Saint Joseph the Worker – Readings
Commentary on Genesis 1:26—2:3 or Colossians 3:14-15,17,23-24; Matthew 13:54-58
The Gospel reading from Matthew describes a scene where Jesus, now engaged in his public ministry, returned to visit Nazareth, the place where he grew up. When he speaks, the people of the town are amazed:
Where did this man get this wisdom and these deeds of power?
They could not understand because, to them, he was the son of Joseph the carpenter and of Mary, and did they not know all his relatives? And, because they thought they knew him, they rejected him.
In response Jesus told them that a prophet will find honour everywhere except in his own place. And as a result, Jesus “did not do many deeds of power there” because of their lack of faith and trust in him.
It is an example of the saying ‘familiarity breeds contempt’. The townspeople thought they knew Jesus, but of course, they did not. But many others had no problem in seeing the presence of God in the words and actions of Jesus.
It is a problem we ourselves can easily have when we fail to recognise the voice of God in the words and actions of people with whom we are very familiar. Yet that is the way in which God most often communicates with us.
The passage has been chosen, of course, because of its mention of Joseph as the local carpenter, a man who worked with his hands, and so today we remember especially all those in our society who also work with their hands, people who in the past and sometimes in the present, too, have been abused and exploited. It is Joseph who gives dignity to what they do.
There is a choice of two First Readings. The first is from the beginning of the Book of Genesis, in the first account of the Creation. On the sixth and last day of the creation, God created all the animals which inhabit the earth. He then created Man “in our image, according to our likeness” and gave Man dominion over all living things—on the earth, in the sky and in the sea. All plants and animals of all kinds were also given to Man for his food. God the saw everything that he had made and it was very good.
With the completion of the work of Creation, God then rested on the seventh day (as the Jews also refrained from doing any manual work on the Sabbath):
So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that he had done in creation.
For countless generations humanity lived in harmony with the Creation entrusted to it—as do the rest of living things. But in modern times, we have exploited our environment in ways that could bring about the destruction not only of ourselves, but of all life on our planet. And, we have come to be more and more aware that ‘dominion’ does not mean exploitation and abuse, but ‘stewardship’ where, with our special abilities, we can not only preserve but enhance our environment.
The Alternate First Reading from Paul’s Letter to the Colossians is a lovely description of the spirit in which we should live our lives and interact with other people, in other words, the spirit in which we should do our daily work.
Paul says:
Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.
Whatever is done in agape-love is good; in fact, wherever there is such love, God is there. Secondly, we should:
…let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body [the body of Christ himself].
And whatever we do—in word or action—should be done in the name of the Lord Jesus while at the same time giving thanks to God for his countless blessings.
And whatever is done should be done with the utmost sincerity and integrity and with the aim of giving glory to God and not simply to please the demands of other people. Paul says that, just as Jesus himself came to be our slave-servant, where service is love in action, we should be:
…slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the soul.
(Eph 6:6)
Saint Joseph the Worker
All we know definitely about Joseph can be found in the Infancy Narratives of the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. In Matthew’s account of the birth of Jesus, Joseph is called a ‘just’ man, someone who always did what was right.
According to the Gospel, Joseph was descended from the house of King David, which is why he and Mary had to go to Bethlehem, David’s city, to register for the imperial census. The Gospel also tells us that he was a carpenter from the village of Nazareth in the northern province of Galilee. He became the husband of Mary and the guardian of her Son, Jesus.
After Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem, the family returned to live in Nazareth. Only two other incidents are mentioned where Joseph was present. One was at the circumcision of Jesus eight days after his birth. This was when they met Simeon who made prophecies about Jesus’ future and spoke of a ‘sword of sorrow’ which would pierce Mary’s heart. The other was when Jesus, now 12 years old, went with Mary and Joseph to celebrate the Pasch in Jerusalem. After the celebration, Jesus, unknown to his parents, stayed on in the city and he was only found by them three days later discussing with the teachers of the Law in the Temple.
That is the last reference to Joseph in the Scriptures and it is not known when he may have died. During the public life of Jesus, only his Mother is mentioned as being with him up to his death and resurrection.
Devotion to Joseph began very early in the Eastern Church, but spread to the whole Church. From the 9th and 10th centuries he is called foster-father of the Lord. The first church dedicated to his name was in 1129 in Bologna, Italy.
It was Pope Sixtus IV (1471-84) who first added the name of St Joseph to the liturgical calendar and Pope Pius IX placed the whole Church under his patronage in 1870.
In 1989, Pope John Paul II wrote a letter on Joseph entitled Redemptoris Custos (Guardian of the Redeemer) describing “the person and mission of Saint Joseph in the life of Christ and of the Church.”
Joseph’s patronage covers the Mystical Body of Christ, the Christian family and schools, carpenters, fathers, labourers, and all individuals who appeal to his intercession, especially in the hour of death.
His major feast is celebrated on March 19, but today, May 1, there is a special memorial to Saint Joseph the Worker, to coincide with Labour Day (International Workers’ Day).
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