Among them only the humble and righteous Joseph thought not to be worthy of so big a distinction; also remembering the vote of chastity that he had made and reaffirming this perpetual vow  he surrendered to the will of God leaving everything at His disposal at the same time that he felt an adoration and esteem for the noble maiden Mary bigger than that of all the present.

While they were submerged in deep prayer the dry stick that Joseph held in his hands bloomed and at the same time a dove of the purest white color surrounded by a radiant  light descended on the Saint's head while the Lord God spoke inside his heart: "Joseph, my servant, Mary  will be your Wife,  accept her with respectful reverence because She found grace in my eyes being fair and of the greatest purity of soul and body. You should make all that She requests from you."

In the presence of this divine manifestation the priests declared  San Joseph as God's elected Husband for the maiden Mary... 

"...And the stick in the hands of the man that God chose bloomed. A stick is a wooden piece, cut in both ends. It is defoliated and  without roots. Sometime in the past it was alive, now sap doesn't run in it. It cannot bloom neither  give fruit. Who, then, made  the stick bloom"?.

Is is God who made it bloom! It is He who put the power of  life in a dead stick. It couldn't be done by Joseph, Nature or by the stick on its own capacity. Joseph  could have painted the stick, he could have carved it, but he could not make it bloom. Nobody never heard of a dry stick that bloom... neither of an old woman to become pregnant. Sarah delivered Isaac; but this was the work of God. For that reason Sarah  represents  * resurrection *. Resurrection is something neither you nor  I can accomplish, but God can. 

The name  "Isaac" means * laugh *. Sarah laughed, because she knew that she was too old to conceive, she considered it impossible. - When serving the Lord. we should also laugh and say: I am not able to; I know with all certainty that I am unable, but this  work that  is being carried out  is your merit, Lord, not mine."

It was God, the Father, who chose Joseph to represent Him on  earth. The blooming of the stick maintains men humble, they know that it is the work of God. And Joseph  was humble..., he knew he was small, he didn't make miracles and he maintained his life so hidden that we know almost nothing about him.

Help us, O Saint Joseph, to run away from human praise and from human glory. Please, help us to find pleasure in living a hidden life and in lessening our personal  interests. AMEN