By Chris Sparks
Where did this man get such wisdom and mighty deeds? Is he not the carpenter’s son? (Mt 13:54-55)
Monday, Sept. 6, is Labor Day. In this year that the Church has dedicated to St. Joseph, the day takes on a special meaning and significance.
After all, St. Joseph was a tekton, a builder or construction worker. Traditionally, we’ve thought of him as a carpenter, but that word apparently has other meanings, as well. Essentially, Jesus’ earthly father, like His Heavenly Father, was a creator, a craftsman, an artisan, and the work of Joseph and of God the Father was good.
How do we know? All we have to do to know the Father and the father is to look at the Son. After all, sons are made in the image and after the likeness of their father, something we see in Genesis 5, when Scripture recounts the birth of Seth, the son of Adam.
So Jesus shows us that Joseph was a good man, a good craftsman, and a good father. The goodness of St. Joseph is confirmed by Sacred Scripture when it says that Joseph was a just or righteous man (see Mt 1:19). Among his many titles (explained at length by Fr. Donald Calloway, MIC, in his best-selling book Consecration to St. Joseph: The Wonders of Our Spiritual Father) St. Joseph is also commemorated by the Church as “Model of Workmen.” There’s even a separate liturgical Feast of St. Joseph the Worker on May 1 every year.
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So on Labor Day in this Year of St. Joseph, let’s honor St. Joseph and Jesus by taking some time to familiarize ourselves with the Church’s teaching on labor, workers, the rights of families, the dignity of work, and the rights of workers. The Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church summarizes centuries of Church teaching in a simple list:
- the right to a just wage;
- the right to rest;
- the right “to a working environment and to manufacturing processes which are not harmful to the workers' physical health or to their moral integrity”;
- the right that one's personality in the workplace should be safeguarded “without suffering any affront to one's conscience or personal dignity”;
- the right to appropriate subsidies that are necessary for the subsistence of unemployed workers and their families;
- the right to a pension and to insurance for old age, sickness, and in case of work-related accidents;
- the right to social security connected with maternity;
- the right to assemble and form associations (301).
This only scratches the surface of the social teaching, which encompasses the responsibilities and the rights of all parties in society. All of the Church’s teaching on human dignity, rights, and responsibilities in society is rooted in a Christian understanding of human nature and the world in which we live, drawing deeply on Scripture and Tradition. In the social teaching, we are told that man’s right and responsibility to work is rooted in Adam’s call from God to stewardship of the Garden of Eden and the whole created order, which he was to tend and keep. We see that summons reconfirmed in the life of Christ, in the 30 years during which He lived an ordinary human life and presumably took part in the work of St. Joseph, His earthly father, thus elevating the dignity of ordinary human labor to divine heights.
All this and more is in the treasury of the Church’s social teaching. Take some time this Labor Day to discover more of these riches and make them your own. Allow the magisterial teaching of the Church to challenge you and form you, even more than you allow your particular political persuasion to guide you. And turn to St. Joseph in all your needs, especially those related to work, employment, and the financial needs of your family. Ask St. Joseph’s intercession, like St. Faustina did:
Saint Joseph urged me to have a constant devotion to him. He himself told me to recite three prayers [the Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory be] and the Memorare [to St. Joseph] once every day. He looked at me with great kindness and gave me to know how much he is supporting this work [of mercy]. He has promised me this special help and protection. I recite the requested prayers every day and feel his special protection (Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska, 1203).
Pray for me, that I may practice what I preach. I’ll pray for you.
Saint Joseph the Worker, Model of Workmen, pray for us!
Chris Sparks serves as senior book editor for the Marian Fathers. He is the author of the Marian Press book How Can You Still Be Catholic? 50 Answers to a Good Question.
Photo by Michael O'Sullivan on Unsplash
