Feast of Saint Joseph the Worker

When we hear about St. Joseph, most of the time we think of him simply as the person who was betrothed to the Virgin Mary and became the foster father of Jesus. FOSTER FATHER -- Thinking about it, was it his obligation in the first place to become the father of Jesus when in fact Mary carried The Child beforehand? No. In fact, he could have had declined becoming the foster father, BUT we see in The Scripture that he did otherwise. He protected Mary by preventing her to be stoned to death (since having a child without a legal father was unlawful and anyone who did wrong must be punished and put to death).

Moreover, Joseph allowed himself to carry that responsibility of becoming the father without doubt. He also did not know that the child Mary was carrying was the Son of God, thus we know that he was sincere in his actions to become the father.  From here we see that St. Joseph was a protecting man, had a loving and sincere heart.

St. Joseph was known to be a carpenter. CARPENTRY -- It is about construction of buildings, pieces of furniture, and other objects. Jesus' exposure to Joseph's work taught him the basics of carpentry and from there we see that his ability to build a structure in the near future, such as the first Church,  was thanks to St. Joseph. :)

Furthermore, carpentry is a work that involves ability; Ability to be hardworking, humble, giving, open-minded, and most importantly, patient. Having the child on Joseph's side almost 24/7 during Jesus' childhood years had taught Jesus great virtues that he would have had not learned if not for his primary teachers, i.e. his parents. Jesus was raised by Joseph and Mary to hold the same virtues as his parents had -- that is, being understanding, giving, humble and patient to people. From here we see that St. Joseph was the primary person who taught Jesus the virtues of a good, humble man.

Reading more of The Scriptures, St. Joseph was known to be part of the Jewish race. He was a religious man, and reading between the lines, Joseph may have introduced his religion to Jesus through their daily conversations. Thus, the very first person who teaches about the Godly Father is the Earthly Father, St. Joseph himself. Hence, St. Joseph is God's instrument for the salvation of the world.  

Today, we celebrate the  Feast of St. Joseph the Worker. It is a special day not only for me, for the laborers, & village (whose patron saint is St. Joseph the Worker), but also for everyone else.

St. Joseph may have been introduced in the Bible for only a few lines, but on these lines lie an encompassing role that is truly significant in raising & nurturing the child Jesus to become the Redeemer of the World. 

GOD BLESS

Happy Fiesta!

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