3rd Friday of Easter Feast of St. Joseph the Worker (2020) “St. Joseph Protector of those who Labor.”

Feast of St. Joseph the Worker (2020) “St. Joseph Protector of those who Labor.”

May Day celebrations are held throughout the world on this day.  The commemorations often coincide with rallies that support the rights of workers.  Pope Pius XII established the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker to make the point that the church wished to stand with workers, especially those being exploited 

The church has had a long history of advocating for the rights of workers.  The first social justice encyclical of the Catholic Church, written my Pope Leo XIII in 1891, was called Rerum Novarum.

At the time the encyclical was written, workers endured many injustices.  As Pope Leo observed, “Workers have been given over, isolated and defenseless, to the callousness of employers and the greed of unrestrained competition.”  In 1891 child labor was common as was 60- or 80-hour work weeks. Unsafe working conditions were the norm.  Corporations had little regard for the health or wellbeing of their workers.

At the time of the Great Depression the Catholic Worker Movement started in this country with Peter Maurin and Dorothy Day leading the way.  The two of them embraced St. Joseph as the patron saint of their movement. 

Joseph was a humble carpenter.  The vocation of the carpenter was not necessarily how we picture it.  At the time Jesus was born, carpenters had more in common with construction workers than artisans who worked in their own shops. Carpenters worked long hours building large structures for the powerful.  Joseph probably labored for subsistence wages doing back breaking work.

During these days of the COVAD 19 epidemic, we notice how many laborers are in great peril with few laws to protect them. We need only think of the butchers who work in meat packing plants where the virus is spreading rapidly.  If meat packers stay home, they are afraid they may lose their jobs.  Their lives are at risk so that we may eat.  We can also remember farm workers, many of whom are migrants who will be planting and raising our vegetables.  Many farm workers live in crowded conditions working for a minimum wage.  We can also remember sanitation workers, cooks and janitors who are at risk. 

These are the workers that we ask St. Joseph to protect.  Such people are his sons and daughters. Are we concerned about them?

Reflection Questions:

1. The Corona virus is affecting people of color more than the white population.  Did I know that?  Do I need to be better informed?

2. The Catholic church has a Social Justice principle called the “Fundamental Option for the Poor.”  What does that mean?  How should it guide church teaching? Where would St. Joseph be living and working today?

Dear Parishioners,

            We thank the workers who are laboring in our church right now.  While the church is shut down great progress is being made on our window restoration project.  All the windows on the west side of the church are now installed. There is only one more window to be removed which is the Nativity window on the East side of the church.  When the workers leave, there will only be eight more windows to finish. 

            Remember that there are still missalettes and daily devotional books outside the back door of the rectory.  Feel free to stop by and pick them up at any time.

May the Blessed Virgin and the angels and saints watch over us all today.

Fr. Mark