Father Judge* suggests, "Go to Joseph. So often we have gone to him and our needs have been satisfied! We have so many reasons to give ourselves completely to the service of God and the favor of this good Saint!”

For me, more than anything else, the lesson learned from Saint Joseph is from this consequence of service; and in turn, the dignity of work bound up in the relationships thereby fostered and formed by laboring together.

This role of Saint Joseph as a laborer is a relatively recent attribution. Pope Pius XII instituted the feast of Saint Joseph the Worker in 1955. According to his excellency,

“By work, humankind both fulfills the command found in Genesis to care for the earth and the command to be productive in their labors.”

More recently, in his encyclical Laborem Exercens, Pope John Paul II writes,

“… the Church considers it her task always to call attention to the dignity and rights of those who work, to condemn situations in which that dignity and those rights are violated, and to help to guide changes to ensure authentic progress for society.”

Remarkably, there are no quotes of Saint Joseph in the Bible. Appropriately then, he is a silent saint; but he is not voiceless for he speaks volumes with his actions. He was given the noble task of caring and watching over the Holy Family, and he provided for their every need primarily through his vocation as a carpenter. He now cares for and watches over all of us, especially as the patron for the dignity of human work.

By all accounts, Jesus learned the family trade from Saint Joseph and, he spent his early adult years working side-by-side with Joseph before leaving to pursue his ministry as a preacher and healer. As mentioned above, traditionally Joseph has been described as a "carpenter", however, it is not exactly clear what he worked at. Other than possibly working with wood, as a carpenter, some say, he worked with stone, as a mason, and still, others propose, he was an artisan working with iron.

For me, it is not critical what his profession was, as much as, what he actually did. I, personally believe, he fulfilled the original command of Genesis perfectly, “Be fertile and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it.” He achieved this - not by harvesting the plants or animals but rather by cultivating a relationship with the plants and animals - not by selling products for a profit but rather by sharing his skill with his neighbor – not by defining success according to the amount of property or goods he accumulated but rather by committing to the well-being of his community.

So let us follow Saint Joseph’s example and make the world a better place as we work together to do God’s will.

*Father Judge is the founder of the Shrine of St Joseph.

Send in your inspirational stories about St. Joseph to oneinthespiritgroup@gmail.com