The first part of the video is titled “Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus”, which claims that Jesus came to abolish Religion.

The scond part of the video is an extremely well-done and high quality response to the video “Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus”.  The purpose of this video is to do a response from a Catholic perspective, in a spirit of love, but also with a spirit of passion to defend our Mother the Church.

In the third part, you can listen to an excellent commentary on the video “Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus”, by Fr. Robert Barron.

by Weena Kowitwanij
Bishops, priests, nuns and lay people are collecting and handing out food, water purifiers and camping material. The population is stressed out but examples of solidarity abound without distinction of creed or wealth. Manufacturing loses billions of dollars as 1.4 million hectares of farmland is wiped out.

Bangkok (AsiaNews) – Through Caritas and its Refugee and Emergency Commission, the Thai Catholic Church has launched a plan to help flood victims in the provinces and the capital. Bishops, priests, nuns and lay people, young and old, have joined various initiatives, collecting basic items, food, water purifiers and camping material for the displaced. Tensions and apprehension are rising among the people, fed by the lack of news about developments. At the same time though, there have been examples of solidarity and cooperation amid the rising waters. “I am happy to see people from different communities, professions and religions working together to bring help,” Komas Chungsathiansap told AsiaNews.

Mgr Joseph Phibun Visitnonthachai, president of Caritas Thailand, from the diocese of Nakhon Sawan, sent rescue teams to the regions affected by the worst floods in 50 years.

Mgr Giovanni D’Aniello, apostolic nuncio to Thailand, had come to the area on 24 September, bringing the pope’s comfort as well as a donation of US$ 50,000 allocated by Benedict XVI through the ‘Cor Unum’ Council.

Ten lorries carrying aid and a group of volunteers from Caritas Thailand visited different pars of the flood-affected regions to organise relief operations. In one parish of only 15 families, everyone received basic aid.

Fr Rangsipol Pleanphan, a priest and activist in the diocese of Nakhon Sawan, in the northern part of the country, called on people to help 250 local families affected by the floods and in need of help and shelter.

On several occasions, Catholic volunteers and members of humanitarian organisations have noted the climate of solidarity and help that has developed in the population. Still, a high level of stress and fear for the future remains. Flood victims want to “bear their trial patiently and return to normal as soon as possible.” Mutual help among residents irrespective of social, religious or professional background keeps the flame of hope burning.

The Flood Relief Operations Centre (FROC) said that six districts in the capital remain under flood watch as the death toll and damage count are constantly updated.

The floods in the north, northeast and centre of Thailand have killed at least 366 people since mid-July and disrupted the lives of nearly 2.5 million, with almost 120,000 in shelters and 720,000 people seeking medical attention.

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra warned that the emergency could last another month, with the possibility that it might stretch into two. Central Bangkok, a metropolis of some 12 million people, could be covered by as much as a metre of water.

Agriculture and manufacturing continue to see flood-related damages rise. Flooding has forced the closure of seven industrial estates in Ayutthaya, Nonthaburi and Pathum Thani provinces bordering Bangkok, causing billions of dollars of damage, disrupting international supply chains for industry and putting about 650,000 people temporarily out of work.

The floods may have also wiped out as much as 14 per cent of rice fields. As tropical storms inundated 62 of 77 provinces, they destroyed 1.4 million hectares of farmland.

The Turkish government open to foreign aid but not foreign rescue teams. Israel among the first to send relief in an effort to improve strained relations with Ankara. Two people pulled alive from the rubble in nearly three days after quake.

