Gospel: Mt 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 carpenters 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.

Introductory Prayer: Lord, I come to you in prayer. I believe that you are my Creator and Redeemer, that you are the Son of God. Do not let me be blinded like the people in Nazareth who did not want to recognize your divinity. Lord, I hope in you. You are the source of true wisdom and power; give me confidence in your grace. Lord, I love you because you are infinitely lovable and because I must love you above all things. I know that if I open my heart to you in faith you will pour in your love. Accept this short time of prayer as a small token of my faith and love.

Petition: Lord, help me to know St. Joseph and the example he sets for me.

1. Simplicity

On May first, we celebrate the feast of St. Joseph the worker. The gospels tell us very little about St. Joseph, so therefore we must ponder well the information we have. St Joseph was a carpenter. The people of Nazareth obviously did not regard him or his son as anyone special. They must have lived their lives in Nazareth with a great deal of simplicity going about their business, day in and day out, doing the little things that needed to be done. St. Joseph would not have stood out as anyone important or out of the ordinary. The simplicity of St. Joseph had its foundation in the desire to do the will of God. His one goal in life was to do what God wanted, whether it was in how he kept his household or how he treated his customers or how he carried out the mundane tasks that life brings. We can not imagine him attached to material things or trying to be noticed by others or in competition with his fellow townsmen to be honored or receive special distinction.

2. The Worker

St. Joseph was a worker. He made his living with his hands, crafting the necessities of everyday life. His work was much more than a simple necessity for sustenance. The fact that Jesus, the Son of God, wished to become the son of a carpenter and spend most of his life engaged in manual labor, adds a new dimension to the work of Joseph and to all human work. Our Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, wrote in his Encyclical Laborem Exercens, The truth that by means of work man participates in the activity of God himself, his Creator, was given particular prominence by Jesus Christ the Jesus at whom many of his first listeners in Nazareth were astonished, saying, Where did this man get all this? What is the wisdom given to him?... is not this the carpenter? For Jesus not only proclaimed but first and foremost fulfilled by his deeds the gospel, the word of eternal Wisdom, that had been entrusted to him. Therefore this was also the gospel of work, because he who proclaimed it was himself a man of work, a craftsman like Joseph of Nazareth. St. Joseph, together with Jesus, participated in this gospel of work seeing in his manual labor a participation in the work of God the Creator.

3. Where does wisdom come from?

Although Christ was God, he was also truly a man, and that means he received his formation from his parents. It was Mary and Joseph who taught him to pray, who taught him the value of human work, and who formed him in the virtues of honesty, sincerity, and perseverance. In the humanity of Jesus we can know the characteristics of his human parents. Christs wisdom is a supernatural wisdom, but there is no doubt that it was formed and cultivated by St. Joseph, who must have had many conversations with his son, who must himself have been a person of deep reflection. Like Mary, he would have pondered everything in his heart. 

Conversation with Christ: Lord, I want to live my life with simplicity like St. Joseph, content with doing your will, nothing more and nothing less. Teach me the redemptive value of the simple and mundane things in life. Grant me the wisdom and faith that come from an ordinary life well-lived. I do not want to be like the people in Nazareth who could not recognize your divinity because they did not have faith.

Questionnaire

1. How firmly do I really believe? Do I live my life with simplicity like St. Joseph seeking only to do the will of God?

2. What meaning does my human work have for me? Do I see my work as a participation in the creative work of God?

3. Do I see past the humanity of Christ into the depths of his divinity, or am I like the people of Nazareth, not wanting to recognize that he is more than just the carpenters son? How frequently and insistently do I ask god for a living, vibrant faith?