I hate how my mom doesn't let me date."

· A.E.: "I love my mom's cooking haha and I dislike the way she nags"

· II ShOrT86: Don’t likes: "she won't let me drive until I go to college." Likes: "I’ll get back to you on that one"

· NeW wEstSiDe: "She never stops loving me, and ummm she cooks good food, she teaches me things, . but she embarasses me because sometimes she's too old fashioned and she treats me like a small child sometimes."

· Phoxlarge: "I like her caring nature... and sometimes she cares too much that it becomes overbearing =)"

· AzN AnGeL Ld: "I love my mom because she’s there for me and she’s helped me a lot in my life, I don't hate anything about my mom. I may hate somethings she does but I understand she does them because it’s good for me and she cares"

· Av4690: "I don’t like her moodiness and I like that some times she’s nicer than my dad.... She understands more of my proplems"

· Quyened: "She acts just like a mom, well...hmm... like... I might be annoyed sometimes when she asks if I've done this or that yet... but at the same time she loves me... and I couldn't ask for anything better than that. It bugs me when she kisses me and hugs me... but then I think when I'm away, there won't be that opportunity. stuff like that, a lot of the things I didn't like, I really appreciate now. I still don't fully understand what she's up to all the time, but I'm learning to appreciate so much more of it.we (kids) take a LOT of things for granted, especially since we didn't have to immigrate here from Viet Nam."