Vatican City (AsiaNews) – Benedict XVI today launched an appeal for support for relief efforts for the Turkish population affected by a severe earthquake. “At this time – he said during the Liturgy of the Word celebrated in the Vatican today – our thoughts go to the people of Turkey hardest hit by the earthquake, which has caused heavy loss of life, many missing and extensive damage. ‘” The Pontiff continued: “I invite you to join me in prayer for those who have lost their lives and to be spiritually close to those many people so sorely tried. May the Almighty support all those engaged in rescue work. “

The latest official figures, published this morning, speaks of 461 dead, 325 injured and hospitalized. Rescuers have worked hard all night, and more than 67 hours after the earthquake struck two people were extracted from the rubble still alive: an 18 year-old university student and an English teacher of 27, Gozde Bahar (pictured), whose conditions are very serious, due to a cardiac arrest suffered during transport to hospital. The rescue of the woman is probably destined to be the last for this earthquake: a source among aid workers at the Van centre, the capital of the province affected by the earthquake, reported that ” recovery operations have ended” and that there is no longer any hope of finding people alive under the rubble.

Meanwhile, the Turkish government has changed its mind and decided to accept offers of help from several countries, including Israel, to meet the emergency needs caused by the devastating earthquake that struck the south-east of the country. In a statement the Foreign Ministry said that the needs are limited to tents and prefabricated houses, because hundreds of people have lost their homes. 2,256 buildings were destroyed most of them private apartments. Ankara has however, rejected of foreign rescue teams, with the exception of personnel from Azerbaijan and Iran, who are already working in disaster areas of the province of Van.

In what may be termed “rescue diplomacy” an Israeli military plane travelled to Turkey today with first aid materials for the earthquake-stricken population. This was announced by the Israeli armed forces radio. On board there are several structures for prefabricated buildings. Other prefabricated buildings will be sent to Turkey in the coming days, by both military aircraft, and sea. The assent of Turkey to receive aid from Israel – despite the state of strong diplomatic tension between the two countries – came overnight and immediately Defence Minister Ehud Barak ordered emergency aid be sent. From the Turkish side, according to press reports, it was nevertheless clear that practical help are welcome, but Turkey would prefer not to resort to accepting the aid of the Israeli military on the ground, even though they have a considerable experience in helping people remain trapped in the debris. The Israeli press believes that sending aid to earthquake victims in Turkey will have no impact on the political tension between the two countries. “Our relations with Turkey are not good, but we must still strive to improve them,” claimed Amos Gilad, a political adviser to Barak.

On the eve of the Assisi Day, Benedict XVI invites us to pray that “in a world still torn by hatred, division, selfishness, war,” it may “encourage dialogue between people of different religious affiliation and bring a ray of light that can illuminate the minds and hearts of all men, so that rancor give way to forgiveness, division to reconciliation, hatred to love, violence to gentleness, and peace reign in the world. “

Vatican City (AsiaNews) – “If we want to be bearers of Christ’s kingdom of peace, we must be willing to pay in person, to suffer misunderstanding, rejection and persecution in first person. The sword of the conqueror does not build peace but the sword of the sufferer who knows how to gift his life. ” On the eve of the Assisi Day, where “the meeting of religious leaders for peace will take place,” Benedict XVI thus defined the attitude that Christians should have in the search for peace in the world.

A Liturgy of the word, took the place of today’s general audience. Bad weather prevented the meeting from being held out in the open, instead it was held in two stages to allow Benedict to meet with about 15 thousand present: first in St Peter’s Basilica and then in the Paul VI.

Peace was, of course, the heart of the Pope’s homily who, at the end of the liturgy, also called for prayers for the people of Turkey “hard-hit by the earthquake” and support for the rescuers.

Previously, referring to the meeting tomorrow, in which an estimated 300 representatives of different faiths are expected to participate, Benedict XVI renewed his invitation for prayers that may help “encourages dialogue between people of different religious affiliations and bring a ray of light that can illuminate the minds and hearts of all men, so that rancor give way to forgiveness, division to reconciliation, hatred to love, violence to gentleness, and peace reign in the world”.

Christians know that peace is a gift from God and that “we ask God for the gift of peace, let us pray that He will make us instruments of peace in a world still torn by hatred, division, selfishness, war.” And recalling the theme of tomorrow’s meeting “Pilgrims of truth, pilgrims of peace,” Benedict XVI explained that it means “the commitment that we want to renew with people of other religions and even non-believers for the promotion of the true good of humanity and peace-building. As I have already mentioned, Those journeying to God cannot but transmit peace, those who are building peace cannot but draw close to God”.

