Day 30: St. Joseph: No Ordinary Man

Joseph had dreams.  He had fallen in love with Mary.  Who wouldn't?  She was the most beautiful bride every conceived.  He probably had their lives mapped out in his mind.  He was a just man the Bible tells us.  A man whose lineage would play in to God's salvific plan for humanity.  So this simple, ordinary carpenter was called upon God to do something extraordinary: raise the Son of God and be the Spouse to the Mother of God.  Thus he was no ordinary man.  The guardian, protector of the Holy Family who at first feared taking in his bride is told "do not be afraid" and embraces his unlikely vocation to fatherhood with total surrender just as his bride had.  How did he do this?  St. Bernadine  of Siena writes:  "Whenever the divine favor chooses someone to receive a special grace, or to accept a lofty vocation, God adorns the person chosen with all the gifts of the Spirit needed to fulfill the task at hand."  Translated for each of us: God endows us with the graces necessary when he calls us to do something that we deem impossible.  Joseph is our model and great intercessor when we are discerning God's will.  So if God is calling you to do something extraordinary, turn to St. Joseph for his prayers, so that God will give you the grace to carry out his divine will.