Homily: May 1 - St. Joseph the Worker

The Feast of Saint Joseph the Worker was instituted in 1955 by Pope Pius XII to be celebrated on May 1 as a sort of alternative to the Communist May Day marches.   The Church wanted to proclaim that Human Labor is transformed into a very good and holy thing, when it is offered to God.

St. Joseph has two feast days on the liturgical calendar. The first is March 19—Joseph, the Husband of Mary. The second is May 1—Joseph, the Worker

Pius XII raised up for us the wonderful example of Saint Joseph, who offers himself totally to God, to remind the world that human labor is not just about building a communist utopia, or making a name for ourselves.  Our labor is to respect God, reflect God, and always be at the service of God.

The Psalmist says, “Unless God is the builder, our building is in vain.”  Saint Paul says, “whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him”.
The communists proclaimed the State to be the end which all human efforts should support.  For the atheist communist, eternity does not factor into the equation.  When we take God’s eternal plan out of the equation, in whatever we do, we turn our labor into an idol.

Human work, as we know too well, can become an idol, or a means to support idol worship.  In an article for the Universe Bulletin, Bishop Lennon wrote, where our life is centered on a false God of prosperity, prestige, or mere pursuit of the good life—one will likely reap a harvest of exhaustion and unhappiness.  But, the person and family of faith, who places Christ at the center of life, including their weekly schedules and activities, meals, chores, conversations, parenting, work, vacations, civic responsibilities, decisions, problems, crises, accomplishments, losses—the whole of their lives become changed and charged with God’s presence.

Saint Joseph is a tremendous example for each of us: he put Christ at the center of his life, he served God in all his endeavors, he labored for the good of his family.  He is a reminder for all laborers to keep God as part of your work, and in doing so we become cooperators with God.  God brings about great goodness when we unite our labors with His.

May St. Joseph whose labors continue to touch us 2000 years later, help all workers and all of us to keep Christ at the center of our lives, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.