But “how to build a world of peace of which Christ is King?” Jesus “is not a king who dominates with political and military power, but a king who rules with gentle humility and meekness before God and men “. “The commandment that Christ gave to his apostles and to us all is’ go and make disciples of all nations. Here I am with you always, to the end of the world ‘. The messengers of peace must begin a journey, responding to his invitation, go to out into the world, but not with the power of war or the force of power. Christ does not guide them with powerful tools, but as lambs among wolves. St. John Chrysostom – added the Pope – says that as long as we are lambs we will win and even though surrounded by many wolves, we will be able to overcome them, but if we become wolves we will be defeated because without our pastor. Christians – Pope Benedict XVI’s warned- should never be tempted to become a wolf among wolves, it is not with the power of force and violence which the kingdom of Christ is spread, but with love, even love toward our enemies. Jesus did not conquer the world by force of arms but by the strength of the cross. The consequence is to be ready for sacrifice, for martyrdom, so that peace may triumph in the world”.

“The Cross is the new arrow of peace, sign and instrument of reconciliation, forgiveness, understanding, a sign that love is stronger than all violence and oppression, is stronger than death: that evil is overcome with good, with love. “

Los Angeles, Calif., Oct 26, 2011 / 06:00 am (CNA).- In an article for First Things, Archbishop Jose H. Gomez of Los Angeles pointed to several recent examples of religious freedom being suppressed in the U.S. and warned that the basis of the country’s democracy is at stake.

Archbishop Jose Gomez

“There is much evidence to suggest that our society no longer values the public role of religion or recognizes the importance of religious freedom as a basic right,” Archbishop Gomez said in an Oct. 25 article.

“America’s founders understood that our democracy depends on Americans’ being moral and virtuous,” he wrote. “They knew the best guarantee for this is a civil society in which individuals and religious institutions were free to live, act, and vote according to their values and principles.”

Archbishop Gomez, who leads the largest diocese in the U.S., said that Catholics have always believed that they are equipped to be the best citizens when they follow the teachings of Jesus Christ and his Church.

Since before the founding of our country, he noted, members of the faith have worked to provide “vital” social services, education, and health care for surrounding society.

“But lately, this is becoming harder and harder for us to do,” he said.

Archbishop Gomez cited the example of the government denying funding to the U.S. bishops’ Migration and Refugee Services agency, which since 2006 has helped thousands of women and children who are victims of human trafficking.

“Recently, the government had been demanding that our agency provide abortions, contraception and sterilizations for the women we serve,” he said.

“We hope our application was not denied because we refused to provide these services that are unnecessary and violate our moral principles and religious mission.”

As disconcerting as it is, however, this situation is “not an isolated case,” he said.

Archbishop Gomez drew attention to the Health and Human Services Department’s proposed rule that would force private employers to provide insurance coverage for sterilizations and contraception—including medications that cause early abortion.

“This not only violates the consciences of Catholic business owners, it also undermines the religious autonomy of Church employers,” he said.

The LA archbishop also pointed to the nationwide push to legalize “same-sex marriage,” which has already caused Church adoption and foster-care ministries to shut down rather than “submit to government demands that they place children with same-sex couples or provide benefits for same-sex employees.”

Although the Catholic belief in marriage is held “by many Protestants, the Orthodox, and also by Jews and Muslims, among others,” many people fear “that this belief might now be labeled as a form of bigotry and lead to new challenges to our liberties,” he said.

“All of this is troubling and represents a sharp break with our history and American traditions,” Archbishop Gomez noted. “Religious liberty has always been ‘the first freedom’ in our Bill of Rights and in our national identity.”

He added that because of their concern over this issue, the U.S. bishops founded a new Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty, announced by president Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan of New York earlier this month.

