Love is Superior to Knowledge

St. Joseph of Cupertino is almost humorously referred to as the “Flying Saint,” but there are great lessons that every devout Catholic can derive from his life. From an early age he was known to be clumsy, forgetful, and lacking intellectual ability. After failing in his attempts at several trades, he was accepted, out of mercy, into the Capuchin order. Despite his many shortcomings, God rewarded his great love by miraculously guiding him to priestly ordination. When examining his life, we cannot help but appreciate the superiority of love to knowledge in the mind of God. Our Lord does not ask for our mind, He asks for our heart, and when we die we will be judged on love. The ecstasies and levitations witnessed during this saint’s life were so many proofs of God returning his love through the divine embrace of those mystic phenomena.

In the lives of St. Januarius and St. Matthew we are given vivid examples of loyalty, detachment, and docility to the Will of God. We do not worship the god of the deists, who abandons his creation. Our God, through His divine providence, watches over and provides for even our smallest needs. If we seek first the kingdom of God, everything else we need will be given to us.