I4th Meditation.
"And
to offer a sacrifice according as it is written in the law of the Lord, a pair
of turtle doves, or two young pigeons."
-Saint Luke ii. 24.
Descendant of the kings of
Judah, Joseph is reduced to the offering of the poor; but this causes him no
shame, he esteems himself richer than the richest kings, richer than even David
or Solomon in all their glory, for Joseph possesses Jesus. Though poor in this
world's goods he sees no disgrace in that. For himself, is not he the spouse of
Mary and the adopted Father of Jesus? And Mary? she is the Mother of Jesus. And
the Child? That very Son of David, whose reign shall know no limit, no end, and
whose throne shall be eternal!
What is there humiliating in
poverty or glorious in riches? If I am poor it is either because I will it or
God wills it, and this consciousness frees me from the fetters which turn man
into a slave to gold. Shall I then blush at a poverty that assures me
independence, liberty, nobility, and grandeur! No, it shall not be thus. I will
desire not only to be but to appear poor, for I wish to be like Jesus, Mary,
and Joseph.
Watchword.-Let your requirements be
less each day.
14. Saint Joseph and Bossuet.
In 1657 Bossuet preached in
Saint Joseph's honour a sermon so beautiful that he was called on to repeat it
two years later in the presence of the Queen-mother. It was that sermon which
has for text: Depositum custodi. On the 19th of March 1661 Anne of Austria
desired again to listen to the great orator, who, applying to Saint Joseph the
words addressed to David when Samuel came to anoint him king of Israel,
preached from this text: Quæsivit sibi Deus virum juxta cor suum-"God has
sought for Himself a man after His own heart."
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