It is difficult to comment on the extraordinary life of St. Joseph of Cupertino. I will try to do so by dividing the topic into parts.
 
First, you see that Our Lady put everything negative in this man. But, since "for love nothing is impossible," according to the maxim of St. Therese of Lisieux, he accomplished everything that his vocation called him to do.

 There is a misconception about efficiency that defines it purely in terms of production. This is wrong because to do something is not an end in itself. What explains the action is the end one has in mind.

 The right notion of efficiency is to do what one is supposed to do according to his vocation. Therefore, in order to be efficient, each one should ask if he is accomplishing the plans of God for him. If he works in collaboration with the plans of God, the grace will multiply his efforts and he will do much more than he is capable of otherwise. This rule, which applies to St. Joseph of Cupertino, also applies to St. Thomas Aquinas, who is situated at the other pole of human capacity.

 Even though he was poorly gifted humanly speaking, St. Joseph of Cupertino did the will of God, sanctified his soul, and allowed God to shine through his incapacity in a way that attracted the admiration of multitudes. Even today, when one of us hears about his extreme incapacity and the marvelous things God did through him, we do not forget his name. It is the application of that passage of the Magnificat: "For He has found humility in His handmaid, and all generations shall call me blessed." Once we hear about the incapacity of St. Joseph of Cupertino and his humility in accepting the will of God, his name remains in our memories forever.


Second, the depth of spirit of St. Joseph of Cupertino is expressed in his comment about when his habit was taken from him and he was expelled from the monastery. He affirmed that this caused him huge suffering, as if they were tearing off the very skin from his body. In this episode, you can see the wisdom of the man. There is a great difference between his attitude and that of many of today's theologians, who, even though they may know Aramaic and Sanskrit and make extensive comments on Holy Scriptures, have no love for their habits and readily abandon them. I leave aside the fact that many of these theologians reach conclusions that either God does not exist or that all religions worship the one true God. How greatly superior St. Joseph of Cupertino was to these men!

His comments regarding the loss of the spiritual consolations he had enjoyed since childhood also reflect his superiority. He had a profound detachment from material goods, and valued the spiritual gifts he had above all else. This is positively a manifestation of superiority. Then, even those consolations were taken from him.

 What did he do? Did he revolt? No. He "complained to God about God," according to his own extraordinary words. He turned to God to respectfully ask Him why He was treating him that way. Our Lady did something analogous when she asked the Divine Child why He had gone to the Temple to discuss with the doctors without warning her and St. Joseph. It was a lovely complaint. So also was the attitude of St. Joseph of Cupertino. It expresses well the superiority of his soul.

Third, for a person accustomed to "happy endings," the life of St. Joseph comes as a shock. In it, this person finds a complete inversion of patterns. Take, for example, the episode where he was expelled from the monastery and lacked decent lay clothing to wear. He set out on the road and was attacked by dogs. Not well mannered, clean dogs but bad-natured, dirty stable dogs. Those dogs bit him and tore his clothes to tatters. He looked so bad that some shepherds of the area took him for a thief. He went to ask help from his uncle and was rejected. Afterward, his own mother turned him away from her house. His misfortunes multiplied, and everyone persecuted the poor, ugly, dirty and tattered man.

You can imagine the great confidence in Our Lady St. Joseph of Cupertino had to have in order to avoid falling into despair. He was perfectly capable of feeling the scorn that people had for him, and he also probably considered that such a reaction had a basis in reality, that is, that he was unintelligent, ugly, dirty, etc.

So what did he do? He continued on without concern about himself, without discouragement, but thinking only of the glory of God and Our Lady. Isn't this a beautiful thing? I think that it is incomparably more beautiful than being very intelligent. Doing this, he was imitating Our Lord in His Passion, being despised by the populace and receiving all kinds of outrages for the glory of God.
 
Fourth, St. Joseph of Cupertino represents in the Catholic Church a way to be detached from the gifts that many receive. A man gifted with great intelligence should meditate on how well St. Joseph of Cupertino accepted his lack of intelligence so that he might better use the gifts God gave him. Another who is noble by birth should admire the way St. Joseph accepted his humble social condition in order to keep from being proud and remain accessible to simple people. Yet another who is rich should ponder the ready acceptance St. Joseph of Cupertino had of his extreme poverty so that he might use it to glorify God and Our Lady.

That is, St. Joseph of Cupertino represents one side of the scale that gives a perfect equilibrium to the Catholic Church. Both he and St. Thomas Aquinas are necessary for that perfect balance. I think that in Heaven the two could be closely joined glorifying Our Lady and Our Lord.

What is the application for us? If we received gifts from nature or from God, let us admire St. Joseph of Cupertino in order to be detached from them and use them well. If we lack qualities or have to endure sufferings, let us admire him and follow his example of confidence in order to accomplish what God has planned for us.