Sleeping St. Joseph & a Sleeping Priest
Dear Friends,
This past weekend celebrated the Feast of St. Joseph. While praying to St. Joseph on Saturday, I recalled one of my favorite images of him, Sleeping St. Joseph.
It brings me joy to share with you the story of how one amazing priest served by Catholic Leadership Institute reminds me of Sleeping St. Joseph and how CLI accompaniment helped him navigate “shark-infested waters.”
May St. Joseph bless and watch over your families as we celebrate him this month. May he, the Patron Saint of Carpenters and the Universal Church (amongst many other revered titles), guide us all as we seek to build the future of our Church!
Game-changing Generosity
This Lenten season, my eyes remain focused on anticipating the miracle of the Resurrection. This miracle profoundly changed everything. Such a transformation requires guts, grace, and generosity.
In the same way, your generosity can be that gamechanger for priests.
The 4,489 priests Catholic Leadership Institute (CLI) is honored to have served affirm the transformative power of your giving every single day. Msgr. Garza is one of those priests…
Meet Msgr. Roberto Garza, Archdiocese of Miami, FL
Msgr. Garza wears many hats: Pastor of St. Joachim Church, Vicar for Priests for the Archdiocese of Miami, President of PAX Catholic Communications, and CEO and Chairman of the Board of Catholic Charities to name a few.
With all of these many important and inspiring responsibilities, Catholic Leadership Institute CEO, Dan Cellucci wondered – “Msgr., what challenges keep you up at night?”
In the spirit of Sleeping St. Joseph, Msgr. Garza replied: “Nothing really keeps me up at night. I am able to sleep, and I remember my dreams when I wake up. I sleep soundly and profoundly.”
He attributes that sleep to a blend of blessings throughout his vocation: formation in seminary, formation by his parents, formation in Rome… and guidance from Catholic Leadership Institute.
Swimming Through Shark-infested Waters with CLI
When he reached his first assignment as a priest, Msgr. Garza thought to himself: “God is going to ask something big of me, and I’m scared.” He describes the early days of his priesthood as “being thrown into shark infested waters,” because of the many, many challenges.
During that time, he was invited to CLI’s priestly training program, Good Leaders, Good Shepherds. When asked his thoughts on CLI’s support, tears rush to his eyes: “That is why I am a priest still today – it gave me the tools to be an instrument of God at a difficult, difficult time. People wonder how it seems like I can do everything; it is because of those CLI tools I learned.”
Sleeping Well; Serving Well
Today, Msgr Garza still uses the lessons, learnings, and love he received from Catholic Leadership Institute.
We are blessed to serve priests like Msgr. Garza; we are blessed he took those tools and used them to grow, learn, and care for fellow Catholics; we are blessed that he sleeps well and sleeps deeply at night, so that he may serve our faith so well and so deeply each day.
St. Joseph, Pray for Us!
Pope Francis also has a special love for Sleeping St. Joseph, sharing, “I like St. Joseph very much. He’s a strong man of silence. On my desk, I have an image of St. Joseph sleeping. Even when he is asleep, he looks after the Church. Yes! We know that he can do that. So, when I have a problem, a difficulty, I write a little note, and I put it underneath St. Joseph, so that he can dream about it! In other words, I tell him: Pray for this problem!”
Let’s place a note under our own Sleeping St. Joseph statues and pray together for our priests who answer the call to the “something big” God has planned for them… even when they may be scared, much like Jesus did for our salvation.
Sleeping St. Joseph, pray for us, our families, and our priests who seek to model the love and sacrifice of your beloved Son!
𝒲𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝓂𝒶𝓃𝓎 𝒷𝓁ℯ𝓈𝓈𝒾𝓃ℊ𝓈,
𝒞𝒽𝒶𝒹
Our CEO Daniel Cellucci's weekly email, the DIAL: Discerning Insights About Leadership.
CLI serves Church leaders, helping them rediscover their potential and forming them to be more intentional with those they serve.
CLI helps empower and energize Catholic leaders by providing focus and courage to engage the culture with an apostolic mindset.
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