Solemnity of Saint Joseph and the Labor Day

Today is special day not because it is Labor Day in the Philippines but because it is the day of a special man in the Church. That man is Joseph, who is also called as the Worker.

Saint Joseph is the foster father of our Lord Jesus Christ and the husband of Virgin Mary. God chose him to provide for the Mother and Child. The role of Saint Joseph is important yet he is just mentioned in few sentences in the New Testament. It shows that Saint Joseph is not a showy kind of man. He is the one who works, silently and piously, at the background.
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Saint Joseph is a carpenter by profession. That is why he is revered as the patron saint of laborers. It is fitting that his Feast Day coincided with Labor Day. The timing of Saint Joseph's feast day reminds us that more prayers are needed in these days when there is great discontent amongst the laborers. Labor Day is always accompanied with noisy rallies and protests. There is always a clash between policemen and protesters. Word wars between employers and laborers is a common event all throughout the year.

There is too much noise to the point that people just keep on babbling and everyone stop listening. Saint Joseph is perhaps telling us that nothing will be resolved as long as there is noise. There will be no solution for the problems of the Labor Sector if people shut their ears and just opened their mouths.
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Being the foster father of Jesus and husband of Virgin Mary is not an easy feat. I believe that he experienced suffering when he accepted God's call to be the head of the Holy Family. The moment he discovered that Mary is with child due to the Holy Spirit, he felt afraid and he decided to “put her privately away”. This action of Saint Joseph shows how deep are the doubts in Joseph's heart. Why is he afraid? Did he found himself unworthy to be the husband of the woman chosen to bear the Saviour of the world?

Another trial that Joseph faced is when our Lord was born in Bethlehem. The Holy Family fled to Egypt to escape the murderous intent of Herod. Imagine how hard it is to carry the fear for your life while being pursued by soldiers. Imagine the his thoughts as they leave the land of their birth. A lesser man will exclaim “I didn't sign up for this!” but Joseph still followed God's will without complaining.

Jesus promised that those who follow Him will experience suffering and tribulations. I believe that Joseph experienced that promise of his foster Son. He, an unworthy sinner, is tasked to take care of God who is infinitely more virtuous than him. The Devil may have pester him with thoughts of unworthiness and tempted him to run away from Jesus because of it. Yet, despite of these, Joseph persevered and suffered in silence.

We, Christians, especially Christian laborers, are called to emulate Saint Joseph. We are called to work more and to talk less. We are called to fulfill our works in silence and without claiming that what we accomplished was only due to our own doings.

Injecting the solemnity of Saint Joseph to Labor Day is the good way to return civility in the talks between employers and workers. Word wars, burning of effigies, sloganeering and being self centered will never resolve the problems. May we trust in the Lord like Saint Joseph and let all the sectors resolve labor problems in a civil and peaceful manner.

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