Chip Off the Old Block

St Joseph the Worker 

01 May 2020

First reading                                                                       Genesis 1:26-2:3
God said: "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and the cattle, and over all the wild animals and all the creatures that crawl on the ground." God created man in his image; in the divine image he created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them, saying: "Be fertile and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and all the living things that move on the earth." God also said: "See, I give you every seed-bearing plant all over the earth and every tree that has seed-bearing fruit on it to be your food; and to all the animals of the land, all the birds of the air, and all the living creatures that crawl on the ground, I give all the green plants for food." And so it happened. God looked at everything he had made, and he found it very good. Evening came, and morning followed—the sixth day. Thus the heavens and the earth and all their array were completed. Since on the seventh day God was finished with the work he had been doing, God rested on the seventh day from all the work he had undertaken. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work he had done in creation. 
Gospel                                                                     Matthew 13:54-58

Jesus came to his native place and taught the people in their synagogue.
They were astonished and said,
"Where did this man get such wisdom and mighty deeds?
Is he not the carpenter's son? Is not his mother named Mary
and his brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas?
Are not his sisters all with us? Where did this man get all this?"
And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them,
"A prophet is not without honor except in his native place
and in his own house."
And he did not work many mighty deeds there
because of their lack of faith.

Reflection

By Pietro S. Albano

Back in the day, a son would have the same work as his father. If a father is a doctor, the son would likely become a doctor. If the father is an engineer, the son would likely become an engineer. If the father is a lawyer, the son would likely become a lawyer. If the father is a farmer, the son would likely become a farmer. In St Joseph's case, he being a carpenter, it would be obvious that Jesus would have been a carpenter too.  

In St Joseph's workshop, the God-became-Man humbly learned the craft of cutting, shaping, building, and installing materials made of wood. I would imagine how this father-son team worked diligently in that busy workshop. Thirty years under the tutelage of his earthly father, Jesus had a change of job: from a carpenter to a teacher cum doctor. Yet, if we take notice of His parables, He would use very down-to-earth examples such as nature. Where did He learn these? From St Joseph!  St Joseph served as the reflection of God the Father during Jesus' hidden life. As a reflection of the Father, St Joseph humbly, obediently, and faithfully worked hard for Mary and Jesus. 

Regardless if we have inherited our own father's trade or not, our own work is our way of cooperating in the very work of God who, as Jesus taught us, is our Father. If you are a doctor, you share in God's healing work. If you are an engineer, you share in God's work of designing structures and machines. If you are a lawyer, you share in God's rendering of justice to the oppressed. If you are a farmer, you share in God's work in cultivating the land. If you are a carpenter, you share in God's work as a builder.

St Joseph lovingly cooperated with God's work. If we wish to do the same, let's go to this great carpenter!

Prayer

Loving Father, we thank You for entrusting the care of the world to us through the gift of work. Through the example and prayer of St Joseph, help us to cooperate in Your work of salvation. We also remember in our prayers all those who are unemployed due to the lock down. Grant that they may find a job soon. In Jesus' Name. Amen.

St Joseph, Patron of Workers, pray for us.

Love Your Work

St Joseph the Worker 

01 May 2019

First reading                                                                       Genesis 1:26-2:3
God said: "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and the cattle, and over all the wild animals and all the creatures that crawl on the ground." God created man in his image; in the divine image he created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them, saying: "Be fertile and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and all the living things that move on the earth." God also said: "See, I give you every seed-bearing plant all over the earth and every tree that has seed-bearing fruit on it to be your food; and to all the animals of the land, all the birds of the air, and all the living creatures that crawl on the ground, I give all the green plants for food." And so it happened. God looked at everything he had made, and he found it very good. Evening came, and morning followed—the sixth day. Thus the heavens and the earth and all their array were completed. Since on the seventh day God was finished with the work he had been doing, God rested on the seventh day from all the work he had undertaken. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work he had done in creation. 
Gospel                                                                     Matthew 13:54-58

Jesus came to his native place and taught the people in their synagogue.
They were astonished and said,
"Where did this man get such wisdom and mighty deeds?
Is he not the carpenter's son? Is not his mother named Mary
and his brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas?
Are not his sisters all with us? Where did this man get all this?"
And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them,
"A prophet is not without honor except in his native place
and in his own house."
And he did not work many mighty deeds there
because of their lack of faith.

Reflection

By Pietro S. Albano

"Love your work", an aunt once advised me. True, one has to love what they are doing. From that love, loyalty and passion to one's job follow suit. One's quality of work reflects how much love the worker puts into it.

