Acts 9:1-20; 6:52-59
Today we celebrate the memorial of Saint Joseph the Worker who, by and through his work, responded to God’s call to take care of and provide for the Holy Family. As we honor all workers who day in and day out sacrifice everything for the sake of their family and others, we are invited to reflect also on the question of safe working environments and adequate wages that take into account the dignity of the human person.
Workers face many challenges in their working environments, from exploitation, to freedom denial, hostile working environments and different abuses, even the denial of one of the most fundamental rights which is freedom of religion. As we reflect on the value and importance of human labor, we are invited to go back to the sources and rediscover the meaning of human labor in God’s providential plan. Human labor is participation in God’s work of creation. It also constitutes a foundation for the formation of family life – a natural right and something that humanity is called to. Work allows for the creation of a family by providing subsistence. A fundamental error in judgment occurs when one views human labor solely in economic terms. Work ought to be seen as a privileged expression of human activity as it is an example of human creation in the image of the creator.
Now, as Christians, we are invited to think about the ways we treat one another in our working environment. The body and blood of Christ we receive affords us the grace to look at each other through God’s own lenses and infuses in us the strength to transform our work environment. Saint Paul whose conversion story we read in today’s first reading constitutes God’s pressing invitation to conversion for each one of us. Saul felt powerful and unbeatable; his horse represented the power he held to murder and ill treat others. Falling from his horse at the encounter with the Lord brought a completely different perspective into his relationships with others.
Like Saint Paul, we are invited to fall from the horse of our self-righteousness, the horse of the denial of human dignity by treating each other as children of God; falling from the horse of our manipulation of others, and the horse of abusing those under our responsibility, the horse of denying just and dignified wages to those who work for us.
As we reflect today on our spiritual reception of the Eucharistic Lord during these trying times, let us think about the horse from which we are personally called to fall; the horse we have to abandon to make life, our working environment, our family relationships and the world a place where the defense and the promotion of human dignity constitute the golden rule.
Saint Joseph the Worker, pray for us!
Fr. Emery