Fidelity to Grace
S uppose you own a sailboat. One lovely day you set out for a sail, but alas! not a single breeze comes over the water. Progress is impossible, and after a while you give up the venture. The next day you try again. This time a strong, steady breeze fills the sails and the boat skims lightly over the waves. This comparison illustrates the working of grace in the soul. Without grace there can be no progress against temptations of life. With it, the soul’s progress to God is swift and easy. St. Joseph, with his eye firmly fixed on his final goal, responded with generous heart and ready will to the gentlest breathing of the Holy Spirit. His entire life was stamped with loving, ready consent to the movements of grace. God had His designs for St. Joseph, although they were not made clear to him from the beginning. Because he accepted each grace as it was given, the beauty of his soul increased from day to day. Finally, in God’s time, he was ready to become the spouse of the Mother of God and the foster father and guardian of her Child.
My God, I praise and bless and thank Thee for St. Joseph’s fidelity to grace. Grant that, through his loving intercession and the power of his example, I too may be faithful to grace. St. Joseph, intercede for me and obtain the favor I request . . .
Fidelity to the Interior Life
T he interior life of St. Joseph sprang from his special relationship with each of the three Divine Persons: he was the shadow of the eternal Father; the legal spouse of Mary, who had conceived by the Holy Spirit; the foster father of the Son of God. Only a man rooted deep in humility could accept these overwhelming truths. Each of them supplied him with thoughts too profound for words. Even as the Gospel tells us that Mary “treasured up all these sayings, and reflected on them in her heart,” so did St. Joseph turn aside from outward things to consider these mysteries in the depth of his soul. Distractions that plague us and avert our gaze from God left him quiet and undisturbed. From the perfect order which characterized his interior life proceeded that tranquility which is true peace.
My God, I praise and bless and thank Thee for St. Joseph’s fidelity to the interior life. Grant that, through his loving intercession and the power of his example, I too may be faithful to the interior life. St. Joseph, intercede for me, and obtain the favor I request . . .
Devotion to Our Lady
S aint Joseph, in his devotion to our Lady, was generous. Every moment of his time after his espousal to the loveliest of God’s creatures was completely devoted to her interests. He labored to provide for her a home that would be as comfortable as his poverty would allow. Joseph gave Mary everything he had—his name, a home, protection, support, and love—and knew that in giving them to her, he was giving them to Christ, who was her Son.
My God, I praise and bless and thank Thee for St. Joseph’s devotion to our Lady. Grant that, through his loving intercession and the power of his example, I too may be truly devoted to our Lady. St. Joseph, intercede for me, and obtain the favor I request . . .
Devotion to the Divine Child
The keynote to St. Joseph’s devotion to the unborn Christ was profound faith. The mystery of the Incarnation had been revealed to him, and he believed the angel’s message. His human intellect groped in a maze of overwhelming realities: Mary, his spouse, was to be a mother; her Child would be the Son of God; he, Joseph, would be, in the eyes of the world, His father. The long-awaited Messias was to be a member of his family! How could all this be? Day after day the mind of St. Joseph was completely absorbed by the wonder of the mystery. His eyes beheld the ever increasing loveliness of Mary. His heart yearned for the day when he might lift the Child in his arms and know that it was his privilege to take care of Him. A lesser man might have banished such a thought as being utterly presumptuous. In Joseph there was a perfect blending of the twin virtues, faith and humility. The constant prayer which welled up in his heart was an echo of our Lady’s own words: “Behold the servant of the Lord. Be it done unto me according to thy word.” Such faith and humility were magnificently rewarded: “And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us” . . . “being as it was supposed, the son of Joseph” (John 1:14; Luke 3:23).
My God, I praise and bless and thank Thee for St. Joseph’s devotion to the Divine Child. Grant that, through his loving intercession and the power of his example, I too may be truly devoted to the Divine Child. St. Joseph, intercede for me, and obtain the favor I request . . .
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