Feast Day of St. Joseph
March 19th
From a sermon by Saint Bernadine of Siena, priest
The faithful foster-father and guardian
There is a general rule concerning all special graces
granted to any human being. Whenever the divine favor chooses someone to
receive a special grace, or to accept a lofty vocation, God adorns the person
chosen with all the gifts of the Spirit needed to fulfill the task at hand.
This general rule is especially verified in the case of
Saint Joseph, the foster-father of our Lord and the husband of the Queen of our
world, enthroned above the angels. He was chosen by the eternal Father as the
trustworthy guardian and protector of his greatest treasures, namely, his
divine Son and Mary, Joseph’s wife. He carried out this vocation with complete
fidelity until at last God called him, saying: Good and faithful servant enter
into the joy of your Lord.
What then is Joseph’s position in the whole Church of
Christ? Is he not a man chosen and set apart? Through him and, yes, under him,
Christ was fittingly and honorably introduced into the world. Holy Church in
its entirety is indebted to the Virgin Mother because through her it was judged
worthy to receive Christ. But after her we undoubtedly owe special gratitude
and reverence to Saint Joseph.
In him the Old Testament finds its fitting close. He brought
the noble line of patriarchs and prophets to its promised fulfillment. What the
divine goodness had offered as a promise to them, he held in his arms.
Obviously, Christ does not now deny to Joseph that intimacy,
reverence and very high honor which he gave him on earth, as a son to his
father.
Rather we must say that in heaven Christ completes and perfects all that he gave at Nazareth.
Rather we must say that in heaven Christ completes and perfects all that he gave at Nazareth.
Now we can see how the last summoning words of the Lord
appropriately apply to Saint Joseph: Enter into the joy of your Lord. In fact,
although the joy of eternal happiness enters into the soul of a man, the Lord
preferred to say to Joseph: Enter into joy. His intention was that the words
should have a hidden spiritual meaning for us. They convey not only that this
holy man possesses an inward joy, but also that it surrounds him and engulfs
him like an infinite abyss.
Remember us, Saint Joseph, and plead for us to your
foster-child. Ask your most holy bride, the Virgin Mary, to look kindly upon
us, since she is the mother of him who with the Father and the Holy Spirit
lives and reigns eternally. Amen.
God has made me a father to the king and master of all his household.
He
has raised me up, that he might save many people.
The
Lord is my helper and protector; he is my savior.
He has raised me up, that he might save many people. Genesis 45:8; 50:20; Sirach 51:2
Taken
from the Liturgy of the Hours. March 19 http://divineoffice.org/
More info and prayers for St. Joseph can be found at
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