Joseph’s Work Was Not Only Manual Labor
I wonder what impression Jesus would have made on the people of His day if He had been the reputed son of a tax attorney, a businessman, or – heaven forbid – a government worker. Being known as the “son of a carpenter” gave Him a bit more credibility with the common people than the other positions because a carpenter was a “normal” guy, in fact, a guy that everyone needed at one point or another in their lives.
Joseph was His foster father’s name, and it helped that Joseph was known to be an upright and holy man. On top of everything, Joseph taught Jesus how to work and work hard. When, later in life, He would say that He was “doing his Father’s work,” He meant His heavenly Father, of course, but he could say that with great authority because He had been trained for His mission in the school of Joseph.
It’s very important that Joseph was revealed to us in scripture as a common laborer. He had to fulfill, in some remote way, the role of “son of Adam,” by the sweat of whose brow he provided for the Messiah as a growing child.
Jesus would later describe Himself as the “Son of Man” to reaffirm that He was a full-fledged member of the human race and shared in every dimension of our humanity. He was a child, a member of a family, an apprentice, and a worker Himself. He got His human nature from His mother, but he got His work habits and training in the faith of his ancestors from his foster father.
We are also told by the scriptures that Joseph was “an upright man,” which in biblical language meant that he was a Son of the Torah, a man who knew the scriptures well and practiced justice toward his neighbor. It also meant that Joseph taught Jesus the scriptures and tutored Him in the practices of the Law.
Later Jesus would say that He had come “not to abolish the Law but to fulfill it” (Mt 5:17). This testifies to the human effect of Joseph’s “work” in handing on his faith to the young Jesus. It was the work of faith, study, prayer, fidelity, obedience, and above all, docility to the Spirit of God “working” through him. Everything about Joseph is a work of God.
How do we imitate this great man? The first dimension of his example is to have a strong work ethic, an essential requirement of obedience. We all have some holy work to do which relates to our particular vocation in life. St. Paul told the first Christians:
“Work at it with your whole heart, as God would have you do. Do it for the Lord and not for men” (Col 3:23-24).
Jesus in His human nature may have gotten an example of that wholehearted work ethic from St. Joseph. When we work at our God-given duties with undistracted minds, a clear purpose, and generosity, we are working like Joseph and opening a way for God to work through us.
Prayer and study of scripture is another way to imitate St. Joseph. We can never read enough of the bible, which makes us mature children of God. The law of God must be in our hearts and minds constantly, so that we can teach it to others, as Joseph did for Jesus, and live it with purity of faith. It’s not easy to read the bible on a daily or regular basis but it is essential to do so.
Like Joseph whose whole life was absorbed in the care of the Christ Child, we must be immersed in the Word, and we will grow in holiness by the regular contact with Him.
Finally, there is no better way to imitate St. Joseph than to love the ever-pure Mother of Jesus. Joseph was a worker, but he worked “for” the greatest loves of his life, the Holy One of Israel, who was taught in Joseph’s school, and the daughter of Israel who bore Him to the world.
Yours in the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph,
Thomas McKenna
Founder and President
Catholic Action for Faith and Family
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