“If you want to bring happiness to the whole world, go home and love your family.” - St. Teresa of Calcutta
As one of the greatest advocates for charity and spreading love throughout the world, Saint Teresa reminds us of the importance of building a strong family unit held together by devotion to God. Whatever we put into the world starts first in our homes. That is the one place where we must demonstrate the greatest amount of love, compassion, kindness, humility and faith.
Honored as the husband of Mary and foster father Jesus, Saint Joseph is a pillar of the Holy family and the patron saint of homes, loving families and protection in our place of dwelling. St. Joseph is also know under the title of “Terror of Demons”, it is a great blessing for people to be under his protection whose very name invokes fear and drives away evil.
Our homes aren’t just a place where we go to at night to rest, recover and feel recharged. They are the pinnacle of our faith foundation as all things that we do start with the love of our families.
Refurbish Your Home With Faith
“But my home isn’t perfect, my family quarrels often and my children have their own way of thinking!”
Don’t fret, St. Joseph wants you to know that the truth is that no home is perfect from the get go. Even the Holy Family have experienced anxiety and disagreement at times. When Jesus was 12, Mary & Joseph were livid when they found him in the temple preaching after searching relentlessly for 3 days. No doubt overcome with fear of losing their child.
No family is meant to start out perfect without disagreements or challenges, but the most important characteristic about every home is the willingness to grow together in faith. Apart from it’s physical structure, our home is something must constantly be reconstructed, refurbished and renewed. This is the essence of our family, that we make the effort to love & cherish one another.
Start With Small Repairs
Remember the old saying, “Rome wasn’t built in a day”? It’s not likely that we’ll see a full home makeover in a day.
Even if your family has grown distant and difficult to manage, St. Joseph reminds us that the first step that we need to build a strong and sturdy house is the seeds of faith.
Oftentimes it is better not to expect immediate changes in our loved ones but to start with small steps of great love. When there are family disputes, we often think about how unreasonable the other person is and focus on their misgivings. St. Joseph wants us to know that love should not be based upon our expectations of others, but starts with our decision to love and accept our family members no matter how they are.
Even if we don’t always agree with what they do, we are the pillars of support our family. Don’t say things that will put down their efforts, but try to lift them up in their endeavors.
Redecorate Your Living Space With Positivity
Sometimes we are even more critical of our loved ones as compared to others because we we care much more for them that we expect them to behave in a manner we thing is best for their well-being. This causes unpleasantness, feelings of negativity and may even work against us. Ever experienced the situation where the more you tell your children not to do something, the more rebellious they become?
Saying negative things (even with good intentions), breeds even more negativity!
Just as God loves us in spite of all our faults and failings, St. Joseph calls us now to also focus on the positive things about our family members. We should not try to “change” our loved ones, but to show them how much we love them through our words and actions.
Words have the very power to tear down and destroy our loved ones. We should always strive to affirm them for the good work they have done and speak words of love to guide them in the right path. Make it a point to cut out all reproach, sarcasm and hateful speech in your home. Don’t “force” your children to go to Church if they vehemently object, instead show them the wonders of the Lord through your actions.
Call upon God for blessings and to bring his goodness directly to your doorstep.
Building The Perfect Home Takes Time
Our families are the greatest project that we can work on, and as like every other thing of importance in life, it takes time and effort to cultivate a loving family. And it’s never too late to start! When we open our hearts to the promptings of the Lord and allow his love to flow through us, so to shall we manifest this love to our family members.
Whilst St. Joseph labors tirelessly to ensure that our homes & families are protected from the grip of evil, sin & vice, we too have to play our part to ensuring the love reigns in our homes!
Say this prayer of intercession to St. Joseph for family blessings & protection in your home!
