Sunday: Feast of Saint Joseph the Worker Date: May 1, 2006 Year: B The readings: [Acts 5:27-33; Jn. 3:31-36] The message: The love of one's labour in the workplace. Prepared by: CATHOLIC DOORS MINISTRY Total words: 1331 |
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Welcome my spiritual brothers and sisters in Christ to today's celebration of the Holy Mass that commemorates the liturgical Feast of St. Joseph the Worker.
Today's Feast is one of two that are celebrated by the Holy Catholic Church in honour of St. Joseph. The first Feast, St. Joseph, husband of the Virgin Mary and Patron of the Universal Church, is celebrated on March 20 th. Today's Feast that commemorates St. Joseph as a carpenter, exemplifies the working people who are dignified by their labour and who bring Christ into their workplace.
It was not until the 15 th century that the name of St. Joseph was entered into the Liturgical Calendar of the Catholic Church. Since then, devotion to St. Joseph experienced a tremendous growth. Finally, in 1955, Pope Pius XII proclaimed on May 1, Labour Day in many countries, the Feast that we are joyfully celebrating today.
When reflecting on St. Joseph as a worker,a carpenter, what comes to our minds? As a general rule, we associate the word 'worker' with the words 'career' or 'employment.' This association relates to our secular work. But what about our spiritual work?
Through St. Joseph, a great model for all Christians, we see a love for both, his worldly and spiritual labour. St. Joseph was an artistic carpenter who loved to transform a piece of wood by creating useful objects. In his mind, he surely perceived that the wood that came from the trees was a God given gift. As Christian carvers of wood do, St. Joseph must have surely spent endless hours in prayer to the Lord God so that he might be inspired as to the potential end result of each piece of wood that was processed through the labour of his hands.
As all parents have to, St. Joseph had to fulfill his marital obligation to support his family. He worked day after dat to support the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Child Jesus.
Through his work, St. Joseph had to be honest in his dealings with the suppliers of wood and the buyers or traders who purchased his finished product. His honesty was a reflection of his obedience to the command of God to live a righteous life.
As a parent, when his adopted Son Jesus came of age, St. Joseph had to work with Him. St Joseph taught his trade to the Lord Jesus who was God incarnated in human form. Imagine, a man, a mere human being, teaching God, He Who's infinite knowledge surpasses that of the entire human race.
In all these things, we see the correlation of the worldly and the spiritual labour in the work place. Through St. Joseph, we are reminded of how we should labour in our Christian life at work and at home.
During today's First Reading from the Acts of the Apostles [Acts 5:27-33], we heard of the labour of Peter, the Apostles, the temple police, the high priest, and the members of the council. When considering the personal interest of each and everyone of them, can we honestly say that their worldly and spiritual labours were in harmony? No! The perfect harmony was in St. Peter and the Apostles but it was not in the others who placed their worldly needs above their spiritual obligation before God. In their desire for fame, power and wealth, they lacked love, honesty and justice. They were only concerned about their little 'me', the selfish 'me' that has destroyed so many during the history of mankind.
During today's Gospel Reading, [Jn. 3:31-36] we heard that 'the Father loves the Son and has placed all things in his hands. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever disobeys the Son will not see life, but must endure God's wrath.' [Jn. 3:35- 6]
During the First Reading, we heard the high priest reprimand the Apostles when he said, 'We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and you are determined to bring this man's blood on us.' It is obvious from this statement that the high priest did not inherit eternal life. Rather, he had to endure God's wrath.
As Catholics, we are called to submit ourselves to the teachings of Jesus that have been handed down to us through the Holy Catholic Church. Our Church is the only one that has not watered down the teachings of Our Lord Jesus. In our striving to inherit eternal life, we have rejected and condemned divorces, abortions, same sex marriage and all the abominations that greatly offend the Divinity of God.
Those who live model lives as St. Joseph did, they do so by the grace of God the Father in the Most Holy Name of Jesus through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit who guides them in the ways of God. Blessed with a new nature during the Sacrament of Baptism, they have embraced the spiritual way that Jesus commanded His followers to obey. Without embracing a spiritual mind, it is impossible to please God.
For St. Joseph to please God, he had to live a holy life that was filled with righteousness. Joseph's 'yes' to accept the Virgin Mary as his spouse was his baptismal 'yes' to faithfully serve the Lord God. For us to please God, we have to follow in the footstep of Saint Joseph over and above submitting ourselves to the Church and its Sacraments for our assurance of salvation and eternal life in the Kingdom of God.
Let us always look up to St. Joseph as one of our Patron Saints. As the Patron of workers, for those of us who work, St. Joseph is the model that we should imitate to ensure that the grace of God shall continue to flow upon us and flourish richly through us.
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The readings...
[The readings were taken from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible (C) 1989 Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Church of Christ in the United States of America.]
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First Reading...
"Stephen, full of grace and power, did great wonders and signs among the people. Then some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), Cyrenians, Alexandrians, and others of those from Cilicia and Asia, stood up and argued with Stephen. But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he spoke.
Then they secretly instigated some men to say, 'We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.' They stirered up the people as well as the elders and the scribes; then they suddenly confronted him, seized him, and brought him before the council.
They set up false witnesses who said, 'This man never stops saying things against this holy place and the law; for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and will change the customs that Moses handed on to us.'
And all who sat in the council looked intently at Stephen, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel." [Acts 6:8-15]
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Gospel Reading...
"After Jesus had fed the crowd from the five loaves, he crossed the lake by walking on the sea. The next day the crowd that had stayed on the other side of the sea saw that there had been only one boat there. They also saw that Jesus had not got into the boat with his disciples, but that his disciples had gone away alone.
Then some boats from Tiberias came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. So when the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus.
When they found Jesus on the other side of the sea, they said to him, 'Rabbi, when did you come here?' Jesus answered them, 'Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God the Father has set his seal.'
Then they said to him, 'What must we do to perform the works of God?' Jesus answered them, 'This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.'" [Jn. 6:22-29]
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