May 1 ~ St. Joseph the Worker

Labor of Love for Him

For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be. 
~ Matthew 6:20-21

“May Day” was celebrated throughout the Communist world as a way of supposedly honoring the role and importance of laborers in Marxist countries. The Communist conception of work as an end in itself was, of course, very different from the Christian understanding.  In 1955, to highlight this difference, Pope Pius XII instituted the feast of St. Joseph the Worker.  Joseph, the husband of Mary and the foster-father of Jesus, spent a lifetime laboring as a carpenter.  His primary motivation for working wasn’t a quest for riches or status, but a desire to serve God and to care for his family in a loving way.  Joseph never worked any miracles; he never made any important speeches; he wasn’t a public figure, but was known only as a humble carpenter (Matthew 13:55).  Joseph labored in obscurity, but was nonetheless given an important part in God’s plan.

Work is not intended to be an end in itself or a path to earthly riches; rather, it’s meant to glorify God and to help us prepare for eternity.  Honest and humble labor is a source of true human dignity. ~ J.M. Guerin

Do you labor only for material gain or does your work glorify God?

Socialism… cannot be brought into harmony with the dogmas of the Catholic Church…  ~ Pope Pius XI (Achille Ratti), from the encyclical, Quadragesimo Anno (1931)

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