After a year-long hiatus, Theology @ the Pub was back on Monday night, attracting a crowd of around 90 young Catholics for a session focused on Jesus’ earthly father-figure, Joseph. Speaking to those gathered, Archbishop Peter A Comensoli reflected on Joseph as “the saint next door”.
‘There is no record of words for St Joseph; he wasn’t a martyr, he didn’t write some doctrinal teaching,’ said Archbishop Comensoli, citing that St Joseph didn’t gain pious popularity until the 800s.
‘What we have about St Joseph is that sense of him being that saint next door,’ he said. ‘It is the saintliness of his ordinariness that is really important’ said the Archbishop as ‘he knew difficulty in all sorts of ways and he knew heartache.’
The Archbishop has previously reflected on what he calls St Joseph’s ‘trust and acceptance in the face of unlooked-for turns and troubles in life’, and how during this Year of St Joseph, we might learn from his faithfulness ‘to the paths of grace and his unpretentious dignity.’
Archbishop Comensoli quoted Pope St Paul VI who encouraged the world to see in St Joseph the power of simplicity and authenticity:
‘St Joseph is the model of those humble ones that Christianity raises up to great destinies he is proof that in order to be a good and genuine follower of Christ, there is no need for great things. It is enough to have the common, simple and human virtues and they need to be true and authentic.’
One of the attendees, Nicole, said she was delighted to have attended the session. ‘I recently myself found my own devotion to St Joseph,’ she said.
‘And for something like this to be done in Melbourne right now, especially this year is really great.’
Notifications of future events and podcast recordings of Theology @ the Pub can be accessed on their website.
