Friday of the Third Week of Easter

"Mary's Month" of May
Saint Joseph the Worker
First Friday of the Month

Readings of the Day
RB: Ch 73 This Rule Only a Beginning of Perfection
Mass: For the memorial: Gn 1:26-2:3 or Col 3:14-15, 17, 23-24; Resp Ps 89; Mt 13:54-58
For the feria: Acts 9:1-20; Resp Ps 117; Jn 6:52-59

Give success to the work of our hands, O Lord.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow! It's May, that is, "Mary's Month", and we celebrate Saint Joseph the Worker on the First Friday of the Month. In addition, the Bishops of Canada and the United States are joining in prayer today to reconsecrate their respective nations to the care and protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary, under the title "Mary, Mother of the Church". And it seems the Bishops of Italy are joining in. And let us not forget that Pope Francis has called the faithful to renewed Marian devotion encouraging us to "rediscover the beauty of praying the rosary at home in the month of May" (see the Holy Father's Letter for the Month of May, published April 25 the Feast of St Mark the Evangelist). We are busy.

There are many things we can be about today. I offer two. First, choose any (or all) of the readings for the memorial Mass (listed above) and read it out loud. What is the Lord saying to you? This is what I pray to keep in my heart and mind: "Whatever you do, do from the heart, as for the Lord and not for others" (Col 3:23). Second, there are two prayers I read last night, found in Magnificat, May 2020. The first comes from Venerable Francis Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan (these are words the Vietnamese cardinal wrote "on a scrap of paper during his long and unjust imprisonment by the community government"). The prayer could be used as a morning offering, before beginning lectio divina or daily reflection on a passage from the Bible, or at any time:

Mary, my mother, Joseph my father, give me your eyes to contemplate Jesus; give me your hearts and spirits to understand him, and to be impassioned for him. Give me your will so that I may work for him with my whole heart and mind without growing weary. Give me your soul that I may endlessly proclaim: Jesus, my Lord and my all!

The second is one the editor of Magnificat asked us to join him in praying. It is in Dutch, as he wrote, "but the words are all cognates, so the meaning is clear". The English is included.

Jesus, Maria, Joseph, Ik geef U mijn hart, Ik geef U mijn leven.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, I give you my heart, I give you my life.

We pray too with the Holy Father:

Today, on the Feast of Saint Joseph the Worker and the day dedicated to workers, let us pray for all workers, so that no one may be without work and all might be paid a just wage. May they benefit from the dignity of work and the beauty of rest.

SAINT JOSEPH THE WORKER,

MARY, QUEEN OF PEACE,

PRAY FOR US. 

Today's photos: Images of Saint Joseph the Worker, a statue in the home of my dear brother and his family. Thank you TBF. May Saint Joseph the Worker intercede for you and all your loved ones.

© Gertrude Feick 2020