{"id":5907,"date":"2019-12-01T20:09:48","date_gmt":"2019-12-02T01:09:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\/?page_id=5907"},"modified":"2022-02-17T08:35:30","modified_gmt":"2022-02-17T13:35:30","slug":"looking-closer-at-joseph-this-advent-advent-2019","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\/looking-closer-at-joseph-this-advent-advent-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"Looking Closer at Joseph This Advent &#8211; Advent 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div align=\"center\" class=\"youtube-responsive-container\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/vRL7Le0MjTU?rel=0&amp;modestbranding=1\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen=\"\" width=\"1000\" height=\"564\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-heading\" id=\"summary\">Summary<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n\n\n<p>Here John discusses the life of St. Joseph and how we can ask for his help to prepare us for the coming of Jesus. He encourages us to open ourselves to the Holy Spirit for guidance to have courage and strength to follow suit in the example of the life of St. Joseph.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thank you for watching and participating in this retreat!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Not Registered, yet? Don\u2019t miss the rest of the talks! Register for the Pray More Retreat!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-horizontal is-content-justification-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-buttons-layout-1 wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link\" href=\"https:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\/2019-advent-retreat\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Click Here to Register!<\/strong><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-heading\" id=\"downloads\">Downloads<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"audio-mp3\">Audio MP3<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/04-John-Kinuthia-Looking-Closer-at-Joseph-This-Advent.mp3\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"undefined (opens in a new tab)\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Click&nbsp;here&nbsp;to download audio file.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"printable-study-guide-pdf\">Printable Study Guide PDF<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Looking-Closer-at-St.-Joseph.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"undefined (opens in a new tab)\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Click here to download the printable study guide.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"printable-transcript-pdf\">Printable Transcript PDF<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Looking-Closer-at-St.-Joseph-this-Advent-Transcript.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"undefined (opens in a new tab)\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Click here to download the transcript of the video presentation.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-heading\" id=\"reflective-study-guide-questions\">Reflective Study Guide Questions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\"><p>\u201cJoseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home.\u201d <\/p><cite><em>Matthew 1:20&nbsp;<\/em><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<ol><li>St. Joseph is known for his silence, but his silence was not passive. In his silence, St. Joseph was actively listening to God. How can you work to more actively listen to God\u2019s voice in your life?<br><br><\/li><li>St. Joseph was resting peacefully when the angel appeared to him in a dream. Are you able to allow yourself to rest peacefully in God\u2019s hands? How can you become more restful so that you\u2019re able to hear God\u2019s voice in your life?<br><br><\/li><li> St. Joseph was also a man of action, ready and able to do what God asked of him. We are also called to be people of actions. What actions can you take in your life to become more deliberate about doing God\u2019s will?<br><br><\/li><li>St. Joseph can help us grow closer to God by carving out the things in our lives that are not helpful for our salvation. What things in your life can you bring to St. Joseph for him to carve out?<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-heading\" id=\"text-looking-closer-at-joseph-this-advent\">Text: Looking Closer at Joseph This Advent<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p>Hey there. My name is John Kinuthia, and today I\u2019m doing a presentation on St. Joseph, and how his life can inspire us to live a life of gratitude, a life of&#8230; faithfully alive. Before we dive into St. Joseph and his life, let\u2019s just say a quick prayer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"hail-mary\">Hail Mary<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p><em>In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. St. Joseph, pray for us. St. John Paul II, pray for us. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"christian-name\">Christian Name<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>You know, once again, thank you for joining us on this online Pray More Advent Retreat and, as I just said, I\u2019m doing a talk on St. Joseph, and I want to start by sharing a quick story about my grandmom. I remember one time we were having a conversation on how they named their children in the old days, old days in their life, and she was sharing about how she was able to name my dad \u201cJoseph,\u201d and how that came about. And so we were listening, and she said&#8230; when my dad was born, my grandmom was on a mission, a hospital, a mission place, and some of the priests that were visiting and coming to give them a ward to receive the Eucharist, and to convert some of the people to Catholicism and Christianity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They were talking to my grandmom, and then one asked her \u201cWhat\u2019s the name you\u2019re going to give to your son?