As we prepare to celebrate the Solemnity of St. Joseph this Friday, the following quote from St. Bernardine of Siena (1400s) is a good meditation.
Whenever the divine favor chooses someone for a special grace or an exalted position, it endows the person thus chosen with all the gifts necessary for him and for this task. This was pre-eminently verified in St. Joseph, the foster father of Jesus Christ and true spouse of the Queen of Heaven and Mistress of Angels. He was chosen by the Father as the faithful foster father and guardian of his principal treasures, that is, his son and his spouse. If you compare him to the whole Church of Christ, is he not that chosen and unique man through whom and under whom Christ was brought into the world with due order and honor? If then, the entire holy Church is in debt to the Virgin Mother, because, through her, she was made worthy to receive Christ, after Mary, she (the Church) owes him gratitude and singular veneration. For he is the key of the Old Testament, in whom the dignity of the patriarchs and the prophets attain its promised fruit. There can be no doubt that in heaven Christ did not deny Joseph that familiarity, reverence, and exalted dignity which he tendered him as a son to his father while he lived among men. He rather increased and perfected it.
How powerful are the prayers of St. Joseph? St. Teresa of Avila (1500s) answers:
The Lord wants us to understand that just as he was subject to St. Joseph on earth – for since bearing the title of father, being the Lord’s tutor, Joseph could give the child commands – so in heaven God does whatever he commands.
St. Ambrose (late 300s), St. Augustine (early 400s), St. Thomas Aquinas (1200s) and others give similar statements about the power of St. Joseph’s intercession.
May we continue to grow in our devotion of Joseph whom God the Father appointed to be the human father of His Son, Jesus, and virginal spouse of Jesus’ Mother!
God bless
FRVW