Page 144 - Reflections on St. Joseph

up is redeemed”, Jesus wanted to personally submit Himself to the law of labor so as to
“purify and sanctify it”, making use of the ministry of Joseph for that purpose: “On His part
Jesus was obedient to them” (Lk 2,51) responding with respect to the attentions of His
“parents”. In this way He wanted to sanctify the duties of the family and of work, which he
undertook alongside Joseph” (Redemptoris Custos, n. 16). Because there can be no doubt that
this is the purest of theology, it is a wonder that it is not more spoken of or appreciated in
catechisms and scholastic textbooks that deal with the Incarnation, to which all of this
directly belongs. This is also true regarding the presence of St. Joseph in the life of Christ,
an aspect especially brought out by the Apostolic Exhortation Redemptoris Custos, which is
entirely focused on the mystery of the Incarnation.

However, what can you say about the presence of St. Joseph in relation to work, with
regards to the life of the Church? In other words, what does the figure of St. Joseph have to
say to Christians today?

Pius XII, on May 1, 1955, on the occasion of the 10th Anniversary of the Christian
Association of Italian Workers (ACLI), proposed St. Joseph as patron and model of workers,
and instituted the liturgical feast of “St. Joseph the Worker”. Its importance for that
historical moment was underlined by the fact that on April 24, 1956 a decree of the Sacred
Congregation of Rites put it in the place of the Solemnity of St. Joseph and assigned it the
rank of a double first class. With the promulgation of the Calendar of Paul VI in 1969, May
1 was reduced to an “optional memorial”.

The celebration of St. Joseph the Worker comes from the ever valid consideration that no
one among mankind, after Mary, was as
close to the hands, mind, will and heart of
Jesus as was St. Joseph. As Pius XII said well,
St.Joseph was the one in whose life the
spirit of the Gospel most deeply penetrated.
If this spirit in fact, flows from the heart of
the God-Man to all men, “it is thus certain
that no worker was more perfectly and
deeply penetrated by it than the putative
Father of Jesus, who lived with Him in the
greatest intimacy and sharing of family and
of work.”

From this, the same Pontiff, makes a
permanent invitation to workers: “if you
would be close to Christ, ‘Ite ad Joseph’ (Gen
41,45), ‘Go to Joseph’! The humble artisan of
Nazareth not only represents the dignity of
those who work with their hands before
God and the holy Church, but will also
always be the provident guardian of you
and your families.”
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Reflections on st. joseph