The Catholic Church honors the life of St. Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary, on March 19 every year. It is one of the few jubilant solemnities during the season of Lent and is a time of great rejoicing.
However, this feast of St. Joseph will never supersede a Sunday of Lent. If March 19 happens to fall on a Sunday, it will always be moved to the following Monday, March 20. The reason behind this is because the Sundays of Advent. Lent, and Easter rank higher than all solemnities.
In honor of St. Joseph Day, the high school's faculty committee on this feast day, lead by Jackie Elsinger, urged students to write an essay on his relevance to our entire school. The entries were read and judged. Eighth grader Max Gilbert's essay was chosen as the winner and senior Chloe Skinner was an equally inspiring 2nd Place. Both are congratulated for their thoughtfulness and participation. They each received gift cards for their effort.
"Why Is St. Joseph a Fitting Patron Saint For Our School?"
by Max Gilbert
"In order to find out why Saint Joseph is a fitting patron saint for our school we have to figure out who Saint Joseph was. Saint Joseph was a carpenter and a builder, he was the patron saint of workers and families, he was the father figure to Jesus, the protector of his family, and a role model to many fathers.
Saint Joseph was a carpenter, a builder, just like how our school builds students to be good Catholics. What does a carpenter do? Carpenters cut and shape wood as well as install and repair frameworks. Our school shapes students to have a good faith and have good morals. It makes a good structure for our faith and it repairs it too. If someone has doubts about their faith then going to school everyday will remind them of their faith, essentially repairing it, and bringing them even closer to God. He is also the patron saint of workers and families, being the patron saint of workers is pretty self explanatory with him being a skilled craftsman and how it represents our school is our staff: the teachers, coaches, counselor, principal, and administrative assistant as well as our priests, deacons, and other church workers. He is the patron saint of families too and with him being the father figure to Jesus, it makes a lot of sense. This also relates to our school because Saint Joe is more than a school, it is a community and a family of kids and adults, men and women, Catholics and non-catholics. Our school is like a big family with Saint Joseph being our father figure like he was to Jesus.
Saint Joseph protected his family on different occasions, the most widely known being taking Mary to Nazareth with Jesus in her womb. After baby Jesus was born, Saint Joseph also had to protect them from King Herod trying to kill Jesus. He was the protector of his family just like our teachers and coaches protect and care for us. They are role models, like Saint Joseph.
We should aspire to be like our teachers. I think Saint Joseph is a good role model to all people. In conclusion, Saint Joseph is a perfect patron saint for our school for these many reasons. I do not think any other saint could fit our school’s name the way Saint Joseph fits our school’s name."