For the perpetual excuse
of Adam for his fall — “My little Eve,
God bless her, did beguile me and I ate,”
For his insistence on a nurse,
All service, breast, and lap, for giving Fate
Feminine gender to make girls believe
That they can save him, you must now atone,
Joseph, in silence and alone;
While she who loves you makes you shake with fright,
Your love for her must tuck you up and kiss good night.
— Auden

Here’s how we can be more like St. Joseph, whose solemnity we celebrate today.

• Pray a lot.
• Don’t say much.
• Go where you’re told — and stay there until told otherwise.

Books: dug out a collection of short stories I haven’t touched since college - Stories of the Old South, edited by Ben Forkner and Patrick Samway, SJ. Last night I read “Athénaïse” by Kate Chopin. I could have sworn I read The Awakening at some point along the way, but I’m looking at plot summaries and I’m either mistaken or I’ve forgotten every bit of it. In either case, I want to read more of her work.

Still working my way through Benedict XVI’s Jesus of Nazareth and trying to get caught up on all the magazines which have landed.