Prayer Request
Joseph the Worker (not in USA) Genesis 1:26-2: 3
“Blessed are all who fear the Lord…By the labor of your hands you shall eat…Whatever you do in word or in work do everything in the name of Christ…alleluia!”
Even the developed nations are in a jobs crisis now and still our US liturgists do not acknowledge how much we need a model and patron for labor?! The Canadian missalette does recognize this feast which was to counter May Day in the communist bloc. Arbeit macht frei is written above the gates of the Dachau concentration camp.
That is what God intended, that work should make us free, but Hitler twisted it. Each person in the Holy Family worked. Joseph and Jesus were carpenters but as all young boys do, Jesus surely labored with and on behalf of his mother: water to be carried, gardens to be tended, errands to be run.
What will you do (or did you do) today in the name of Christ? How might you create a reminder of doing all in his name? How do you do your “work”—is it duty, does it help you be free, is it what God intends, is it drudgery? Discuss your work with Joseph the worker and his young apprentice, Jesus.
For freedom you have set us free, Jesus (Gal 5: 1). Thank you for the work we have, no matter how insignificant. Help all who are hungry to find work, work that dignifies them. Especially we pray for those who are trafficked and hopeless.