The Heart of St. Joseph

 

The heart is the greatest symbol of love, and thus, of vulnerability, therefore many of us are afraid to expose our hearts for fear of the unknown that may enter. However, if we choose to open our hearts to what we know is beneficial to it, what have we to fear? St. Joseph is a perfect example of one who opened wide the doors to his heart, choosing freely to give himself over to all that is good, and the only guaranteed good in this world is God. We ourselves must firstly ask for the grace of submission to God – for the courage to do this. Secondly, we must recognize and be thankful for the fruits of this grace, which God has given to us in His infinite mercy. Thus Joseph allowed the Almighty to inflame his heart, enveloping it with all the graces and mercies so precious to Heaven and earth, making it the perfect companion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

By entrusting this most fragile of gifts over to God, St. Joseph exclaimed his “Fiat – Let it be done unto me as you say!” thus showing us to place all our trust in the Lord, waking our hearts to be more receptive to the graces which God wishes to send us. Only when we do this can we allow Him to enter, since our prides and arrogances act as locked doors to our inmost being.

The Lord is constantly knocking in the hopes that we may allow Him entry into our humble abode (Revelation 3:20), however unlike St. Joseph who willingly opened wide the door to his heart, many of us continue to place obstacles behind our own doors and reinforce our locks. We refuse to open our hearts to God’s Will, instead selfishly clinging to our own. Because St. Joseph denied himself, therefore allowing the Lord to enter his heart, he obtained the Lord’s most precious treasures – Jesus and Mary. And so with his example let us do, and obtain, the same.