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«Feed the hungry» is the strong message that the 2019 calendar of our Pious Union of Saint Joseph shocks into the conscience of Christians who see in Saint Joseph a possible model of holiness also in providing the food necessary to raise the Son of God.

Our world in the life of faith constantly walks in a gallery of signs, images full of content. Our spirit searches in these signs for the biblical meaning, the value and the spiritual meaning with which the liturgy has clothed objects and actions. We ask ourselves what value a material element has in reaching the refined feelings of the soul. Oil often appears in the pages of the Bible and always holds a strong message. We find it in the empty jar in the widow's house in Zarephath. We find it in the horn of Samuel's hands in the family of Jesse for the royal consecration of the teenage shepherd boy David. It is in the Samaritan's bag on the road to Jericho. The Bible praises the medicinal qualities of olives. The Bible also refers to the perfumes and aromas used in cosmetics: significant is the gesture of the sinner narrated in Luke (7,37-38) and of Mary, sister of Lazarus, present in the Gospel of John (12,1-8) . A particular balsamic oil is also used in the Christian liturgy in the celebration of some healing sacraments.  


Prayer for Healing Oil 

Dear and beloved Saint Joseph, you are a privileged expert on human life and you know that there are wounds that remain open for a long time: they are those caused by the wickedness of men. You have experienced it and so has your son Jesus.

Saint Joseph, we know that your son Jesus can give us medicine as relief from the deep wounds that trouble existence, with your intercession you can spread the oil that heals physical ailments and those caused by others who experience an unhealthy pleasure to hit, to humiliate and to cause suffering.

Saint Joseph, with great trust we spread this blessed oil on our physical and moral wounds and you ask your Son, the good Samaritan, to obtain for us the strength not to succumb to evil, but to overcome it and thus be able to praise you for the healing obtained.

Amen! 

Time is always running away from us and does not help us remember that we are guests of life and, when the granting of usufruct ends, we must move elsewhere. Moving involves detachment from things, but above all from people, affections, relationships and memories. Thus begins an endless chapter to be written with the light of hope.

Packing your bags to take the ferry too many times is a space to be experienced in solitude. It is an unexplored birth for a new way of existing. This is why Don Guanella called death "mother". This death, with a fearful face, however hides in its physiognomy the feelings of a mother who guarantees that in that moment we will be surrounded not only by the faces of our friends, but also by the welcoming smile of the baptized who already live in the light of God.