{"id":302094,"date":"2016-09-29T13:28:24","date_gmt":"2016-09-29T18:28:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/?p=302094"},"modified":"2016-09-29T16:23:25","modified_gmt":"2016-09-29T21:23:25","slug":"go-joseph-gen-4155","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2016\/09\/go-joseph-gen-4155\/","title":{"rendered":"Go to Joseph (Gen. 41:55)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Go<\/p>\n

On March 4, 2004 in my sixth year of law enforcement, I was involved in a car chase that spanned four counties and ended in a shoot-out with a man carrying drugs worth half a million dollars. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Traveling at 100 mph in my police vehicle a tire blew out. \u00a0The night before, I had a dream that I was in a car crash while traveling very fast on FM 649 where there was a giant 500 foot dip in the road. \u00a0During the real car chase, I remembered the dream and slowed down as I approached the dip. \u00a0I thought “all is good the danger is over.” \u00a0To my shock, a few miles after driving past this area in the dream, I sped up again thinking I was past the danger and then a tire blew out. \u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

My mind immediately switched gears and everything began to happen in milliseconds. I did remember to never correct the vehicle or you will rollover. \u00a0The video tape shows that the blowout lasted 8 seconds but it seemed like an eternity. \u00a0By the way, 8 seconds is the amount of time a bull rider is on a bull! \u00a0It seemed like a lifetime and my mind raced while calling out to Jesus and then to Mary but I still felt hopeless so I cried out to St. Joseph. <\/span><\/p>\n

My mind raced remembering accidents I witnessed as a cop of people traveling much slower who died after tire blowouts, so I knew my time and number had come up. \u00a0At 70 mph you have a very good chance of dying if you have a tire blow out. \u00a0At 80 or 90 mph it is certain death. \u00a0At 100 mph you have a straight ticket to heaven or hell! \u00a0One county newspaper wrote, \u201c..Deputy Rodriguez experienced a blowout and lost control of his vehicle. \u00a0It was a MIRACLE he did not flip or crash into a metal gate entrance he was headed to but rather bounced off a high embankment, went airborne and collided with a light pole then landed on his four tires blowing all of them out.\u201d \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When I went airborne I cried out to St. Joseph one last time with all my heart as I knew that once I hit the ground I would begin the treacherous vehicle rollovers that usually break your neck at such high speed, but instead no such thing happened, as when I landed, the tires rammed into the caliche (limestone) bedrock imbedding all four tires all the way to the axel of the SUV police vehicle. \u00a0The landing was so hard that it blew out the remaining three tires, and it was this final act of God that saved my life from the deadly rollovers.<\/p>\n

\"Source

Source of newspaper: Hebbronville View<\/p><\/div>\n

Thanks to St. Joseph, I miraculously walked out from the vehicle…though in my heart I knew and know that I should have died that day. \u00a0I also knew I would never be the same in mind, body, soul, and spirit. I exited the vehicle on my own crying and laughing not believing that I was alive. \u00a0I even touched myself to make sure I was not hallucinating or dreaming. \u00a0I felt cold and some chills. \u00a0I knew I was experiencing shock and I knew and felt that this event would change me forever. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The video recorder was on and you can hear me not just calling but screaming out to St. Joseph. \u00a0Looking at the video, miraculously it seems that an invisible hand or force was guiding the vehicle escaping one obstacle after another during the 8-second ordeal. \u00a0While I did receive\u00a0a severe whiplash that tore the back of my neck muscles that put me out for a year and a\u00a0half, the miracle is that I lived at all. \u00a0For this reason, I wish to tell the world about the powerful saint who saved my life.<\/span><\/p>\n

Saint Joseph became my spiritual father for everything. \u00a0In thanksgiving for the whole event and the many blessings to my family, I set up a roadside shrine with a 6 foot statue of Saint Joseph on a 3 foot cement pedestal at a friend\u2019s ranch 3 hours south of San Antonio on Hi-way 16. \u00a0It is exactly 140 miles south of San Antonio in the heart of the Wild Horse Desert.<\/span><\/p>\n

I have often thought of what St. Teresa of Avila wrote in the 16<\/span>th<\/span> century, \u201cI took for my patron and lord the glorious Saint Joseph, and recommended myself earnestly to him. \u00a0I saw clearly that both out of this my present trouble, and out of others of greater importance, relating to…the loss of my soul, this my father and lord delivered me, and rendered me greater services than I knew how to ask for…I am filled with amazement when I consider\u2026the dangers from which he has delivered me, both of body and soul.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

After this event, I no longer felt invincible in fact quite the opposite. \u00a0Interiorly and physically there was a limp. \u00a0If you look at my head it sits a little tilted as it connects to the neck while before it was normal. \u00a0The best way to explain it is when Jacob wrestled with the angel of the Lord. \u00a0After this, he would limp for the rest of his life, but a new Jacob arises who is now called Israel. \u00a0One that the Lord can use since it is when we are weak that we are really strong because we depend on Him.<\/span><\/p>\n

So “go to Joseph” as the whole world did in the time of famine and death in Egypt, (Gen. 41:55) and he will intercede for you. \u00a0Take him as your father as Jesus did, and he will make you strong! \u00a0For me, one career ended and another started via St. Joseph. \u00a0Maybe without the limp, I would be even more proud, vain, and self-absorbed. I have learned that weakness is actually a blessing because it is a constant reminder I need to rely on God and that any day now my number can come up. <\/span><\/p>\n

ST. JOSEPH PRAY FOR US. \u00a0AMEN.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Shrine

The shrine I built<\/p><\/div>\n

    \n
  1. JOSEPH PRAYER FOR THE MONTH OF OCTOBER<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    (A plenary indulgence for praying it daily for a month)<\/span><\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    On March 4, 2004 in my sixth year of law enforcement, I was involved in a car chase that spanned four counties and ended in a shoot-out with a man carrying drugs worth half a million dollars. \u00a0 Traveling at 100 mph in my police vehicle a tire blew out. \u00a0The night before, I had… [Read More]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_wpcom_ai_launchpad_first_post":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"{title}\n\n{excerpt}\n\n{url}","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[90],"tags":[97,657,303],"class_list":["post-302094","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-faith-blog","tag-devotion","tag-joseph","tag-saint","entry","has-post-thumbnail"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t