I took my car in for routine maintenance this morning, voiding early mass at St Clare. I was able to attend noon mass for the first time at Sacred Heart. Walking to the Adoration chapel, I encountered none other than the man who has been on my mind. J. Ivan Prcela,  with all of his ninty years, stood there talking in the hallway. I approached. He warmly received. We discussed Spain. I marvelled while reading his book on St Joseph that his wife was Spanish. She is native to a smaller Valencia town, near the city of Zaragoza, my mother’s hometown. He told me of meeting his wife in Spain, admitting he took the trip with every intention of finding a wife. The man’s charm is his frankness and lack of concern regarding the making of an impression. He is a character of simplicity within his complexity. I am astounded by the scholarly level of his writing. He is a true academic authority on St Joseph, an authentic intellectual voice properly rendering influence on the highest levels of the Church. It is his mission to establish Church dogma regarding the virginal grace of St Joseph’s life. The indisputable fact St Joseph was a virgin, never married, nor fathering other children. St Joseph was not an elderly man of eighty years. Ivan is a legitimate voice of such a sublime and bold assertion; scripture, saints, and doctors of the Church his sources. Notice the cover of the white book I posted deals singularly with organizing his sources. He sees himself as a modern day Duns Scotus, the Franciscan who intellectually battled for the Immaculate Conception of Mary through reason and debate. Ivan does the same for St Joseph. He corresponded with Pope John Paul II on the matter and continues to interact with other Church luminaries in the same regard. However put that aside. Ivan’s candid friendly manner announces his true joy is his faith, family, and fellowship. His academic writing achievements are embraced intelligently and passionately, yet his heart is grounded in faith, family, and friends. St Joseph is more than an intellectual pursuit. St Joseph is a model and practical inspiration, an example for the life of an authentic man of Christ. I love Father Doze’s identification of St Joseph as the shadow of the Father; like Mary a hidden treasure within a humble life lived, a man immersed within the mystery of God. I am positive Mary and Joseph smile upon my growing endearment with Ivan. I do differ in approach though, and it is not by choice. His education and life experiences raise him to an intellectual level I can only look up to and admire. However that said his ways are analytical, linear thinking amongst the immensity of Church thinking, reason and study bearing the weight of advancement. I easily understand that is not my way. My youthful desire to establish the life of a writer arose from brokenness. I am not a scholar, and feel none the less for the recognition, the acceptance. Previously, I envisioned the healing and justifying of myself could be accomplished by becoming a writer, a noted and unique thinker. I am convinced it is not a deeper calling. It is spiritual gluttony, an absorption in self, an attachment to sweet consolations. God only wanted me to sit still, to truly learn to be quiet and listen to Him. That is all I am called to be. That is my real business. Through the perfecting, love germinating and cultivating in my center, I can spread love upon my circumference, able to act and be of service to God. I knew the Hospice calls would cease for the time being. They will return. This weekend with family: a mother and a shared trip to Spain discussed, a son and his girlfriend, newborns, Brandon and Tyler, and of course Andre. A funny story, one that moves the heart, demonstrating the importance of a father figure, I was told during my mid-Sunday afternoon nap I became the focus of Andre’s delight, my loud snoring hilarious to the child. My mother said he climbed up next to me, watching me sleep, laughing when I snored. I am glad he finds it so amusing. Final note: Sacred Heart has Joseph and Mary together adorning the sanctuary. I noticed the fact today. Both St Clare and Sacred Heart are  the same in uniqueness. Sacred Heart is truly a visual splendor with its immense gold gilded sanctuary backdrop, stunning Trinitarian tribute, and a wonderful statue of David as a youth, a lamb upon his shoulders, his pouch of five stones ready for dispensing. Today, I absorbed the wall mounted statue of Joseph with his arm around Mary. I am touched how the two churches have emerged in my life.