Exhausted reflections after the Christmas rush…
For me it is so over! I closed the Store by 5pm today! Yay!
It was a fun day. I even did some silly overhead pages. In one instance I paged Archbishop Flynn - “Archbishop Flynn, if you are still in the Store please pick up a call on line 56.”
Moments later I disguised my voice and announced, “Archbishop Flynn has already left the building.” (Even our guests laughed at that. I’m so unprofessional!)
I even had a 50% off sale on non-stock Christmas cards and ornaments. (That’s big for us - we rarely have ‘after Christmas sales’.)
I also had lots of samples available of all the candy we sell.
And I was silly all day long - so excited about the Infant Jesus’ birthday - and I made certain all of the staff had fun as well - and we were busy! Our best day of the year. You have to love our regular customers, they are so sweet and kind, and devout - even the crabby and demanding ones - often, I like these the best. (Did you know sometimes demanding and crabby people really need/want attention? They might have something wrong that only patience, kindness, and attention can remedy. It’s cool to send them away placated and consoled.) Some of the non-regulars almost act as if they are in Church when they shop with us, until they meet me, or my best sales person Sandra. Then they relax - and we go out of our way for the non-religious - especially when they smell of smoke and alcohol.
A couple of our favorite priests came in as well, and I said, “What do you want!” And they cracked up.
Now I am so relaxed. I can meditate - or just ponder - how Our Lady and St. Joseph would perhaps just be setting out for Bethlehem. Did you ever think how much St. Joseph must have loved Our Lady? I think of that sometimes since I’ve had the privilege of knowing a few of the young men who worked for me, how they act when they are with their fiancees. (I’ve been blessed to have very devout men working for me.)
I see aspects of St. Joseph in Andrew Schorr (who still works for me) and Joe Trojack (who no longer does) and Ron Dragonowski (who never worked for me but comes into the Store.). When I see these young men with their wives, and Andrew with his girlfriend, I can see in their demeanor the respect and admiration they have for the lady in their lives. And I can easily see their love, completely chaste and pure.
St.Joseph was like that. He loved Our Lady deeply, with a husband’s love. I’m convinced of it. He was as pure and chaste as the Immaculate Virgin, yet he loved Our Lady so deeply. It is such a wonderful mystery.
I once would laugh at the idea of young Catholic men and women not kissing or being intimate in their courtship - or while dating. Yet the young people I have met over the years, those who are serious about the faith while desiring sanctity, do indeed abstain from casual intimacy - okay - making out. I’m so in awe of that! And I have witnessed and experienced the sanctity of their relationship, unchanged after their marriage has been consummated. It is so sacred, to witness married love. A blessed marriage is, for me, as exalted as the most perfect virginity of the consecrated life - it is the natural image of the Blessed Trinity.
St. Joseph and Our Lady remained virginal in their love, yet I have no doubt, their love for one another was beyond comprehension.
I love to meditate upon that as I reflect upon how they journeyed to Bethlehem, to the Temple, and their flight into Egypt. How much St. Joseph can teach us men about love - no matter what our state in life.
Pure heart of St. Joseph, most chaste, pray for us!
