The Catholic Weekly 29 March 2020

catholicweekly.com.au 21 29, March, 2020 VISTA WILL BE TAKING A SHORT BREAK ... But watch this page for more interesting news locally and from around the world The forgotten father The English Way ¾ ¾ By Julie Asher CNS MARIAN FATHER Donald Calloway believes the Holy Spirit wants to draw Catholics’ attention to St. Joseph, hus- band of Mary and earthly fa- ther of Jesus, “in a major way.” “We need to entrust our- selves to his spiritual care at this very difficult time in the world and in the church,” he said. “Today the church is deal- ing with anthropological cri- ses in the world. “Many countries are seek- ing to redefine marriage, men do not understand what it means to be a family, wom- en do not understand what it means to be a woman, divorce rates are at an all-time high, and families are falling apart everywhere.” “We need his loving and strong fatherhood to help us return order to our homes,” Fr Calloway added. To that end he is urging individuals, couples, groups, schools, parishes, dioceses and the entire church to con- secrate themselves to St Jo- seph. “In ages past whenev- er there was some difficulty the church was involved in, popes and saints would turn to Our Lady as a remedy,” he explained. “This remains necessary for IN John Henry Newman , Ryan Marr has compiled numerous writings by the recently can- onised Catholic saint. This is a timely book and as one com- mentator suggests, “God has given us John Henry New- man for precisely these times in the church.” Cardinal New- man’s prose, while difficult at times, still cuts to the core and challenges the reader to take action. The phrase he used as his motto when elected as cardi- nal, “Heart speaks to heart,” our times as well, of course, but today when so many fam- ilies lack a father, scandals among clergy – our spiritual fathers – have occurred in the church, we need to look to St Joseph for answers.” In his new book, Consecra- tion to St Joseph: The Wonders of Our Spiritual Father , pub- lished by Marian Press, Father Calloway outlines a 33-day preparation period in Part 1, includes several readings on the “Wonders of Our Spiritual Father” in Part 2 and several prayers to St Joseph in Part 3. “Everything that is needed for an individual and a group program is contained in the one book. There are no addi- tional manuals, workbooks, prayer books or videos,” he said. Father Calloway, a priest of the Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception, told CNS the demand for his book is “off the charts,” with 40,000 copies selling out in six weeks and 80,000 more are being printed. “All for St Joseph! Some- thing very big is happening!” he told CNS. He also has a website: https://www.consecration - tostjoseph.org , and a 33-part series of one-minute videos launched on YouTube on 16 February. And there’s more. To date still resonates today. The compiled quotes draw from various theological top- ics such as faith, holiness and Our Lady, among others. Car- dinal Newman can be theo- logically deep and many nov- ices stumble to get through. The passages in this book are bite-size and digestible for all who desire to get to know this latest saint. Dale Ahlquist, president of the US Chesterton Socie- ty, compiles various writings from the well-known journal- at least three US bishops have declared a Year of St Joseph for their dioceses for this year. It’s for all these reasons he thinks the Holy Spirit wants Catholics to focus on St Joseph. “This is spreading like wild- fire,” remarked Father Callo- way. He said Catholics need only consider the many titles St Jo- seph has to see why he is the role model for these times. He is the head of the Holy Family of course, but he also is called ‘Pillar of Families,’ ‘Glo- ry of Domestic Life,’ ‘Guardian of Virgins’ and ‘Terror of De- mons,’ the priest said. “He is still under appreci- ated because most Catholics have the wrong impression of St Joseph,” Fr Calloway said. “Most Catholics think he was an old man and previous- ly married to another wom- an – with other children from that marriage – before he es- poused Our Lady. These ideas are completely false and have never been the teaching of the church. “What consecration to St Joseph seeks to do is give the faithful a true image of St Jo- seph: a