Work: Gift, Challenge and Opportunity

St. Joseph the Worker

Acts 14:19-28; John 14:27-31a

 

How do you view work?  Is it something you enjoy?  Is it a necessary evil?

Today's celebration and our scripture readings invite us to look at work as a gift, a challenge and an opportunity.

The Feast of St. Joseph the Worker was added to the liturgical calendar as an alternative to the May Day celebrations of communists and socialists.  The Church wants to remind us that work is more than a way to make money.   Work is also a grace.  It offers us the privilege to join in God's creativity and to build the kingdom of God.

Work is also a challenge.  This is especially true of the work of proclaiming the gospel. In our first reading, St. Paul is persecuted, stoned, and left for dead.  But because he knows that his work is also God's work, he perseveres

Work is also an opportunity.  Like St. Paul, we have the opportunity to share in God's work.  Like Jesus, we have the opportunity to share in the Father's work.  We have the opportunity to be ministers of peace in our families, in our communities, and in our world. 

Today we thank God for work:  our gift, our challenge, and our opportunity.  St. Joseph the Worker, pray for us!—JC