A Gift Guaranteed

March 15, 2008

Solemnity of Saint Joseph, husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary

And when your time comes and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your heir after you, sprung from your loins, and I will make his kingdom firm. It is he who shall build a house for my name. And I will make his royal throne firm forever. 2 Samuel 7:12-13

For this reason, it depends on faith, so that it may be a gift, and the promise may be guaranteed to all his descendants, not to those who only adhere to the law but to those who follow the faith of Abraham, who is the father of all of us… Romans 4:16

When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home. Matthew 1:24

Piety

God, grant us your gift of obedience. As you offered this to holy men and women down through the ages, we want to live a live committed to your covenant and holding up our end of the bargain…even though you do not require it. Help us to do as you have commanded through the angels, the prophets, the Scripture, the Messiah and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Study

http://www.usccb.org/nab/readings/031508.shtml

On this day before we honor the Passion of the Lord, the liturgical calendar provides us with a reminder of how far we have come since the year began during Advent. Celebrating the role of Joseph allows us to consider the covenant offered by God in one more aspect.

The covenant is not a contract. Sure there were elements of quid pro quo..I will do this and you will do that. But God’s part of the covenant went beyond the contractual, mutually beneficial aspects. He promised to uphold his end of the covenant no matter what we do. Whether we follow his request to be humble and obedient – or not – God will deliver on his half.

Part of that delivery is also in the number of saintly examples God provides to us as role models. People like St. Joseph who, though not required under religious law or civil law, did what God asked, not what the laws of the day asked of them.

The covenant given to Abraham and handed down to the House of David is a gift, not a contract. It is not a sale flyer that Best Buy will stuff into the plastic pack of tomorrow’s Washington Post. It is a promise and a gift. God will hold up his end of the covenant for everyone. It is not reserved only to those who are descendants of Abraham who do what God requests. The gift is for all. In return, God asks for our love. Can we offer to God anything less than our piety, study, and action as a means to honor his covenant, learn his covenant, and live his covenant?

Action

The following is from a USCCB Action Alert.

The House and Senate are due to complete work on the Farm bill (H.R. 2419) by March 15, 2008. There are significant differences between the House and Senate versions of the bill, particularly on the levels of spending. Both bills, however, will require increased spending over the five-year estimate provided by the Congressional Budget Office of $286 billion. An impasse in negotiations between the House and Senate has developed around where to get an additional $10 billion and which priorities to spend it on. Meanwhile, President Bush has threatened to veto the bill because of too much spending and too little reform.

There may be another short-term extension passed this week to allow time for pending negotiations, but unless agreement is reached, a long-term extension of current law could be a likely outcome. This would abandon long sought improvements to essential nutrition programs, the Food Stamp Program, The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP), a “safe box” for Food for Peace developmental food aid and other essential improvements. Clearly, an extension would not include much-needed reforms to farm subsidy programs which the Senate and House bills currently lack but could be sought in the Conference Committee process.

IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUIRED:

Please contact your Senators and Representatives (U.S. Capitol switchboard is 202-224-3121), especially Senate Conferees (Senators Harkin, D-IA; Leahy, D-VT; Conrad, D-VT; Baucus, D-MT; Lincoln, D-AR; Stabenow, D-MI; Chambliss, R-GA; Lugar, R-IN; Cochran, R-MS; Roberts, R-KS; and Grassley, R-IA) and members of the Senate Finance Committee (www.finance.senate.gov). House Conferees have yet to be announced, so target House Agriculture Committee members (http://agriculture.house.gov), and members of the House Committee on Ways and Means (http://waysandmeans.house.gov). Urge them to do two essential things:

1) Preserve and adequately fund essential and overdue improvements to domestic nutrition programs, international food aid, conservation and rural development.

2) Take effective action to target agricultural subsidies to those who need them most and not those who need them least.

Specifically, urge members of Congress to actively support the following specific priorities:

• Domestic Hunger: Provide strongest possible nutrition improvements and investments in the Food Stamp Program and The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP);
• Global Hunger: Allow needed flexibility in addressing hunger abroad by supporting the Senate-passed version of Title III that sets aside without a waiver $600 million of PL 480 Title II resources for those suffering from chronic hunger, and ensuring that a $25 million pilot program is authorized for the purchase of food locally, with mandatory funding;
• Farmer Fairness: Act to effectively target farm payments to those who need them the most and to those who are actively engaged in farming by setting a genuine payment cap at $250,000 per farming operation, as proposed in the Dorgan-Grassley payment limitation amendment which passed the Senate, but failed to get the needed 60 votes.