\u201d And basically, in our culture, my grandmom told us that, then, they would just have names based on our heritage. They wouldn\u2019t have baptismal names. And so the missionaries, the priests, you know, started sharing with my grandmom about the saints, about St. Joseph, St. John, and all of these great people of the church. And my grandmom was really fascinated by St. Joseph, basically because they told her that he was a hard-working man, and he was the Father of Jesus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-ast-global-color-8-color has-text-color\">So that name, that struck her, and she was like \u201cYeah, you know what? I want to name this boy \u2018Joseph,\u2019 Joseph, so that he can imitate St. Joseph, so that he can look at St. Joseph as his own father.\u201d Because at the same time when my dad was born, my grandpa died. So my grandmom thought, you know, if St. Joseph is the inspiration for my dad, he will turn out to be like him. And I heard that even other people, when they were naming people based on&#8230; when they were giving people names, there was this belief that when you get that name, you may end up being like that person. So if you\u2019re named after a rich person, then they say \u201cI believe that he\u2019ll be a rich person.\u201d So, my grandmom giving my dad the name Joseph was just because he was the father of Jesus and he was a hard-working man, and she <a href=\"https:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\/letting-go-of-sin-for-the-hopeful-life-lent-2021\/\">hoped<\/a> my dad would end up being a hard-working man like Joseph. So that\u2019s how he got his Christian name. But anyway, we see the inspiration for my grandmom to give my dad the name Joseph, but there is more. There is more to St. Joseph than just being a hard-working man.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"the-life-of-st-joseph\">The Life of St. Joseph<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-ast-global-color-8-color has-text-color\">So, when you look in the <a href=\"https:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\/bible-101-a-crash-course-in-scripture-part-ii-advent-2018\/\">scriptures<\/a>, in the Gospel of Matthew from chapter 1, verse 18 to 25, we see how we\u2019re introduced to St. Joseph being a family man. We see him as a young man, being introduced to us as a young man and betrothed to <a href=\"https:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\/our-blessed-mother-mary-her-suffering-and-ours-healing-2019\/\">Mother Mary<\/a>, to the Blessed Virgin Mary, who&#8230; he was to take her to his home as his wife. And I heard one priest say that the way Joseph is introduced to our lives is a conflicted, is someone who has a conflict, internal conflict. And Joseph was a very internal individual. He loved to think through things from the inside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So when he was betrothed to the Blessed Virgin Mary, and he found that Blessed Mary had a child, was carrying a child, he was you could say troubled inside. And he silently and quietly considered divorcing Virgin Mary, until such a time where we see him in a dream. He\u2019s resting, he\u2019s asleep, and in a dream an angel appears and says \u201cBehold. Joseph, take Mary to be your wife, because the child she is carrying is of the Holy Spirit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-ast-global-color-8-color has-text-color\">Let me pause here for a moment. I want to reflect on two things that are very important. Number one: Knowing St. Joseph was a father who was a master of an <a href=\"https:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\/primacy-of-the-interior-life-part-i-advent-2021\/\">interior life<\/a>. Knowing that his silence was not just a silence, it was an active way of listening to the Father, was an active way of saying \u201cI\u2019m open, Lord, and I want to hear Your voice.\u201d The master of an interior life, understanding in silence. But he did not let any negative voices influence and affect him. And all he thought, because he was a righteous man, was how to protect the Blessed Virgin Mary from <a href=\"https:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\/overcoming-shame-and-sin-lent-2021\/\">shame<\/a>. That tells us something, you know, tells us something. As people of God, we can learn from St. Joseph to quiet our mind, our heart, and our souls, and to rest in God\u2019s hands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-ast-global-color-8-color has-text-color\">I read somewhere that because Joseph was able to hear the angel in the dream, it also meant that he was resting. You know, in regular circumstances, I would be disturbed, I would be <a href=\"https:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\/restless-hearts-advent-2018\/\">restless<\/a> if I find the woman that I love is pregnant and it\u2019s not my pregnancy, you know what I\u2019m saying. It would be troubling. But in this case, Joseph was rested, he was at peace, and he was open to hear God\u2019s voice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"trusting-in-god-s-will\">Trusting in God&#8217;s Will<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>So, despite what is going on in our lives, all the turbulence, are we able to rest in God\u2019s hands? Are we able to say&#8230; to quiet ourselves and say \u201cI\u2019m going to rest, because I trust the Lord is leading me, and I trust the Lord will give me an answer.\u201d How well do we rest in the Lord? How well are we able to open ourselves up to Him and allow Him to work in us? St. Joseph wasn\u2019t just a quiet man, it was not just a passive silence &#8211; that he\u2019s not thinking about anything &#8211; but here we see he was listening to God, the Father. He was listening to instructions so that he could obey God\u2019s will.