Work was the daily expression of love in the life of the Family of Nazareth. The Gospel specifies the kind of work Joseph did in order to support his family: he was a carpenter. This simple word sums up Joseph's entire life. … In our own day, the Church has emphasized this by instituting the liturgical memorial of St. Joseph the Worker on May 1. Human work, and especially manual labor, receive special prominence in the Gospel. Along with the humanity of the Son of God, work too has been taken up in the mystery of the Incarnation, and has also been redeemed in a special way. At the workbench where he plied his trade together with Jesus, Joseph brought human work closer to the mystery of the Redemption. (22)In our daily grind, we can often think of work as a punishment that began with Adam in the Garden. We plow through each day, waiting for the weekend. With this perspective, work is simply something we do to earn money; a necessary evil we endure to gain something else that we desire. Yet that is not how the Church urges us to approach our work, and on this feast of St. Joseph the Worker, we should take a moment to reflect on what we do from 9 to 5. Anything that takes such a large share of our time must have meaning or be given meaning through faith. In fact, work is noble, dignified, something that should build us up as we labor to perfect some little corner of the world that we have been given. As John Paul wrote, because Jesus took flesh and labored beside Joseph, the whole world of work has been renewed and redeemed. Sure, we may not like our job at the moment. Yes, we may be bored or overworked or underpaid and certainly not fully appreciated. Nonetheless, our work should not be something external or alien to our selves. We need to embrace our work not just as a means for money, but as a mission. We need to perform it with attention and with the intention to do it well for the sake of God and neighbor. Our tasks may be small or large; they may touch the lives of a few or have impact on millions. But the fact that it is my work, and that it is mine alone to do, gives it great meaning and purpose. In my daily interaction with my work, I should emerge a better person. A person who labors for the good of himself, his family and his loved ones; a person who works for the common good. Let Joseph be our guide.
The Holy Father invites us to pray that we might again learn how to discern, to know how to choose paths of life and reject everything that leads us away from Christ and the Gospel.
In this month of June, the Holy Father invites us to pray that the world might grow in compassion, that each one of us might find consolation in a personal relationship with Jesus, and from his Heart, learn to have compassion on the world.
Gianpaolo gives us a behind the scenes look at his upcoming Behold segment on the York University Catholic Chaplaincy.
On Sunday, June 8, 2025, Pope Leo XIV celebrated Mass for the Jubilee of Movements, Associations, and New Communities and spoke about how the Holy Spirit helps the apostles overcome "their fear, shatters their inner chains, heals their wounds, anoints them with strength and grants them the courage to go out to all and to proclaim God’s mighty works."
Pope Leo XIV celebrated Mass for the Jubilee of Families, Children, Grandparents, and the Elderly and referred to Pope Francis and mentioned spouses who have been beatified and canonized, like the parents of St. Therese of the Child Jesus.