He was one of the seventy-two disciples of our Lord, and was put
in competition with St. Matthias to succeed the traitor Judas in
the apostleship.[237] St. Chrysostom[238] remarks that St. Joseph
was not displeased, but rejoiced in the Lord to see the preference
given to St. Matthias. After the dispersion of the disciples he
preached the gospel to many nations; and among other miracles, drank
poison without receiving any hurt, as Papias, and from him Eusebius,
testify.[239] This saint, from his extraordinary piety, was surnamed
the Just.
The lives of the apostles and primitive Christians were a miracle
in morals, and a sensible effect of almighty grace. Burning with
holy zeal, they had no interest on earth but that of the divine
honor, which they sought in all things; and being warmed with the
expectation of an eternal kingdom, they were continually discoursing
of it, and comforting one another with the hopes of possessing it;
and they did little else but prepare to die. Thus by example, still
more than by words, they subdued their very enemies to the faith,
and brought them to a like spirit and practice. Their converts, by a
wonderful change of manners, became in a moment new creatures. Those
who had been the most bitter enemies, long bent to lust and passion,
became the most loving, forgiving, and chaste persons in the world.
Has grace wrought in us so perfect a conversion? Do our lives glorify
God’s name in this manner, by a spirit and practice agreeable to the
principles of our divine faith?