St. Joe

Happy Saint Joseph's Day to my wife, Sheduha. Joseph is the Patron Saint of Poland, and my wife traces her maternal lineage through the Ziemba family.

Saint Joseph was the husband of the Virgin Mary, and the earthly father of Jesus. Joseph was also an exceptionally good sport. What would any man's response be if their young wife announced she was pregnant, and you knew you could not be the father, and her claim was that God Almighty Himself was the father?

But Joseph believed in the Lord, and his wife, and raised the boy, teaching him the honorable carpenter's trade, and the virtue of an honest day's work, until the young man set out to do his other Father's work.

The Feast of Saint Joseph, while meatless because it falls during Lent, is celebrated with a sumptuous table of fish and pasta dishes, and especially pastries. So put away your shamrocks, wear something red, and enjoy a jelly-filled, poppyseed, or sweet cheese kolatchky.