But where does this love come from? Perhaps it's the satisfaction of doing something worthwhile. Perhaps it's the benefits the job could offer for the worker and their family. For me, love for one's work comes from God who, in the Book of Genesis, entrusted the care of the earth to us. 

St Joseph was fully aware that his work as a carpenter was his way of caring for the earth. His love for his work became much deeper when God entrusted to his care someone dearer than the earth: Jesus, God's only begotten son. 

Bishop Jacques-Benigne Bossuet once wrote: "Picture yourselves a poor artisan. His hands are his only inheritance. He has no wealth beyond his workshop, no income beyond what his labour provides. He is forced to go to Egypt and to suffer a troublesome exile, and why? Because he has Jesus Christ with him. Does he complain about this difficult Child, who tears him away from his homeland and brings torment upon him? On the contrary, he counts himself happy to suffer in his company; all that troubles him is the peril of the divine Infant, more dear to him than his own life."

As we celebrate the feast of St Joseph the Worker, let us ask him to help us put on love in whatever work we are engaged in. Having put on that love, may we be inspired to work for the good of our family who, more often than not, we consider more dear to us than our own life. Above all, if we put on that love, we will be working for the Lord.

Prayer

Loving Father, we thank You for entrusting the care of the world to us through the gift of work. Through the example and prayer of St Joseph, may we always give ourselves generously for Your glory and in the service of Your people. Amen.

St Joseph, Patron of Workers, pray for us.

Keeping His Word

Sixth Sunday of Easter 01 May 2016  

First reading
Acts 15:1-2,22-29

Some men came down from Judaea and taught the brothers, ‘Unless you have yourselves circumcised in the tradition of Moses you cannot be saved.’ This led to disagreement, and after Paul and Barnabas had had a long argument with these men it was arranged that Paul and Barnabas and others of the church should go up to Jerusalem and discuss the problem with the apostles and elders.

  Then the apostles and elders decided to choose delegates to send to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas; the whole church concurred with this. They chose Judas known as Barsabbas and Silas, both leading men in the brotherhood, and gave them this letter to take with them:

  ‘The apostles and elders, your brothers, send greetings to the brothers of pagan birth in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia. We hear that some of our members have disturbed you with their demands and have unsettled your minds. They acted without any authority from us; and so we have decided unanimously to elect delegates and to send them to you with Barnabas and Paul, men we highly respect who have dedicated their lives to the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Accordingly we are sending you Judas and Silas, who will confirm by word of mouth what we have written in this letter. It has been decided by the Holy Spirit and by ourselves not to saddle you with any burden beyond these essentials: you are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols; from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from fornication. Avoid these, and you will do what is right. Farewell.’

 

Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 66:2-3,5-6,8

Second reading
Apocalypse 21:10-14,22-23

In the spirit, the angel took me to the top of an enormous high mountain and showed me Jerusalem, the holy city, coming down from God out of heaven. It had all the radiant glory of God and glittered like some precious jewel of crystal-clear diamond. The walls of it were of a great height, and had twelve gates; at each of the twelve gates there was an angel, and over the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel; on the east there were three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. The city walls stood on twelve foundation stones, each one of which bore the name of one of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

  I saw that there was no temple in the city since the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb were themselves the temple, and the city did not need the sun or the moon for light, since it was lit by the radiant glory of God and the Lamb was a lighted torch for it.

 

Gospel	John 14:23-29

Jesus said to his disciples:

‘If anyone loves me he will keep my word,

and my Father will love him,

and we shall come to him and make our home with him.

Those who do not love me do not keep my words.

And my word is not my own:

it is the word of the one who sent me.

I have said these things to you while still with you;

but the Advocate, the Holy Spirit,

whom the Father will send in my name,

will teach you everything

and remind you of all I have said to you.

Peace I bequeath to you, my own peace I give you,

a peace the world cannot give,

this is my gift to you.

Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.

You heard me say: I am going away, and shall return.

If you loved me you would have been glad to know that I am going to the Father,

for the Father is greater than I.

I have told you this now before it happens,

so that when it does happen you may believe.’

  Reflection
By Benj Santiago
 

“Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling.with him.”

In about two Sundays it will be Pentecost Sunday. The disciples are being assured by Jesus that He will never leave them alone. In today's Gospel, He assured His disciples and all of us in the present time that He and His Father will dwell with us with one condition: Love Him! How? By keeping His word, we show our love for Him. And how do we keep His word? LOVE!