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And we see the angels saying \u201cBehold, take Mary to be your wife.\u201d And he does that. So we see also Joseph is a man of action, and we are called to be people of action. And I know this is very&#8230; this is familiar to you, that we hear people have dreams, you know, people dream. \u201cDreaming is free,\u201d I\u2019ve heard people say that. Dreaming is free, but the work itself is not. You have to sacrifice something. So Joseph wasn\u2019t just getting to dream, he wasn\u2019t just receiving this inspiration from the Father and sit down. No, he would get to work. Whatever he was told, he would obey, and I think this is a challenge to us. When we are really listening to the Father, when He tells us things to do, how well do we do them? Are we people of action? Are we people of action? Are we people who follow God\u2019s commandments? St. Joseph can lead us to Jesus. St. Joseph will lead us to Jesus, if I should say it like that. He is leading us to Jesus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"preparing-us-for-jesus\">Preparing us for Jesus<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>One time we were in a retreat, back in the year 2000, and there was one priest who was reflecting on the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Joseph, trying to have a comparison on how they lead us to Jesus. And he said that when it comes to the Blessed Virgin Mary, when we are reciting the Rosary, every time we recite the Rosary, she prepares a bouquet of flowers that she takes to Jesus Christ, especially during Mass. If you say 10 Rosaries during the week before you go for Mass, the Blessed Virgin Mary prepares 10 bouquets of flowers and puts our intentions, prepared them so well that she presents them to Jesus during the Mass. On the other side, he said \u201cWhen it comes to St. Joseph, when we seek his intercession, he looks into us, because he was a carpenter, he worked with his hands. He would take whatever is not good in us &#8211; our negativity, our bad attitude &#8211; he would chisel out whatever is not good out of us. Our hatred, chisel, chisel, chisel. And he would prepare us as a special gift carved by him to Jesus during the Mass.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, when you go to church, you have St. Joseph and the Blessed Virgin Mary. And either one, whoever you go to, they lead you to Jesus Christ, and especially St. Joseph. And it sounds like St. Joseph\u2019s way of preparing the gift is a more painful one, right, because he\u2019s chiseling out, and carving and, you know, and ironing out, and sanding, and making sure that it would look good to be a gift for Jesus. I thought that that was very interesting and very fascinating as well. So I invite St. Joseph to carve me out, so that when he is presenting me to Jesus, I am that special gift. There are people who work with wood and can probably envision that, vision, have that vision of carving and everything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"asking-help-from-st-joseph\">Asking Help from St. Joseph<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>So what\u2019s in your life that you need St. Joseph to come help you carve out? Is it restlessness? Is it not being able to quiet yourself like he did? Or is it being present? You know, in the current world, we are bombarded with so many things, we are required to do so much work, family, friends, we are all over the place. And St. Joseph can teach us to be present, because Joseph himself, during the time of Jesus and Mary, he was always present. He was always there. But the angel said \u201cFlee and go to Egypt.\u201d St. Joseph did as he was told. He was providing for them, he was taking care of them, he was fully present. And I think this is one of the things that I\u2019m praying for me, you know, to St. Joseph to help me, to help me be present; when it comes to my family, be present; when it comes to my work, be present; wherever I am, I be present.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With the gadgets and the phones and everything, video games, I see this happening all the time even in hotels, where people are just constantly on the phone; in the schools, people are constantly on their phone; in elevators, phone. You cannot even ask somebody \u201cGood morning,\u201d or \u201cHow are you doing?\u201d Their presence is occupied by something else, not their interactions. So I\u2019m really praying and asking St. Joseph to help me out on being present, so that I can give my best. Because when you\u2019re present, you\u2019re able to hear God\u2019s voice, and you\u2019re able to obey. When you\u2019re not present, when you\u2019re just partly present, and your soul and your mind is not there, you cannot hear God\u2019s voice. St. Joseph, with his&#8230; as a master of interior life, knew how to be present, and doing God\u2019s will requires being present.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Something else that is very fascinating about St. Joseph and I thought I would share here: I always thought that St. Joseph was an old man until a talk when I was going for Opus Dei sessions said that St. Joseph was a young man, and he\u2019s portrayed as a young man so that it can inspire us to preserve our purity. To be pure in mind, pure of heart, pure in the body. He\u2019s presented as a young man so he can inspire us to take care. He took care of the Blessed Virgin Mary\u2019s virginity, and was able to retain his purity and chastity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So today\u2019s call, my friend: What areas of your life do you need St. Joseph to come and touch? What areas of your life can St. Joseph come and help? Because he says \u201cCome to me and I\u2019ll help you. I will help you to get to Jesus. He\u2019s a family man. So your family, invite St. Joseph to your family. And what better way to unite the Holy Family&#8230; to unite your family with the Holy Family than through St. Joseph? He says \u201cCome to me with all your troubles, and I\u2019ll present them to Jesus and the Blessed Mother, and all of us will team up.