St Joseph the Worker – Feast Day – 1st of May
Work gets a bad press. All around us people make out as though working is a bad thing. If only they could win the lottery, they could get away from it all, if only they could retire early…… but would they be happy?
Jesus began his ministry at about 30 years of age. What was he doing before that? Working with his foster-father St Joseph in the family carpentry. Most likely he started helping out as a little nipper, so before he began his preaching he had probably worked for about 25 years. 25 years as a tradie, 3 years preaching. There is an important message here. In the creation stories, we are told how God delighted in making the heavens and the earth and found it all ‘very good.’
There is something inherently good about work. Not drudgery that demeans us. But good, even hard work that we can stand back from and say “It is good.” When we have completed something – be it a shift at the mines, the making of a meal, the teaching of a class, the washing of a dirty child, we need to stop for a moment and admire our work. With God, we should say ‘it is good.” Work should not be valued just by the wage it brings in but, more importantly, by the dignity it gives to us. As we work we share in God’s creative power.
Creative God, you have called us to share in your work of creation. Send us your Sprit that we may work like Jesus, delighting in the work of our hands and minds. We ask this in his name, confident that you may hear us.
Sr Kym Harris osb.
Benedictine Monastery
Tanby via Yeppoon