FEAST OF ST. JOSEPH THE WORKER
Psalter: Proper / (White)
Ps 90: 2,3-4,12-13,14 & 16
Lord, give success to the work of our hands.
1st Reading: Gen 1:26—2:3
God said, ”Let us make man in our image, to our likeness. Let them rule over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, over the cattle, over the wild animals, and over all creeping things that crawl along the ground.” So God created man in his image; in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, ”Be fruitful and increase in number, fill the earth and subdue it, rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the sky, over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
God said, ”I have given you every seed-bearing plant which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree that bears fruit with seed. It will be for your food. To every wild animal, to every bird of the sky, to everything that creeps along the ground, to everything that has the breath of life, I give every green plant for food.” So it was.
God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. There was evening and there was morning: the sixth day
That was the way the sky and earth were created and all their vast array. By the seventh day the work God had done was completed, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work he had done.
Gospel: Mt 13:54-58
He went to his hometown and taught the people in their synagogue. They were amazed and said, “Where did he get this wisdom and these special powers? Isn’t he the carpenter’s son? Isn’t Mary his mother and aren’t James, Joseph, Simon and Judas his brothers? Aren’t all his sisters living here? Where did he get all these things?” And so they took offense at him.
Jesus said to them, “The only place where prophets are not welcome is his hometown and in his own family.” And he did not perform many miracles there because of their lack of faith.
Reflections
Isn’t he the carpenter’s son?
A carpenter in Jesus’ time worked with wood and stone. Joseph would not only have constructed and sold wooden furnishings, but would also have replaced the thatched roofing of houses and built homes made of stone, plastering them with clay. Possibly Joseph, too, worked as a contractual carpenter in the majestic city of Sepphoris, the capital of Galilee, five kilometers away from Nazareth.
Eventually, Jesus apprenticed under Joseph. Eventually, after Joseph passed away, Jesus would have provided for his widowed mother Mary by laboring with his hands. St. Joseph the Worker, teach us the dignity of human labor.
Daily Reflection 2018
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Biblical Texts are taken from Christian Community Bible, Catholic Pastoral Edition (57th Edition) The New English Translation for the ROMAN MISSAL
With permission from the EPISCOPAL COMMISION ON LITURGY of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines
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