Celebrating St Joseph the Worker

In 1955 Pope Pius X11 introduced the feast of St Joseph the Worker on the 1st of May to bring a religious orientation to International Workers Day which is held in many countries. First of all we remember the role that Joseph played as the husband of Mary and foster father and protector of Jesus. By his work as a carpenter he not only provided for the life of his family but he also taught his trade to Jesus, so that he too could continue to provide for his mother after Joseph's death. We do not know when Joseph died but when Jesus proclaimed his mission in Nazareth, the people said, ''Is not this Joseph's son?'' (Luke 4:22), so his death must have been fairly recent. The second motive for the importance of Joseph is that he teaches us the value of work. We remember the creation story in Genesis when God is seen as working to create the world and all that is in it including ourselves. God saw that all that he had created was good and ''on the seventh day God rested from all the work that he had done in creation.'' Pope Francis said on the 14th of October 2021, ''Work expresses and nourishes the dignity of the human being. It allows the individual to develop the capacities that God has given him or her. It allows one to feel that he or she is collaborating with God in taking care of the world.'' Let us pray, ''St 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 all those whom God has given us to support. Amen.''