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This is perhaps my favorite painting - Rest on the Flight into Egypt, 1879 Luc Olivier Merson (French, 1846–1920)

Fleeing persecution at the hands of Roman authorities, the Holy Family takes refuge in Egypt. Joseph dozes beside a dying campfire while his donkey grazes on sparse desert grass. At left sleep the Virgin Mary and infant Christ, crowned with a halo of light. They lie in the arms of a sphinx, its eyes turned to the heavens, where the first stars begin to appear.

I posted about this painting last year as I saw it at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston (where it is still on view, if the MFA is ever allowed to open up....). When I saw it up close, I noticed the painter Mercer seems to have left clues that St. Joseph is NOT asleep....his right arm is not lying flat, his left-hand fingers don't seem to be resting, and Mercer's brush strokes above the Foster Father of Jesus suggest movement.

What a message: the head of the Holy Family does not rest, he is alert and on guard, ready to protect his wife and adopted son. He does not recoil in horror from his vocation. He certainly has things on his mind, and the path is undoubtedly hard. But he DOES NOT QUIT.

Let us pray that all fathers and husbands who are out of work, find gainful employment soon. For those of us who are working, let us be thankful for our job and redouble our efforts for our customers. Lord, let the virus pass and open up our great nation (made great by You) so we men can follow this holy model of fidelity to our vocation. Amen.

Thank you (I wish there were a bigger word) THANK you for these perceptive thoughts about this marvel of a painting. You were rewarded for your prayerful, careful attention -- you saw what many, without a doubt, did not see, what I would not have seen.

I join my prayer with ours, to St. Joseph, to whom my diocese (Diocese of Knoxville) was recently dedicated.

Dear St. Joseph! Obedient, chaste, vigilant, strong! Selected of all men to be guardian and support of Him Who guards and supports the Cosmos! Pray to our Lord and God for us --- for us and with us --- that He might give us what we need, to make our way through this darkening world.

Dear St. Joseph, pray that those who guide the Church might learn humility and lean not on their own understanding, but on the Word of the Lord.

**Let us pray that all fathers and husbands who are out of work, find gainful employment soon. For those of us who are working, let us be thankful for our job and redouble our efforts for our customers. Lord, let the virus pass and open up our great nation (made great by You) so we men can follow this holy model of fidelity to our vocation. Amen. **

And stop the flow of abortions in the United States!