Befriending St. Joseph: Finding Faith, Hope, and Courage in the Seven Sorrows Devotion

After Pope Francis declared 2020 the year of St. Joseph, interest in the patriarch of the Holy Family and patron of the Universal Church was heightened worldwide.

In Befriending St. Joseph, popular blogger Deacon Greg Kandra leads you on a journey of imaginative exploration and spiritual renewal rooted in the few Bible stories where Joseph is written about. This book offers a fresh take on the centuries-old devotion known as the Seven Sorrows of St. Joseph and provides an opportunity to ponder Joseph’s role in our salvation and to become more like him.

Although the Bible doesn’t record St. Joseph saying a single word, we know he became what God wanted him to be with patience, attention, trust, and prayer. The biblical account of Jesus’s life shows us that St. Joseph had faith in times of uncertainty and courage in times of danger. Kandra shows us Joseph as a gentle man, pure of heart, trusting in God, and a role model for those who feel unworthy or unready.

Through guided reflections, Kandra helps you imagine what life may have been like for Joseph, Mary, and Jesus and offers guidance to help you better navigate your own life, with particular attention to trust, purity of heart, courage, and persistence in faith. Kandra invites you to:

• trust the mystery of God when life seems shattered;
• persist in caring for those you love, guide, and protect;
• be courageous and compassionate in the face of suffering;
• find strength to comfort others;
• attend to those on the margins;
• pray for the grace of endurance; and
• expect to find Christ in unexpected places.

Each chapter of Befriending St. Joseph includes a scriptural verse about Joseph that lies at the heart of the devotion, original prayers by Kandra, and questions for self-reflection, journaling, or faith sharing. The appendixes include additional prayers to St. Joseph and an adaption of the Seven Sorrows devotion for group prayer.

Greg Kandra was ordained as a deacon for the Diocese of Brooklyn in 2007 and most recently served as a senior writer at the Catholic Near East Welfare Association. He is the author of A Deacon Prays and writes The Deacon’s Bench blog. Kandra was a writer and producer for CBS News from 1982 to 2008 for programs including The CBS Evening News with Katie Couric, Sunday Morning, 60 Minutes II, and 48 Hours. He also served for four years as a writer and producer on the live finale of the hit reality show Survivor.

Kandra has received two Peabody Awards, two Emmy Awards, four Writers Guild of America Awards, four Catholic Media Association Awards, and a Christopher Award for his work. In 2017, he was named Clergy of the Year by the Catholic Guild of Our Lady of the Skies Chapel at JFK International Airport. He earned a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Maryland. Kandra cowrote the acclaimed CBS documentary 9/11. He contributed to three books, including Dan Rather’s Deadlines and Datelines and a homily series. His work has been published in America, US Catholic, Busted Halo, and The Tablet. The author of six books, he has been a regular guest on Catholic radio and is a popular speaker and retreat leader.

Kandra retired in 2022 and now lives with his wife in Florida, where he serves as a deacon for the Diocese of Orlando.