March 11th — St. Joseph’s Second Joy. The Birth of Jesus.

11th Day. — St. Joseph’s Second Joy.

The Birth of Jesus.

1.  Though St.Joseph knew that the time of Our Lady’s delivery was drawing near, yet the birth of Jesus came upon him as a joyful surprise.  He anticipated the lot of his Foster-Son. “He came to His own, and His own received Him not.”  The reward of Joseph’s purity, chastity, patience, submission, gentleness, and sorrow, was the visible presence of the Son of God, the privilege of being the first of all the sons of men to behold Him.  Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God, was literally fulfilled for the first time in the person of St. Joseph.

2.  It was but fitting that the coming of Christ Jesus into the world should be surrounded by celestial wonders.  A choir of angels sang angelic melodies, and a brightness dazzling beyond the brightness of the sun illumined the cave and centered around the new-born Infant and His Virgin Mother.  St. Joseph saw the Holy Child, and the sight was heaven begun.  What was all the preceding sorrow compared with the unspeakable joy of that happy moment?

3.  Joseph was recalled to earthly things by hearing voices outside the cave, and seeing a group of shepherds coming to adore the newborn King.  It was not a dream, then, but a happy reality.  God was really come to dwell among men, and was born in that humble cave.  What mattered it if it was bare, and poor, and rough?  How much happier to be there sitting on the hard ground, poor and despised of men, than to be lolling on perfumed couches in the palace of Herod!  Where Jesus is, there is happiness.  What are outward things if we enjoy His peace?

 

 


This article, March 11th — St. Joseph’s Second Joy. The Birth of Jesus. is a post from The Bellarmine Forum.
https://bellarmineforum.org/devotional/the-catholic-daily/march-month-st-joseph/march-11th-st-josephs-second-joy-birth-jesus/
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