Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Today’s gospel describes the origins of St. Joseph by recounting his genealogy and connecting his adopted son, Jesus Christ, to David, the king, and to Abraham, the patriarch. The gospel tells us that St. Joseph’s own father was named Jacob, but it says nothing about what kind of a father he was to Joseph, or what kind of grandfather he was to Our Lord.
When you are doing exercises in Ignatian spirituality, do not be surprised if your director tells you to contemplate the father of St. Joseph. What kind of house did he have? What was his work? How did he treat his wife and his son? How did he pray?
You will not find answers to these questions in scripture. In other words, public revelation is silent on this topic. Private revelations, though, were given to an 18th century mystic, a Benedictine nun, the Servant of God Mother Maria Cecilia Baij. Since these revelations were private, no Catholic is obliged to believe Baij’s writings, but her book did receive an imprimatur and a nihil obstat from the Vatican, thereby affirming its doctrinal and moral soundness.
Ignatian spirituality is not a method of generating your own private revelations, but it does cultivate a kind of curiosity about things not found in public revelation, like the character of St. Joseph’s father. Ignatian spirituality also cultivates an openness to receiving graces and favors from God, however they may come.