01/05/2026
𝐌𝐀𝐘 𝟏 | 𝐅𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐓 𝐃𝐀𝐘 𝐎𝐅 𝐒𝐓. 𝐉𝐎𝐒𝐄𝐏𝐇 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐊𝐄𝐑, 𝐒𝐏𝐎𝐔𝐒𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐋𝐄𝐒𝐒𝐄𝐃 𝐕𝐈𝐑𝐆𝐈𝐍 𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐘, 𝐏𝐀𝐓𝐑𝐎𝐍 𝐎𝐅 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐊𝐄𝐑𝐒
As is true of many fathers, Joseph raised Jesus to follow in his own profession as a craftsman; in the Gospels, Jesus is called “the son of the carpenter”.
The life of St Joseph shows us the dignity of human work, which is the duty and the perfection of human beings, who in this way exercise dominion over creation, share in the work of the Creator, offer their service to the community, and participate in God’s plan of salvation. Joseph loved his work. He never complained of weariness, but as a man of faith, elevated it to the exercise of virtue. He found contentment in his work because he did not aspire to wealth and did not envy the rich; for Joseph, work was not a means of satisfying his own greed but an instrument to support his family.
And, following God’s commandment, on the Sabbath St Joseph observed the weekly rest and took part in the celebrations. We should not wonder at this noble conception of the humble work of manual labour: already in the Old Testament, in fact, God was seen symbolically as a winegrower, a sower, a shepherd.