St. Joseph The Worker

St. Joseph worked from morning early till late at night in his carpenter shop repairing dinner couches and building shelves for the people of Nazareth. When he was summoned to Bethlehem for the census, even though he lost working days, he closed his shop and set out on the journey. When the angel in a vision instructed him to hide away in Egypt, he hearkened to the voice from Heaven even though he lost many more working days the next five years. During that time it was extremely hard for him to make a living for himself, his wife, and the Divine Child. But Joseph did not complain, because this trip and this sojourn were the will of God. We should follow his model, discerning how we can, in our work, follow the will of God.

St. Matthew remarked casually that Joseph was a man of righteousness. (Matthew 1:19) To be righteous, a person must observe all the commandments that relate to God as well as those that relate to others. Like Joseph, we are blessed if we hunger and thirst after righteousness (Matthew 5:6).

In many of the documents issued by Pope John XXIII, Pope Paul VI, the Second Vatican Council and Pope John Paul II, reference is made to the Christian spirit that should permeate one’s work, after the example of St. Joseph. In addition to this, there is a special dignity and value to the work done in caring for the family. The Office of Readings contains an excerpt from the Vatican II document on the modern world: “Where men and women, in the course of gaining a livelihood for themselves and their families, offer appropriate service to society, they can be confident that their personal efforts promote the work of the Creator, confer benefits on their fellowmen, and help to realize God’s plan in history” (no. 34).

The feast of St. Joseph the Worker on May 1 was established by Pope Pius XII in 1955 in order to Christianize the concept of labour giving all workers a model and protector. By his daily labour, offered to God with patience and joy, St. Joseph provided for the necessities of his holy spouse and of the Incarnate Son of God becoming an example to all workers. “Workers and all those laboring in conditions of poverty will have reasons to rejoice rather than grieve, since they have in common with the Holy Family daily preoccupations and cares” (Pope Leo XIII).

Prayer to St. Joseph the Worker
Joseph, by the work of your hands and the sweat of your brow, you supported Jesus and Mary, and had the Son of God as your fellow worker. Teach us to work as you did, with patience and perseverance, for God and for those whom God has given us to support. Teach us to see in our fellow workers the Christ who desires to be in them, that we may always be charitable and forbearing towards all. Moreover, help us to bring Christ to all we meet. Grant us to look upon work with the eyes of faith, so that we shall recognize in it our share in God’s own creative activity and in Christ’s work of our redemption and so take pride in it. When it is pleasant and productive, remind us to give thanks to God for it. And when it is burdensome,teach us to offer it to God, in reparation for our sins and the sins of the world. Amen.