Editor’s Note: This is the first of 10 monthly “Cuppa Joe” reflections honoring the Year of St. Joseph and inspired by “10 wonders” of St. Joseph described by Father Donald Calloway, a priest of the Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception, in his 2019 book, “Consecration to St. Joseph: The Wonders of Our Spiritual Father.” This column is a condensed version of a talk Father Margevicius gave at St. Joseph in West St. Paul, which was launched in a video March 2.

“I wish I could persuade everyone,” wrote St. Teresa of Avila in her autobiography, “to be devoted to the glorious St. Joseph, for I have great experience of the blessings which he can obtain from God. I do not remember that I have ever asked anything of him which he has failed to grant.”

Powerful words from a spiritual powerhouse! Why would this master of the spiritual life write so convincingly about the husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the foster-father of Jesus? The only place that St. Joseph shows up in Scripture is in the first chapters of the Gospels of Luke and Matthew, and even there, none of his words are recorded. Yet despite his silence, he has made a profound impact on numerous holy women and men. It seems that the more these saints meditated on the Holy Family, the greater their delight in St. Joseph. St. Alphonsus Liguori said that “after the Blessed Mother, St. Joseph is, of all the saints, the one who is the dearest to God.”

St. Joseph’s Oratory in Montreal, Canada, is the preeminent international center of devotion to St. Joseph, and was founded by St. André Bessette. This simple brother was famous for his devotion to St. Joseph, and he encouraged everyone else to be, too. “I have only my great devotion to St. Joseph,” he said. “This it is that guides me and gives me full confidence.”

These and countless other quotes from saints, blesseds, popes and theologians fill the pages of “Consecration to St. Joseph,” by Father Donald Calloway. The archdiocese is using his book as a roadmap as we celebrate the Year of St. Joseph. Part I of the book describes how one can go about consecrating to St. Joseph, while Part II unpacks 10 “Wonders,” titles applied to St. Joseph. He is the “Delight of Saints,” “Our Spiritual Father,” “Young Husband of Mary,” “Virginal Father of Jesus,” “Just and Reverent Man,” “Savior of the Savior,” “Adorer of Christ,” “Silent Witness,” “Patron of a Happy Death” and “Terror of Demons.”

Starting this month of March and ending with the conclusion of the Year of St. Joseph in December — 10 months — the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis will emphasize one of these “wonders,” inviting a local theologian to reflect on how that wonder is manifest in the life of St. Joseph. Each reflection will take place in one of the nine active parishes named in honor of St. Joseph, and the chapel of one religious order: the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondolet. Each reflection will also be recorded and available online at the “Cuppa Joe” web page, archspm.org/cuppajoe.

Father Calloway summons innumerable saints to demonstrate that finally the Church is beginning to render St. Joseph the attention and honor he deserves. Pope St. John XXIII did something unheard of in 1962: He changed the Roman Canon, when he officially inserted the name of Joseph after the Blessed Virgin Mary, in what we now call Eucharistic Prayer I. Pope Francis followed suit, and added his name in Eucharistic Prayers II, III and IV in 2013. Since celebration of the Eucharist is the “source and summit” of the Christian Life, as Vatican II said, and all saints were devoted to the Eucharist, inserting St. Joseph’s name in the Church’s most important prayer must certainly delight all the other saints. May our observance of the Year of St. Joseph increase our delight in him as well.

Father Margevicius is the director of worship for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. Watch his whole talk at archspm.org/cuppajoe. The next talk will launch online at 4 p.m. April 6 from St. Joseph in Lino Lakes on “St. Joseph: Our Spiritual Father” by Deborah Savage. Viewers can also watch via the archdiocese’s Facebook page facebook.com/archdiocesespm, Instagram account instagram.com/archdiocesespm and YouTube channel youtube.com/user/archdiocesespm.