\u201d Sometimes I think St. Joseph also shows us how not only to provide for our families, but also how to work together as a team, how Jesus likes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So today, in this talk, or in this particular session, ask the Holy Spirit to guide you. Ask the Holy Spirit to come and help you identify those places that need chiseling out, so that when St. Joseph is presenting you to Jesus, you will be a masterpiece. By the end of it all, by the end of it all, St. Joseph presents us to Jesus, his Son, the Son of God, and our prayers and his intercession prepare us as a special gift for Jesus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-ast-global-color-8-color has-text-color\">To recap, what we can learn from St. Joseph is being a master of our interior lives, being able to quiet our lives, being able to be present wherever we are, so that we can hear God\u2019s voice, to be present so that we can take care of those in need, to completely <a href=\"https:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\/trusting-god-in-the-unknown-healing-2019\/\">trust in God\u2019s providence, to completely trust that God<\/a> is speaking in our lives, and obeying His will. So we ask St. Joseph to take our intentions, we ask St. Joseph to prepare us as a special gift to Jesus, especially this Christmastime that\u2019s coming up. So as we go see <a href=\"https:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\/the-messiah-advent-2019\/\">Jesus<\/a>, as we welcome Jesus in our hearts, that we will be this beautiful masterpiece prepared by St. Joseph.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I hope that the viewpoints I\u2019ve shared will help you and help someone else to be inspired by St. Joseph. As I close, let us just ask the Holy Spirit to guide us in our next sessions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"closing-prayer\">Closing Prayer<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p><em>In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Thank You, Jesus, for this opportunity to share and to talk about St. Joseph. Thank You for the inspiration that he gives into us. He\u2019s our patron. Thank You for all of the additions of good things that he does in our lives. We surrender everything onto You. St. Joseph, come and intercede for us and inspire us. Blessed Virgin Mary, pray for us. St. John Paul II, pray for us. In the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy spirit. Amen. Thank you.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-heading\" id=\"about-john-kinuthia\">About John Kinuthia<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text alignwide is-stacked-on-mobile\" style=\"grid-template-columns:32% auto\"><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/John-Kinuthia-Headshot.png\" alt=\"John Kinuthia Retreat Speaker Photo\"\/><\/figure><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\/speaker-john-kinuthia\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">John Kinuthia<\/a><\/strong>&nbsp;is a Catholic Speaker and Retreat Presenter who&nbsp;inspires people to live their faith fully alive. In&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.johnkinuthia.com\/\">his ministry<\/a>, John is dedicated to helping every person Awaken the Saint Within. John is also the Director of Cornerstone Impact, a professional training and coaching company that facilitates engaging and highly impactful personal growth and professional development programs to strengthen&nbsp;teams,&nbsp;improve relationships and increase productivity.<br>\u200b<br>He was born and raised in Kenya&nbsp;and&nbsp;is the 2nd of 7 children. In Kenya, he was involved in many aspects of his Catholic Faith including a member of a \u2018Small Christian Community\u2019, Catholic Youth Leadership, and a member of VIDES Kenya, a volunteer organization that serves underprivileged children in the Nairobi Area, which is where he met his wife. In 2012, John came to the US to reunite with the love of his&nbsp;life and pursue his&nbsp;dreams. John enjoys spending time with his&nbsp;family. He and his&nbsp;wife are blessed with 3 beautiful boys; Joey, Caleb and Leo.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/The-Pray-More-Retreat-Bottom-Webpage-Image-1.jpg\" alt=\"The Pray More Retreat\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Summary Here John discusses the life of St. Joseph and how we can ask for his help to prepare us for the coming of Jesus. He encourages us to open ourselves to the Holy Spirit for guidance to have courage and strength to follow suit in the example of the life of St. Joseph. Thank [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5991,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","site-sidebar-layout":"no-sidebar","site-content-layout":"plain-container","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"disabled","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Looking Closer at Joseph This Advent - Advent 2019 - The Pray More Retreat<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\/looking-closer-at-joseph-this-advent-advent-2019\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Looking Closer at Joseph This Advent - Advent 2019 - The Pray More Retreat\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Summary Here John discusses the life of St. Joseph and how we can ask for his help to prepare us for the coming of Jesus. He encourages us to open ourselves to the Holy Spirit for guidance to have courage and strength to follow suit in the example of the life of St. Joseph. 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