Love is the most abused word, and the most defined word. Jesus said "If you love me you will keep my word". I often hear priests and preachers say that the summary of all the words in the bible is LOVE. Jesus in Last Sunday's Gospel put up a New Commandment and that is "To love one another as I have loved you".  Keeping His words, to me, is simply loving God and everyone even if the person you need to love does not love you back. Even if the person has a different opinion, creed, color, or belief.

His words are eternal and it has been written in the Bible. Let us open the Bible, read it, contemplate on it and discern what it tells us to do and keep it in our hearts.

I note that we also remember the feast of St Joseph the Worker today. St Joseph loved God that he willingly obeyed God's will for him to be the foster father of Jesus, God's only Son. Let's ask St Joseph's help to stay in love with God so that God could also work in and through us.

  Prayer  

Our loving and merciful Father, we thank You for giving us Your Son Jesus Christ our risen Lord and Savior. May we continually hunger for His words. May our hearts continue to burn with love for one another as Jesus has loved us. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.

Labor Of Love

St Joseph the Worker
1 May 2010


The Lord has truly risen, alleluia.


First reading Acts 13:44-52 3
The next sabbath almost the whole town assembled to hear the word of God. When they saw the crowds, the Jews, prompted by jealousy, used blasphemies and contradicted everything Paul said. Then Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly. ‘We had to proclaim the word of God to you first, but since you have rejected it, since you do not think yourselves worthy of eternal life, we must turn to the pagans. For this is what the Lord commanded us to do when he said:
I have made you a light for the nations,
so that my salvation may reach the ends of the earth.’
It made the pagans very happy to hear this and they thanked the Lord for his message; all who were destined for eternal life became believers. Thus the word of the Lord spread through the whole countryside.
But the Jews worked upon some of the devout women of the upper classes and the leading men of the city and persuaded them to turn against Paul and Barnabas and expel them from their territory. So they shook the dust from their feet in defiance and went off to Iconium; but the disciples were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit.

Psalm or canticle: Psalm 97:1-4

Gospel John 14:7-14
Jesus said to his disciples:
‘If you know me, you know my Father too.
From this moment you know him and have seen him.’
Philip said, ‘Lord, let us see the Father and then we shall be satisfied.’
‘Have I been with you all this time, Philip,’ said Jesus to him, ‘and you still do not know me?
‘To have seen me is to have seen the Father,
so how can you say, “Let us see the Father”?
Do you not believe
that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?
The words I say to you I do not speak as from myself:
it is the Father, living in me, who is doing this work.
You must believe me when I say
that I am in the Father and the Father is in me;
believe it on the evidence of this work, if for no other reason.
I tell you most solemnly,
whoever believes in me
will perform the same works as I do myself,
he will perform even greater works,
because I am going to the Father.
Whatever you ask for in my name I will do,
so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
If you ask for anything in my name,
I will do it.’

Reflection
By Elizabeth R. Eguia

Today is St. Joseph the Worker's feast day and we also celebrate Labor Day all over the world. In most countries like the Philippines it is a public holiday. Labor unions commemorate this day by marching to Mendiola to protest anti-labour practices. But as an ordinary person, what is the meaning of this day for us? Usually, we are just happy because it is a non-working holiday and it’s another day to relax and enjoy. But kidding aside, have we really reflected on the real meaning of this day?

Colossians 3:17, 23-24 says “And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Whatever your task, work heartily, as serving the Lord and not men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward; you are serving the Lord Christ.” This made me reflect on the right attitude we should have towards work whether it is our office job or the normal day to day house work that we do.

Work with love in our hearts serving Christ and devoting whatever we do for God’s glory. It is not easy most of the times to think like this especially when we are caught up in this world, in our work, in what our boss will have to say. But I realized the importance of praying early morning or before going to work and asking God for guidance. To offer the day’s tasks to Him and declaring that whatever we do for the day is for His greater glory and not ours, nor for our company’s nor, for our boss’. And you know, He definitely guides me and my attitude for the day changes, instead of getting irritated I am still smiling.

Day to day I tell myself, I only have one boss and that is God and whatever I do I will make it well because it is my offering to Him, to thank Him also for trusting, guiding me, being proud of what I do in spite of my weaknesses. He raises me up always and that is why I love what I do and I offer all to Him whether I am just cleaning the house or talking to an irritated client.

St. Joseph, the foster father of Jesus on earth, is a great role model of working for God. He has served God, Jesus and Mary with love and humility. He obeyed God without question and has been faithful to his job as a carpenter. He helped build God's kingdom by obeying God's will.

Dear God, thank You for the wonderful message You have imparted to us. May You continue to guide and remind us to work with Love and to do our best in what we do, offering it for Your greater glory, through the intercession of Saint Joseph the Worker, the patron of all workers. Amen.

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