St. Joseph the Worker

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When Our Lord walked the earth, He did so as a fully human yet fully divine person. As we know from Holy Scripture, the eternal Second Person of the Blessed Trinity immersed Himself into the human condition.

Christ's plan of salvation for sinners entailed partaking in all sorts of human activities. He went to the temple, attended the wedding feast at Cana, and even walked in the heat of the sun with his disciples.

He was so immersed in human activities, the people of Nazareth were incredulous when He came to preach to them. They questioned: "Is this not the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joseph, and Jude, and Simon? Are not his sisters also here with us?"

The carpenter is St. Joseph, known in Sacred Scripture as being "just" and, according to Church teaching, the foster father of Our Lord.

Although Christ is king of Heaven and earth, The Lord spent the bulk of his earthly journey in quiet family life at Nazareth. The divine Child subjected Himself to the authority of St. Joseph and worked as his assistant in the carpenter shop.

Everything in Our Lord's life was significant and was a part of mankind's salvation, culminating in His ultimate work of salvation on the Cross. By taking part in work, Christ sanctified work.

He took upon Himself the curse of Adam, "Thorns and thistles shall [the earth] produce for you. ... By the sweat of your face shall you eat bread, until you return to the earth from which you were taken."

When St. Joseph's son did that, the curse became a healing balm of redemptive suffering for sinners.

Learn more by watching The Download—St. Joseph the Worker.

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