“My brother bishops and I are deeply concerned that believers’ liberties—and the Church’s freedom to carry out her mission—are threatened today, as they never have been before in our country’s history.”

“We need to help our leaders today rediscover the wisdom of America’s founding,” he underscored. “At stake are not just our liberties but also the future character of our democracy.”

by Mathias Hariyadi
A seminar organised by the Bishops’ Conference stresses the need for lay Catholic politicians to show their diversity by engaging in ethically irreproachable behaviour. They should practice “a good Catholic way of life, including praying and attending mass regularly,” as well as “neither manipulate nor be manipulated.”

Jakarta (AsiaNews) – Being Catholic means to adopt Christian moral values and practice them in daily life. Politicians and government officials should not forget they are Catholic and should always follow the ethics and morality endorsed by the Church. This is the advice given by Harry Tjan Silalahi, a senior political analyst, and Prof Adrianus Meliala, a well known criminologist, at a seminar organised by the Indonesian Bishops of Conference’s office held in Jakarta last Sunday.

Mr Silalahi spoke to the audience about his personal disappointment upon learning that several Catholic politicians had “neglected” the moral necessity of being “clean” and instead were easily swayed by money politics and financial corruption.

“When they came to me, they had the nerve to say that they were good Catholics, practicing a good Catholic way of life, including praying and attending mass regularly, and that they would neither manipulate nor be manipulated,” Mr Silalahi said.

In fact, “I can hardly say that no Catholic politician is involved in inappropriate actions, including corruption,” said Silalahi who chairs the Jakarta-based CSIS (Center Strategic for International Studies).

The CSIS is a Jakarta-based, high profile political think tank. It was widely seen as the most influential political institution during President Suharto’s regime (1967-1998). The CSIS also masterminded the creation of the Golkar political party.

Before Suharto came to power in 1967, many Catholic politicians both in government and parliament practiced good Catholic morality, the CSIS chairman said.

One man who was a role model was former minister IJ Kasimo, who headed a Catholic party, Silalahi said. Like others, “he could manipulate things, but was still committed to cleanliness.”

For this reason, the Church should take the matter more seriously and coach Catholic politicians about Catholic teachings and morality. For Silalahi, the Indonesian Bishops of Conference’s Commission for Laity Department has a moral and political duty to train Catholic lay people, especially politicians.

Prof Adrianus Meliala, a noted criminologist from University of Indonesia, also addressed the conference. He said that Catholic socio-political organisations should lend “a helping hand” to others. If they are only focused on enriching themselves or putting their own interest ahead of others, they will lose power and relevance.

“We need socio-political organizations that can have a strong impact on society. This can only be achieved if they pursue programmes that have practical benefits for society. If not, then they should close,” he challenged.

For both keynote speakers, being Catholic means celebrating our difference as good Indonesian citizens who are committed to bringing about change that can lead to a better social life.

Several social Catholic groups were present at the half-day seminar, among them, the Bhumiksara Foundation, the Catholic Youth, the Indonesian Catholic Women’s Association (WKRI) and representatives of several other organisations.

by Melani Manel Perera
Bishop Kumara Illangasinghe, of the Church of Ceylon, says: “Our world is blessed by the diversity of religions, ethnicities and races: the genuine commitment of all is needed.”

Colombo (AsiaNews) – Building peace is “urgent” because “it is not only absence of war and violence”, but “room for justice and truth”, says Rev. Kumara Illangasinghe, retired Anglican bishop of Kurunegala, of the Church of Ceylon, awaiting the Day of reflection, dialogue and prayer for peace and justice in the world which is celebrated in Assisi tomorrow. The pilgrimage will be a commemoration of the first 25 years of the first Assisi Day, celebrated by Pope John Paul II and religious leaders from around the world October 27, 1986.

“No one can bring about peace, justice and truth alone – says Rev. Illangasinghe – We need a concerted effort, especially in a world like ours, blessed by the diversity of religions, ethnicities and races”. For this reason, according to the Anglican bishop “a pluralistic approach in building peace is not an option but a duty.”

