"Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God." (Matthew 5:8)"Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God." (Matthew 5:8)
Fidelity to Grace
Saint Luke has provided us with the vivid details of an episode which emphasizes the truth of Christ's pronouncement: "Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God."
The scene is Jerusalem. A young couple reverently approach the Temple. In her arms the mother holds a tiny Baby; her husband carries a cage which contains two pigeons - the ceremonial offering prescribed for poor people upon their presentation in the Temple of their forty-day-old baby boy.
As they make their way through the sacred edifice to the appointed spot, the young couple are stopped by one who has long been a familiar figure to Temple visitors - "old Anna," as they call her. Bent beneath the weight of more than four-score years, with eyes grown dim and lusterless, she gazes in rapture at the tiny Babe. Then in joyous tones she proclaims Him the Redeemer of Israel. The bystanders smile pityingly at her, surmising that her age has affected her wits. But Anna's heart has been purified by prayer and penance. Her vision has been illuminated by grace. Looking upon the Infant Son of Mary, she recognizes Him as the Messias, the Son of God.
Without a word, but with hearts uplifted in praise of God for His gifts to His creatures, Mary and Joseph advance toward the altar of the ceremony. Again they are stopped. A venerable man, dignified and sure of step, moves quickly toward them. Emotion has flooded his eyes with tears. Silently he stretches forth his arms, and without a question Mary places in them her precious burden. After long moments Simeon's words burst forth in a canticle of gratitude and praise. He, too, recognizes in Mary's Babe the long-awaited Redeemer. Responding to the grace of the moment - a grace granted as reward for his fidelity to grace during many years - Simeon, like Mary, like Joseph, like Anna, enjoys a foretaste of the bliss of heaven. From his heart, purified by the Living Flame of the Holy Spirit, comes the blessed proclamation of this Child as the "Light of revelation to the Gentiles, and a glory for Thy people Israel" (Luke 2:32).
Prayer
Dear Saint Joseph, as I make my examination of conscience each day, remind me to invoke the Holy Spirit. Help me to increase my intimacy with this Divine Guest who dwells within my soul that, by His light, I may be able to recognize Christ and His will for me in whatever disguise He comes to me each moment of the day.
Concluding Prayer
Almighty Father, from whom all graces come: I praise and bless and thank Thee for Saint Joseph's fidelity to grace. Grant that, through his loving intercession, I, too, may be faithful to grace. O my powerful patron Saint Joseph, obtain for me the favor I now ask.
Fidelity to the Interior Life
The heart and mind of Saint Joseph were stored with accounts of the history of his people - the people of Abraham, and Jacob, and David the King, through whom he traced his own lineage, as Saint Matthew has recorded in the first chapter of his Gospel. Joseph knew thoroughly the history of the Jewish race - its glorious election by God, its perversity and ingratitude, its stubborn sinfulness. Moreover, he comprehended the mysterious fact of man's solidarity in sin. Although he had spent his whole life in the single-minded effort to live in perfect conformity with God's will and to keep his heart unsullied by sin, he knew the oppressive burden of sorrow and suffering which is man's legacy from Adam. He knew, too, grief at the present behavior of his race. In Bethlehem he witnessed the Jews' callous indifference to Mary in her hour of need. He learned how, in Jerusalem, the scribes and chief priests, revealing their knowledge of the Messianic prophesies when questioned by Herod, yet irresponsibly disregarded them. In Egypt Joseph suffered the neglect, the discrimination which many a refugee in a foreign land has experienced. In Nazareth, the little town which was so despised - "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" (John 1:46) - Joseph saw his Divine foster Son offering to His heavenly Father the adoration of a perfect life amid the unreceptive, earthly-minded townspeople.
With vision clarified by grace, Saint Joseph recognized in each situation the failure of his fellow men to correspond to God's designs. And in proportion to their failure he intensified his own efforts to offset their sinfulness by his own purity of soul. For his zeal, his fidelity, his generosity, his fervor there was a blessed reward: "Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God."
Prayer
Dear Saint Joseph, help me to increase my spirit of reparation. Obtain for me the grace of fervor in prayer that, in union with Christ's sufferings and death, renewed in each holy Mass, I may offer the prayers, works, joys and sufferings of each day in reparation for my sins and for the sins of the whole world.
Concluding Prayer
Almighty Father, from whom all graces come: I praise and bless and thank Thee for Saint Joseph's fidelity to the interior life. Grant that, through his loving intercession, I, too, may be faithful to the interior life. O my powerful patron Saint Joseph, obtain for me the favor I now ask.
