Reflection on May 01st 2019
Working is Continuing Creation
Feast of St. Joseph the Worker
Working is Continuing Creation
Feast of St. Joseph the Worker
Genesis 1:26-2:3; Psalm 90:2-4, 12-14, 16; Matthew 13:54-58
Link to Readings
Most of the time we tend to think working is a curse. Maybe it is because God told Adam and Eve after their disobedience, “..in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life”.(Gen. 3:17). But it was before that God blessed them saying “Be fertile and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and all the living things that move on the earth." In order to do this, man had to work. As it is obvious with this passage, working is participating in the process of creation and hence it is a blessing. Paul once told the Thessalonians “The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat.”
Working is an essential part of obeying God’s will. Hence, whatever work we do, we have to do it at our best. We have to do it faithfully. We have to do it happily. By doing so, we make God, our creator happy. This is where St. Joseph becomes the model of all the workers. Since those who work are doing what God has assigned to them, there could not be distinctions among the types of work.
Link to Readings
Most of the time we tend to think working is a curse. Maybe it is because God told Adam and Eve after their disobedience, “..in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life”.(Gen. 3:17). But it was before that God blessed them saying “Be fertile and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and all the living things that move on the earth." In order to do this, man had to work. As it is obvious with this passage, working is participating in the process of creation and hence it is a blessing. Paul once told the Thessalonians “The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat.”
Working is an essential part of obeying God’s will. Hence, whatever work we do, we have to do it at our best. We have to do it faithfully. We have to do it happily. By doing so, we make God, our creator happy. This is where St. Joseph becomes the model of all the workers. Since those who work are doing what God has assigned to them, there could not be distinctions among the types of work.