From the pilgrimage to Assisi, Rev. Illangasinghe expects a “genuine commitment”, which is “the beginning of a long and difficult journey for all the peoples of the world”, to “create space for understanding between communities and individuals.” “People – the Bishop Emeritus concludes – should be able to live in a democratic world, free from fear and corruption”.

by Kalpit Parajuli
The major Nepalese religious leaders are spiritually united with Benedict XVI during his pilgrimage to the city of San Francisco tomorrow. The Protestant Bishop: “While the Pope is praying for peace in the world and appeals to religious leaders for the love and harmony, Nepal should learn from him to keep peace in the country.”

Kathmandu (AsiaNews) – Religious leaders of the major denominations in the country want to praise the pilgrimage of Pope Benedict XVI, who will bring and the representatives of other faiths to Assisi tomorrow. Although no Nepalese religious leader will be present, they all say they are ready to be inspired by this event. They claim it is also an example for Nepal to bring peace and harmony between different faiths and ethnicities.

The Protestant Bishop Narayan Sharma, praising the initiative of Pope Benedict XVI said he wanted to learn a lesson of peace and harmony. “While the Pope is praying for peace in the world and appeals to religious leaders for the love and harmony, Nepal should learn from him to keep peace in the country and strengthen a healthy secularism. Nepal has a great need to be blessed by solidarity at this time of transition. “

The parish priest of the Cathedral of the Assumption, Robin Rai, said: “We hope that Nepal is blessed by the Pope’s prayer for a healthy secularity for the country.” Keshav Chaulagain, president of the World Hindu Federation of Nepalese, said: “We do not need to go to a special place to pray, we can build solidarity and unity when we sit together and confess our misunderstandings.” He added: “We are blessed with a country whose people have a peaceful heart, and we have no great divisions among the different faiths. When we respect each other and do not misuse religion we have no problems. “

Nazrul Hussein, president of the ‘Islamic Sangh Nepal and secretary of the Inter-religious Council said: “I want to join in the Pope’s prayer. World Peace is possible only through respect and religious harmony.” He continued: “I hope that the prayer of the Pope will create stronger bonds between Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Buddhists and everyone else in the country.” The Nepalese, shocked by the assassination a month ago of the Secretary of the ‘Islamic Sangh Nepal ask the great religions to respect the existence of other faiths. Nazrul Hussein adds: “Faith is a precious thing for every religion, regardless of majority or minority. But we are afraid, because we are a minority. We hope that the prayer of Pope diffuses the light on the great religions of the country, so they can understand the minorities. “

Meanwhile, Nepal is marking the second biggest Hindu festival, the Tihar. It is celebrated for five days starting Monday, with three days of official holidays. During the festival of Tihar people sing traditional songs, and young people, Muslim, Christian and Buddhist boys and girls unite in the festivities with Hindus.

Washington D.C., Oct 26, 2011 / 03:19 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The newly-installed rector of Theological College in Washington, D.C. believes the priesthood in the U.S. has entered a period of renewal and that this will help revitalize the rest of the Church.

“I’m personally convinced that we have entered into a period of renewal of the priesthood in the United States,” Sulpician Father Phillip J. Brown told CNA during a recent interview.

Fr. Brown was recently appointed as the 15th rector of Theological College and was installed during an Oct. 12 Mass at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.

Founded in 1971, Theological College is a national seminary affiliated with The Catholic University of America.

More than 1,500 diocesan priests across the country have completed their priestly formation at Theological College, which is operated by the Society of St. Sulpice.

Fr. Brown explained that his duties as rector will include both the formation of seminarians and the administration of the college.

“My foremost responsibility as rector is to get to know the seminarians,” he said, adding that he sees one of his most important duties as being “a good pastor for this community.”

He emphasized that by setting a good example for the seminarians, he would help form them to be good pastors after their ordination.

