Recently I have found myself relating to Saint Joseph in his workshop in many ways. I imagine at times he found himself struggling to make do with the little tools he might have had or worrying about where the next line of work will come from. It’s safe to say that many of us find ourselves at some point in our life worrying about our jobs, how we will provide for our families, and how we should be using our gifts to be fruitful. Even early in life, we ask ourselves what our career path should be. Many families have undergone the struggle of finding work after layoffs or contract work ends. There are so many who struggle with feeling that their job is meaningless and find themselves dreading the workday. And of course, the worry that comes with wondering if we can truly handle an unexpected career change or an entrepreneurial venture. Regardless of what the struggle, frustration, concern, or anxiety might be, there is one man that can always be a model to us, and he is one who truly lived those same challenges if not greater ones. Saint Joseph the worker can be one of the best role models when it comes to teaching us how to sanctify our work.
Saint Joseph was a humble and quiet man with a rather humbling profession. As a carpenter, in those days, he would most likely find himself working long hours doing laborious tasks to complete exquisite masterpieces and yet gain very little. We know that the Holy Family lived a rather poor lifestyle, but on top of having a small income, they found themselves possessing very little. After all, they had to flee to Eygpt with nothing more than what they carried on their backs and leave everything behind. Imagine how Joesph must have felt as they entered such a foreign and hostile land. Certainly, he carried a large weight of worry and anxiety over how he would protect and provide for his family. He could only offer very little, but of course, we see now that he had everything he actually needed. He had God within his home, what more could any human ask for? But Joseph was still human and a man with those natural concerns for the welfare of his family. Certainly, he struggled to find work at times, and perhaps even had to deal with jobs that he did not like. It’s very possible he had to deal with people who were unfair or mistreated him. There is a good chance he might have had to perform certain jobs he was not as skilled with because that’s all he could find at the moment. There are dozens of ways we could imagine him finding work, but one thing is certain, Saint Joseph had to provide for his family. How he did it exactly, it’s hard to say, certainly one day we will hear that story and I’ll be eagerly listening. However, one thing we do know is this, Joseph trusted God’s will.
If there is one thing we should take away from this virtuous man is he fully had faith, hope, and trust in our Lord. He did not argue with God's command. The angel told Joseph to take in the mother of God into his home. He told Joseph to flee to Egypt and when to return to the Holy Land. Did Joseph disobey? Did he do what his plans were instead? Did he bend things to fit his agenda? No. Joseph did as he was asked to do so, and thank goodness he did. Joseph put complete faith in our Lord and that he would provide when Joseph had no plan set in place. I mean imagine having to pick up just a few bare necessities and rush out the door and travel to a different country to live with no connections, no job, no house, no family or friends, and little to no money. You have no game plan, no idea what you will do once you are there. But you go because that is what the Lord needs you to do. So you go and you trust that once you are there he will show you the way. That God will provide you with what you need and give you the means to obtain a way of living. And our Lord always shows us the way, maybe just not the way we want it.
Saint Joseph, after Our Lady, is the perfect example of what it means to trust and do God's will. If we take a look at why we are here on Earth in a supernatural way we can see that we are here to work on gaining our entrance into Heaven. Now if we look at our lives on Earth in a basic human form we see that we live to survive, and how do we survive? We work. So it would make sense that as we “work to survive,” we also “work to obtain Heaven.” In other words, we sanctify ourselves through our work. This is much easier said than done. It’s perfectly normal to struggle, we are human after all. Struggling in our professional life is something that mankind has struggled with since the fall of Adam and Eve. But in our modern day and age, we are seeing much more of a struggle in keeping God present in our work life. The consequence of such practice can be seen in countless industries, businesses, and organizations that promote immoral ideas, practices, and lifestyles. If God was present in the workplace then businesses would be promoting wholesome content, products, ethical practices, and healthy lifestyles. You see first we need to put God in the center of our homelife, in the center of our marriage and our family. But just because we leave the home to work, doesn’t mean we leave God at home. Quite the contrary, God is always with us and we should strive to keep him present in every aspect of our life, whether it be our home, social, or work life. The grand majority of our life is spent working. From eight to five, five days out of the week, for a greater part of our Earthly life we work. At home, in the office, outdoors, in a hybrid setting, with our own kids, as a freelancer, or a CEO, we work. You start doing the math, you spend more time working to provide for your family than what you spend with your family. But that work is not done in vain.
Yes, you do it to put food on the table or create a wholesome home. But you also do it because it is one of the ways God is calling you to be Holy. He is asking you to work and to remember to do the work with love, with love for your family, and for him. God is calling you to take the hard moments in a workday and to offer it up, to carry that cross as his son did for us. To overcome those challenges and to perform each task with love. At times it can seem impossible, but it is in fact one of the greatest ways to sanctify our souls. Through our work, through the struggle and the labor, we can gain Heaven. But that labor can be less heavy to carry when we have trust in God’s plan and Saint Joseph can be our guide in learning to work for God.
One thing I love about us Catholics is we like images and figures of saints. We don’t worship these images and statues, we have them as reminders and inspiration to obtain holiness. We are visual people and we sometimes need to see something physical to help motivate us and point us in the right direction. In the past year having a small figurine of Saint Joseph in our workspace has been a huge inspiration to each of us at home to strive to sanctify our work. There have been moments of struggle or frustration and just looking up to see this small figure there is a reminder that I need to trust in our Lord's will or that God is asking me to offer up this struggle for so many other things that are happening in the world. This image has served as a daily reminder that I am working not just for my family, but for God. I am doing this as a way to obtain everlasting life. It has served as a reminder to not lose hope just because things have become extremely hard. There have been moments of fear where this figurine has brought comfort in knowing that God will not abandon me in my hour of need. It has also been an inspiration in leading a humble lifestyle. Looking to Joseph as an example of being detached from the things of this world and being truly content with less, we have learned to enjoy a simple way of living that seeks to bring God into the center of every moment. We have turned to Saint Joseph countless times asking for his intercession on many things, and he has helped our family in so many ways, some that we never expected. We have learned to be humble, quiet, hardworking, and faithful. But if there is one thing Saint Joseph has taught me is to be patient. He has inspired me to be patient with God's timing and to be patient with the changes that come with life. Joseph has taught me to obtain peace through patience. You see the secret to true happiness is to have peace within. When you have peace, you have God, for anything that is peaceful and good comes from God.
In the past few months, God has been asking me to be patient. I have sat and listened, wondered, planned, cried, and asked. But slowly God is showing me what he needs of me and what his plan for my future is. But the one thing I do know for certain is he’s asking me to have patience and trust him entirely. Sometimes life throws you a curveball and you don’t really know what your next move is. You don’t know what tomorrow will bring. But there is comfort in knowing that at least God has a plan. Looking to Saint Joseph in those times will bring you strength because he didn’t know what his next move was either. But he had to trust and be patient. He had to wait for God to do things on his time. We like to be in control and know what the next move is, but there come moments in life that you literally have to wing it, but wing it with faith and trust in our Lord, and have patience. God does not ask of us what we cannot endure. If you currently find yourself in a stage of life where you do not know where you are headed or perhaps you are struggling in some way with your work life, turn to Joseph. Bring Saint Joseph into your workplace whether it's in a physical way, such as an image, or through prayer, and ask that he help you place God in the center of your work so that you may grow in faith and virtue, and be able to find happiness with our Lord.
Comments