Why is it that so many workers in difficult situations turn towards Saint Joseph to beg and implore his help?

Well, Joseph understands the importance of work. As the carpenter in Nazareth, his job was his pride and his identity. He understood what it meant to work with dignity and to ensure the life and peace of his family. He too was confronted with drudgery and heavy monotonous toil with all that entails. In the most demanding moments, his faith and confidence in God led him to summon up a boldness and an ambition in the face of any challenge.

Like Saint Joseph the carpenter, many of today’s women and men are confronted with situations at work which involve insecurity or confrontation or sometimes unjust working conditions or unemployment. So then we can understand why these people turn to Saint Joseph

Now, we all have a part to play in building a new world where the right to work is more clearly recognized and where all are summoned to work in dignity. Let us ask Joseph the carpenter to be among those who, in the name of their faith, undertake to create new solidarities where people will have the satisfaction of contributing to the commonweal according to their capabilities and to earn their bread honorably.

As our gaze rests upon Joseph, let us adopt this beautiful song which Robert Lebel created in honor of the humble carpenter.

May we, like you,

Learn how to work,

In the woods of this world,

To search in faith,

What might be our labor,

In building up the kingdom.

Joseph, Joseph! Joseph, Joseph!

Blessed companion of hope,

Let us, like you, learn to trust.

Jean-Pierre Aumont, CSC