Friday Morning Prayer for 2006-03-17
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Good Morning, Mr Kwok, Teachers and Students!
I am sure you are looking forward to the holiday on Monday, right? I hope you remember why we are having a holiday. Yes, it is the FEAST OF ST JOSEPH. FEAST is another word for festival. Traditionally, March 19 is the actual date of the festival, the feast. Since March 19 is a Sunday this year, so we are going to celebrate the Feast of St Joseph on Monday.
In a few moments, Mr Mackenzie will tell you something about the Feast of St Patrick, which happens to be today. But as your Brother-in-Residence, let me remind you something about St Joseph.
Joseph is the husband of Mary and since Mary is the Mother of Jesus, so Joseph is the father of Jesus. But we all know that Jesus is really the Son of God. So, Joseph is not the real father. He is Jesus’ foster father. And Joseph has been a very good father for Jesus, looking after and taking care of both Jesus and Mary. I am sure Joseph has been very loving towards both Jesus and Mary.
St Joseph has a special place in our school because our school is called St Joseph’s School. Since our school is called St Joseph, it means St Joseph is our patron. A patron is someone a person chosen to be a supporter. If your name is Joseph or Josephine, then St Joseph is your patron saint too. To have a patron saint means that St Joseph prays for everyone whose name is either Joseph or Josephine or those who study at a school with the name of St Joseph. There are three schools in Hong Kong with the same name. They are St Joseph’s College on Hong Kong Island, St Joseph’s Anglo-Chinese School in Kowloon and us here in Ma On Shan. All the students in these St Joseph’s schools ask St Joseph to pray to God on our behalf. Since Monday is the Feast of St Joseph, it is the Feast Day of these schools. That’s why students from these St Joseph’s schools, including you, are going to have a holiday on Monday!
Let us pause and think for a minute to think about why we have St Joseph as our patron saint. St Joseph is a popular saint because of his many excellent examples given to us. I will just tell you one. Although he is not the real father of Jesus, Joseph has taken very good care of Jesus and Mary. In this way, Jesus has a very good upbringing and is well prepared for his future work. Joseph is not the saviour but Jesus is. By taking good care of Jesus, Joseph is preparing Jesus in his great work as a saviour. Perhaps we can take very good care of those around us, because we may be helping others to do great work too. So let us pray to God, asking Him to give us the grace to be like St Joseph who can take good care and be loving to our family members. Let us say one Our Father altogether.
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Our Father in heaven, Holy be your Name, Your kingdom come,
Your will be done on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Do not bring us to the test but deliver us from evil. Amen.
Brother William OFM
Good Morning, Mr Kwok, Teachers and Students!
I am sure you are looking forward to the holiday on Monday, right? I hope you remember why we are having a holiday. Yes, it is the FEAST OF ST JOSEPH. FEAST is another word for festival. Traditionally, March 19 is the actual date of the festival, the feast. Since March 19 is a Sunday this year, so we are going to celebrate the Feast of St Joseph on Monday.
In a few moments, Mr Mackenzie will tell you something about the Feast of St Patrick, which happens to be today. But as your Brother-in-Residence, let me remind you something about St Joseph.
Joseph is the husband of Mary and since Mary is the Mother of Jesus, so Joseph is the father of Jesus. But we all know that Jesus is really the Son of God. So, Joseph is not the real father. He is Jesus’ foster father. And Joseph has been a very good father for Jesus, looking after and taking care of both Jesus and Mary. I am sure Joseph has been very loving towards both Jesus and Mary.
St Joseph has a special place in our school because our school is called St Joseph’s School. Since our school is called St Joseph, it means St Joseph is our patron. A patron is someone a person chosen to be a supporter. If your name is Joseph or Josephine, then St Joseph is your patron saint too. To have a patron saint means that St Joseph prays for everyone whose name is either Joseph or Josephine or those who study at a school with the name of St Joseph. There are three schools in Hong Kong with the same name. They are St Joseph’s College on Hong Kong Island, St Joseph’s Anglo-Chinese School in Kowloon and us here in Ma On Shan. All the students in these St Joseph’s schools ask St Joseph to pray to God on our behalf. Since Monday is the Feast of St Joseph, it is the Feast Day of these schools. That’s why students from these St Joseph’s schools, including you, are going to have a holiday on Monday!
Let us pause and think for a minute to think about why we have St Joseph as our patron saint. St Joseph is a popular saint because of his many excellent examples given to us. I will just tell you one. Although he is not the real father of Jesus, Joseph has taken very good care of Jesus and Mary. In this way, Jesus has a very good upbringing and is well prepared for his future work. Joseph is not the saviour but Jesus is. By taking good care of Jesus, Joseph is preparing Jesus in his great work as a saviour. Perhaps we can take very good care of those around us, because we may be helping others to do great work too. So let us pray to God, asking Him to give us the grace to be like St Joseph who can take good care and be loving to our family members. Let us say one Our Father altogether.
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Our Father in heaven, Holy be your Name, Your kingdom come,
Your will be done on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Do not bring us to the test but deliver us from evil. Amen.
Brother William OFM
posted by Brother William OFM at 11:20 PM
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