MAY12024

There is an old joke. Plato said, “To be is to do.” Karl Marx said, “To do is to be.” Frank Sinatra said, “Do Be Do Be Do.” Today is the feast of St. Joseph the Worker. It was added to the Church’s calendar as a response to “May Day” celebrations in communist countries celebrating the worker. By adding the feast the Church demonstrated from the very beginning being a worker was a source of pride and dignity. Jesus was identified as from a working class family: “Where did this man get such wisdom and mighty deeds? Is he not the carpenter’s son?”  Being a worker in the time of Jesus put you on the lower rungs of society. It meant you did not own any land and, hence, could not accumulate any wealth. Jesus and Mary depended for their very survival on the work of Joseph. If he didn’t work, they wouldn’t eat. As we celebrate the feast let’s use this as the occasion to recognize those seeking work so that they might be able to provide better for their families — particularly newly arrived refugees.