Saint Joseph the Worker

Readings of the day: RB 73 This Rule Only a Beginning of Perfection

Mass: Ac 14:19-28; Resp Ps145; Jn 14:27-31a

They strengthened the spirits of the disciples and exhorted them to persevere in the faith.

It is necessary for us to undergo many hardships to enter the Kingdom of God.

Reach out to someone today. Do you know someone who is hurting, undergoing physical or emotional stress or strain, someone who is facing trials, is overburdened by the demands of work, is feeling isolated or alone? Why not take time to be with the person, listen to him or her, pray together (as we enter the Marian month of May, pray the Hail Mary, ask Mary, comforter of the afflicted, health of the sick to pray for you), take a walk, or just sit quietly. Let us strengthen and encourage one another in the faith.Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid. 

Be one with Christ when you pray, take care of your most vulnerable brothers and sisters,

and work for peace.

(Pope Francis, Twitter, April 30, 2018)

In the Church, each one of us has his mission to fulfill for the good of souls and the glory of God. This mission requires work—often fatiguing work—and much sacrifice and intense activity. Like Saint Joseph, we must give ourselves generously and totally, without sparing, without reserve, but, at the same time, we must also give ourselves to the works of God with a heart filled with God, with a heart which lives with him in an intimacy nourished by the assiduous exercise of prayer. Saint Joseph teaches us the blessed secret of a life of combined activity and contemplation, so that, following his example, we may give ourselves to the active life without neglecting our life of intimate union with God. 

Fr Gabriel of Saint Mary Magdalene, O.C.D.

d. 1952