May 1st is the liturgical commemoration day of Saint Joseph the Worker in the Catholic Church. Memorial Day XII. It was introduced by Pope Piusz on May 1, 1955. József, the betrothed of the Blessed Virgin, the adoptive father of the Redeemer, was a carpenter by profession - a simple, manual worker.
Only the two childhood stories in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke tell more about his life. Both Gospels present Joseph as standing in the father's place in the Savior's life. Luke calls him the father of Jesus several times. He worked with Lord József and learned carpentry from him.
Saint Joseph is the silent saint of everyday life. He left us no wisdom. He lived his life in silence, listening, next to the Savior. According to tradition, he received the greatest gift in exchange for his loyalty and "listening": Jesus and Mary were present during his life as well as at his death. No man died so beautifully with God and His mother before his eyes.
II. In his apostolic exhortation beginning with Redemptoris custos, Pope John Paul wrote, among other things, as follows:
"Just as the Nazareth family is an example of human families in the order of salvation and holiness, we can say the same about the work of Jesus, which he did at the side of Joseph the carpenter. In our time, the Church wanted to highlight the importance of this by placing the liturgical commemoration of St. Joseph the Worker on the first day of May. In the Gospel, human work is highly respected, especially when it is done by hand. Work entered into the mystery of the Incarnation together with the humanity of the Son of God, and even benefited from the redemption in a special way. József, thanks to his work bench, on which he carried out his activities together with Jesus, also brought human work closer to the mystery of salvation."
Source: Magyar Kurír/ Hungarian Catholic Lexicon
Image: mariaradio.ro