Fr. Brown brings with him a wide range of experience in various fields.

He worked as a lay attorney in North Dakota for several years before entering the priesthood. He was ordained in 1989 for the Diocese of Bismarck and served as a pastor and parochial vicar in multiple parishes in the diocese.

He also holds a doctorate in canon law from the Pontifical Georgian University in Rome and served as a Marriage Tribunal judge from 1999 to 2001.

Fr. Brown also has academic experience teaching and serving as the academic dean for St. Mary’s Seminary and University in Baltimore for several years. Before being appointed rector in July, he taught at The Catholic University of America’s canon law school.

Fr. Brown said that he has no plans to make significant changes in the seminary program, which he believes is already very strong.

What he would like to do, he said, is contribute to a renewal of priestly culture.

“Theological College has a very strong formation program based upon the Sulpician tradition,” he explained.

“One of the hallmarks of the Sulpician approach to formation is attention to human formation. We’ve always believed, and I believe very firmly, that the spiritual life is built upon the life of the natural human being.”

The Sulpician approach also includes elements of spiritual, intellectual and pastoral formation.

Fr. Brown reported that Theological College is doing “sterling” in terms of both number and quality of vocations.

“We have a full house this year,” he said, explaining that the college even had to turn men away because there was not enough room for them.

“Theological College has never in my memory been in better condition,” he said.

And in his assessment, seminaries across the country are experiencing a similar influx in vocations that is bringing men of “outstanding quality” to their doors.

Despite fear and cultural pressures, these men have shown “a certain kind of courage to step up to the plate and at least try to discern.”

Fr. Brown believes that priestly vocations coming out of strong seminaries are an important part of strengthening the Church.

“We indeed will be able to help to renew the Church through the renewal of the priesthood,” he said.

Philadelphia, Pa., Oct 26, 2011 / 12:56 am (CNA).- The author of a landmark work on Saint Joseph says Christ’s foster father offers believers a model for building trust in God during the newly-announced “Year of Faith.”

Fr. Joseph Chorpenning and his book "Joseph of Nazareth Through the Centuries"

“This was a man of faith, like Abraham. He was being asked to believe the impossible,” said Father Joseph Chorpenning, an Oblate of St. Francis de Sales who compiled two decades of research and lectures in his book “Joseph of Nazareth Through the Centuries” (St. Joseph’s University Press, $60).

“We need to bring these figures down to earth for people,” Fr. Chorpenning told CNA on Oct. 18, two days after Pope Benedict announced the 2012-2013 “Year of Faith” that will begin Oct. 11, 2012.

“It’s challenging, but that’s what needs to happen. When you look at Joseph, you have to look at him as a man of faith.”

Fr. Chorpenning holds up the chaste husband of the Virgin Mary – who was asked to believe that his fiancee’s unexplained pregnancy was not a catastrophe, but part of history’s greatest miracle – as a figure of inspiration “in a world that’s losing faith, at every level of society.”

The lectionary readings for St. Joseph’s feast day in March draw a comparison between Joseph and the Old Testament patriarch Abraham, sometimes called the “father of faith.”

While Abraham waited decades for the unlikely birth of his son Isaac, Joseph made the leap of faith necessary to become the earthly father of God’s son.

“This ties into the Church’s liturgy,” said Fr. Chorpenning. “The second reading from Saint Paul, on the Solemnity of St. Joseph, talks about the faith of Abraham. So implicitly, Abraham and Joseph are compared.”

Blessed John Paul II also regarded Jesus’ earthly father as a prototype for believers in their journey of faith.

“The lens through which Blessed John Paul II viewed the life of both Mary and Joseph, is the Vatican II theme of the ‘pilgrimage of faith,’” Fr. Chorpenning explained.

Vatican II’s document on the Church, “Lumen Gentium,” spoke of Mary’s “pilgrimage of faith” as an example for all followers of Christ. It was only later that Bl. John Paul II spoke of St. Joseph in the same terms, in the apostolic exhortation “Redemptoris Custos” (Guardian of the Redeemer).

