When Jesus Christ, while hanging on the Cross, said to His blessed Mother, pointing at the same time to St. John the Apostle, Woman, behold thy son . . . Behold thy mother. [John 19: 26, 27], He intended to place all the human race under her protection in the person of the beloved disciple, who then, says St. Bernardine of Sienna, represented all the elect. In like manner, we may believe that the Eternal Father, in appointing St. Joseph, in his capacity of Head of the Holy Family, to guide and protect Jesus and Mary during the flight into Egypt, to watch over and provide for them, designed to place all men under his fatherly care, and to inspire them with veneration for a Saint to whom He confided the most precious trust---the Savior of the World, the Incarnate Word, the Source of all Delights, and the Center of all the Riches of Paradise. This motive alone suffices to inspire us with a tender devotion to St. Joseph; but a still more powerful one is the example which the Son of the Most High has given us. The whole life of the Savior is a perfect, or to speak more properly, a Divine model proposed to our imitation. For I have given you an example, said He, that as I have done to you, so you do also. [St. John, 13: 15.] Now let us consider the example that He has left us regarding the honor we should pay to St. Joseph. Jesus was the first among men to honor him; He saw in this holy patriarch the representative of the Eternal Father, Who had made him His guardian upon earth; therefore He always considered him as a father; and had He really been his son, He could not have shown him greater respect. --Fr. Joseph Anthony Patrignani, SJ,
Posted on: Wed, 19 Mar 2014 17:26:39 +0000
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