Devotion to Our Lady
In an elegant ballroom in the White House in Washington, two highly polished mirrors hang opposite each other. Between them is suspended an exquisite crystal chandelier. The reflection of the chandelier in one mirror, caught by the other and reflected into the first, and the mutual multiplication of reflections creates the brilliant illusion of an endless series of chandeliers.
The life at Nazareth might be compared to that room. For about thirty years in his humble dwelling in Nazareth, Joseph marveled at the loveliness of Our Lady, who caught and reflected the image of Incarnate Beauty, Christ, the spotless Lamb of God. But Mary was not the only one lending beauty to that simple home. Gazing at His Mother, catching and reflecting God's image as He saw it reflected in her, was Christ, Saint Joseph's foster Son. Mary reflecting Christ, Christ reflecting Mary who was reflecting Christ - here was no illusion for Saint Joseph, but a reality with mysterious depths.
The loveliness of Mary, full of grace, eludes any artist's pen or brush. But it did not elude the gaze of Joseph. In her he beheld afresh each day the attractiveness of that hallowed Ark of the Covenant which had sheltered for nine months the Incarnate Word. Joseph revered Mary as the beloved daughter of the heavenly Father, the virgin mother of the Eternal Word, the chaste spouse of the Holy Spirit, the immaculate temple of the Blessed Trinity. "Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God." The intense purity and holiness of Saint Joseph's heart can be deduced from the degree of his intimacy with Mary and her Divine Son. God gave him the grace of purity that he might be worthy of his vocation. Through his correspondence with this grace, he increased constantly in holiness, fulfilling the mystical meaning of his name which signifies "Increase," or "Augment."
Prayer
Dear Saint Joseph, I realize that no one can have the gift of purity unless God gives it to him. Obtain for me the prudence I need to protect this delicate virtue. Teach me to imitate your wisdom and fortitude that I may reflect in my life this virtue of the strong.
Concluding Prayer
Almighty Father, from whom all graces come: I praise and bless and thank Thee for Saint Joseph's devotion to Our Lady. Grant that, through his loving intercession, I, too, may be truly devoted to Our Lady. O my powerful patron Saint Joseph, obtain for me the favor I now ask.
Devotion to the Divine Child
Two keys are needed to open the precious jewel box within which reposes a "pearl of great price," the resplendent virtue of purity. The first of these keys, God's grace, will not be withheld from anyone who humbly asks for it in prayer. But God's grace alone will not suffice; there must be co-operation with that grace. Thus, a second key is necessary: man's persistent effort. This effort must be exercised in two directions: in times of temptation, by prayer and self-discipline; at other times, by unremitting devotion to duty. The latter is a form of mortification distasteful to human nature. It leaves one with a minimum of idle moments - and idle moments, it is well known, provide Satan with an ideal opportunity for successful attack.
Here, again, the life of Saint Joseph offers inspiration. In an era in which machinery had not yet stolen from man the privilege of exercising the creative powers latent in his fingers, the work of a carpenter was extremely time-consuming. We learn something of the conditions of Saint Joseph's work from Saint Justin Martyr, who wrote in the second century. He tells us that Saint Joseph and the Boy Christ made farming implements as well as a variety of other indispensable articles. In all probability Joseph and Jesus, like other carpenters of their time, sought out and felled their own trees in the woods, and prepared their own lumber before constructing the plows, the furniture, the houses and barns that were needed in Nazareth. All this required muscle-straining toil, wearying hours, strenuous attention to details. At the same time, it was work conducive to contemplation. In the carpenter shop of Nazareth an atmosphere of peace and recollection prevailed. It was a sanctuary made holy by the presence of the Son of God. Of Joseph preeminently among men it could be said: "Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God."
Prayer
Dear Saint Joseph, I invoke you as Model of Workingmen. Be my model in all the work I undertake for the honor and glory of God. Help me to sanctify, by my union with Christ, each moment devoted to work. Obtain for me the grace to be humble and to accept each task generously as coming from a loving and provident Father. May I labor always, whether in obscurity or in a prominent position, to use whatever talents God has given me to promote His honor and glory and thus merit an eternal reward.
Concluding Prayer
Almighty Father, from whom all graces come: I praise and bless and thank Thee for Saint Joseph's devotion to the Divine Child. Grant that, through his loving intercession, I, too, may be truly devoted to Jesus. O my powerful patron Saint Joseph, obtain for me the favor I now ask.
- taken from Reflecting on Saint Joseph: A Nine-Day Devotion, by Sister Emily Joseph Daly, C.S.J.