It is not always easy to resist the many temptations of the flesh and the spirit of today's world: they are particularly rampant in the media, social networks, and the Internet at large. However, the Apostle Paul reminds us that our body is the Temple of the Holy Spirit. We ought to respect it for our own benefit, for our neighbor's, and for God's. Prayer will always help us fight off the repeated attacks of Satan.

Nowadays, adopting or joining a family where children are already present can feel challenging for fathers, as they welcome children who aren't their own flesh and blood. May our prayers help them to love these children as Joseph loved Jesus, and trust in God unwaveringly. May they understand the privilege of their task, and may they take part in building the Lord's Kingdom by spreading love in these new homes.

Lection divina: Mt 1: 22-25 (NABRE)

Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel, which means “God among us.” When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home. He had no relations with her until she bore a son, and he named him Jesus.

After meditating on this passage from Matthew's Gospel, let us ponder the following speech to the youth from the Holy Pope John Paul II (June 1980):

"Human beings are corporeal beings. As material as it may be, the body is not an object: it is someone, in that it is the manifestation of a person, a mean through which we can be present to others. The body is a speech, a language. What a wonderful thing, and what a sign! Have the utmost respect for your body and the body of others. May your body be at the service of your deep self. May your actions, your gaze always be the reflection of your soul. Adoration of the body? No, never! Contempt for the body? No, not that either! Control of the body? Yes! Transfiguration of the body? Even more!" 

Prayer:

O St. Joseph, you joyfully answered to the angel's call by taking Mary, your spouse, into your home: in doing so, you respected the work of God within her.

Your love for her never lacked attention and gentleness. I hereby consecrate to you today my vocation to love, my emotional life, and my worldly attachments.

I know that the purity of the gaze and of the heart is both a combat and and a gift from God, a grace.

Grant me to live and practice chastity according to my state, in a spirit of self-giving, to become a witness of the faithfulness and the gentleness of God!

I entrust to your care the couples preparing for marriage, and the youth who are learning the process of Pure Love, of which Mary is the Mother.

Amen.

(fr source: https://www.diocese-frejus-toulon.com/6eme-jour-Saint-Joseph-modele/de.html)

Practical action:

Do I know a dad who was tempted to give up the chastity to which his body of husband and father is bound? What did I feel when I saw or heard him? How was I able to help him? What if this happened to me, as a dad?