Liturgy and Lectio: Dwelling in God’s House with St. Joseph

Blessed are those who dwell in your house, O Lord;
they never cease to praise you.

Beáti qui hábitant in domo tua, Dómine, in perpétuum laudábunt te.

Verse before the Gospel – Psalm 84:5 –
Solemnity of St. Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary, March 19

A Sister shares her reflections:

I have always liked Psalm 84 with its themes of desiring and extolling the beauty of the dwelling place of the Lord, resonating with my own desires for God and the heavenly homeland. In the liturgical context reflecting through the lens of St. Joseph, one could easily say that this was surely one of the psalms he knew by heart and used to sing himself with Jesus and Mary on their pilgrimages each year up to Jerusalem as faithful Jews. But more than that, it speaks to me of the dearest joy of his heart: dwelling with Jesus and Mary.

I linger with the word dwelling in all the richness of the word: abiding together, living in peaceful unity, sharing the intimacy of life and love. This was certainly the privilege and sweetest joy of his life, for which he never ceased to praise the Lord. My own soul expands with happiness as I remember my own longing, starting in my youth, that gradually grew as I did, ever attracted and drawn to the idea of living under the same roof with the Blessed Sacrament. Particularly in the last couple years before I entered the monastery, my holy desire to dwell with Jesus grew intensely, fueled by the increasing awareness that He desired to dwell with me in a special and beautiful way beyond all my desiring.

It is now my privilege and sweetest joy, as a cloistered nun, to dwell with Jesus and Mary. Now each day I sing with the psalmist and St. Joseph: How blessed am I to dwell in Your house, Our Lord; may I never cease to praise You!