Today is the Solemnity of Saint Joseph — one of my favorite days of the liturgical year, even though it doesn’t get much notice (mostly because it’s not a holy day of Obligation in the United States).

Now, I don’t love the feast just because it’s a little break from Lent. (traditionally, we do not fast on solemnities) or even because it’s the time to eat one of my favorite guilty pleasures: the zeppole:

Note what I said above about not fasting! Zeppole are delicious Sicilian doughnuts, fired in oil and covered in sugar. They take their name from the Italian for Joseph — Giuseppe!

No, the real reason I love this feast is because of the traditional way of celebrating it. In Italy, it is traditional to cook a huge meal on Saint Joseph’s Day. Think all of your very favorite Italian foods in ridiculous quantities. All of the food is displayed on Saint Joseph’s Table and EVERYONE is invited to partake — friends, neighbors, strangers off the street, the homeless guy who hangs out at the bus stop, your pastor — EVERYONE. The point of the observance is radical hospitality. It reflects Saint Joseph’s overwhelming generosity in welcoming a child that was not his.

Now, it’s probably too late for you to cook an enormous Italian feast, but is there some way you can show hospitality today or in the near future? Can you invite someone to dinner? Can you prepare dinner for someone dealing with a new baby or with illness? Have dinner delivered to a fire station or a police station or a hospital emergency department or a faculty dining room at a school?

Think generous hospitality — like Saint Joseph.