“In that apostolic exhortation, he takes that theme of the ‘pilgrimage of faith’ and applies it to St. Joseph,” Fr. Chorpenning pointed out.

“At the beginning of Mary’s pilgrimage of faith, she meets Joseph – and his faith. So these two people are united in a pilgrimage of faith.”

“Her journey, of course, extends beyond Joseph’s, since it’s assumed he died before Christ’s public life. But they were united, in the mystery of the Incarnation, in this common pilgrimage.”

Both Mary and Joseph, in different circumstances, encountered angels who described the mystery of God’s arrival among mankind. But both saints, Fr. Chorpenning observed, needed years of life experience to deepen their understanding of what they believed by faith.

“Both of them were the recipients of an angelic annunciation which revealed the mystery to them. But to say that the mystery is revealed, does not mean that they totally comprehended it.”

“Mary may have apprehended the mystery more fully than Joseph. But the fact was, the two of them – after having lived in the closest possible human contact that any human persons ever lived, or ever would live, with the person of Jesus – still did not fully understand the mystery of his being.”

In later centuries, Christians became well-accustomed to the truth of what the angel told Joseph – about the child conceived by the Holy Spirit, who would “save his people from their sins.”

But for the first man to hear the message, it was far from traditional.

“What he’s being told, in that annunciation, goes against everything that he’s being told by the culture,” said Fr. Chorpenning.

“First of all, they were both probably relatively young. Joseph – as a devout Jew – would have expected to marry, and to have many children. A man’s identity was defined by his family.”

“He’s being told: ‘You’re going to give that up. You are to take Mary into your home; you are to surrender yourself, with all that involves, to taking Mary into your home and acting as a father to the child she is going to bear, even though you did not biologically generate him.’”

“Once the angelic annunciation takes place, we really don’t get a sense of what’s going on in Joseph – except that Matthew says, after the angel left, Joseph got up and did immediately what the angel said.”

“Now of course, that’s a very brief way of saying it. I’m sure it took everything that was within him to do it.”

After 20 years of research, Fr. Chorpenning still speaks with amazement about the humble man who served as a father to God.

“I mean, this was a carpenter from Palestine! And you see the pictures and the paintings, where he’s sitting on a throne with a crown holding the Christ child – I say to people, ‘Well, we certainly have come a long way from Nazareth.’”

“Obviously, there is a theological meaning to those images. But I think what we need to emphasize to people, is that Joseph and Mary were people who responded to what God was asking of them, as it was being revealed to them, in the circumstances of their daily life.”

“They are not just these untouchable figures up there, ‘floating in the clouds’ of the Church Triumphant. In their time, and in their day, they were people just like we are.”

“Did they feel it was beyond them? Absolutely. Who wouldn’t?”

Fr. Chorpenning said St. Joseph not only displays the virtue of faith, but also illustrates what Bl. John Paul II meant when he spoke of the “civilization of love.”

“Joseph, in a sense, becomes the model of the ‘civilization of love’ – understood as a society which is not about having more, but about being more.”

His life, the priest said, represents an alternative to the “’me-centered’ kind of narcissism” that has made society break down on many levels, from individual families to financial markets.

Fr. Chorpenning, who published a 1996 book on “The Holy Family as Prototype of the Civilization of Love,” says St. Joseph points the way to a life based on devotion to God, dedication to one’s family, and work that serves the common good.

Joseph’s life, he said, shows a “transcending of the self” in which the father of the Holy Family becomes defined by his relation to its other two members, while also making their life possible.

The result is a life that is “not about the individual, but about the community of persons” – as both the Church, and society itself, are meant to be.

Joseph’s example also stands in opposition to a culture of irresponsibility and prolonged adolescence.

“This is what a responsible man looks like,” said Fr. Chorpenning, summing up the love and loyalty that generations of believers have found in the head of the Holy Family.