young, virginal, and strong husband and father.” This year marks the 150th anniversary of Blessed Pius IX’s proclamation of St Jo- seph as patron of the universal church. ist and convert to Catholicism in G.K. Chesterton . Ahlquist says of Chester- ton; “He was not a priest, not a preacher, not a member of a religious order. He was a British journalist, writing what was considered ephem- era, and yet his ‘throwaway’ words are still being read over 75 years after he laid down his pen and breathed his last.” The quotes span the dec- ades of Chesterton’s life and fit loosely in chapters ti- tled “Wonder,” “Innocence,” “Goodness,” “Purity,” “Faith, Hope and Charity,” “The Christian Ideal,” “Everyday Holiness” and “Joy.” Many quotes are no more Pope Francis has a spe- cial devotion to the man who raised Jesus: “I love St Joseph very much because he is a strong and silent man,” he has said. In 2013, on 19 March, the feast of St Joseph, Pope Fran- cis celebrated the Mass inau- gurating his Petrine ministry. In May of that year, by pa- pal decree, the Vatican Con- gregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sac- raments instructed that the name of “St Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary,” be inserted into Eucharistic Prayers II, III and IV of the Mass. In 1962, St John XXIII had the name of St Joseph insert- ed into the first Eucharistic Prayer, which is the Roman Canon. “My greatest desire is for the pope to declare a Year of St Joseph for the entire church,” Fr Calloway said. “I wrote the pope a personal letter last year about this and it was hand-delivered to him by a bishop from Argentina. Thus, I know he is aware of this petition. Let’s pray he does it! This would be an extraordi- nary grace for the church.” He noted that Carmelite Sister Lucia dos Santos, the longest-lived visionary of the Fatima apparitions, once said the final battle between good than one line, yet they reflect Chesterton’s wit and ability to get straight to the heart of the matter. A perfect book for those wishing to get a taste of G.K. and a healthy dose of spiritual and practical wis- dom. C.S. Lewis is recognised in Christian circles as a convert to Christianity whose fanta- sy writings take the reader through a journey of the hu- man heart where they en- counter the divine. In The Reading Life , the emphasis is not on the reli- gious or spiritual writings, but on Lewis’ love for reading and the importance it played throughout his life. St Joseph ismore important than ever, but howmany know that? New books celebrate three giants of modern Catholicism and evil will be fought over marriage and the family. “This battle is raging today. What better person to call on than our spiritual father who has been given the title ‘Terror of Demons’?” said Fr Calloway. “The great St Joseph once protected the child Jesus from the wicked intentions of Herod, so he is more than able to protect us in the difficulties Lewis’ words of wisdom on reading and literature tend to lean toward those works that spark the imagination and take readers ever deeper into themselves and beyond. “No book is really worth reading at the age of 10 which is not equally (and often far more) worth reading at the age of 50,” Lewis writes. “The only imaginative works we ought to grow out of are those which it would have been bet- ter not to have read at all.” In the chapter titled “How to Murder Words,” he states, “Verbicide, the murder of a word, happens in many ways. Inflation is one of the com- monest; those who taught us we find ourselves in today.” Consecration to St Joseph: The Wonders of Our Spiritual Father, by Father Donald Cal- loway, Marian Press, Stock- bridge, 2019. All books on this page and which are reviewed in The Catholic Weekly can be or- dered from The Mustard Seed Bookshop at www.mustard- seed.org.au to say awfully for ‘very,’ tre- mendous for ‘great,’ sadism for ‘cruelty’ and unthinkable for ‘undesirable’ were verbicides.” This book offers another per- spective on C.S. Lewis and af- firms that the time spent with books is time well spent. John Henry Newman, by Ryan Marr, Pauline Books & Media, 2019 G.K. Chesterton, by Dale Ahl- quist, Pauline Books & Me- dia, 2019 The Reading Life: The Joy of Seeing New Worlds Through Others’ Eyes, by C.S. Lewis, HarperOne 2019 - CNS BOOK REVIEWS