By Exaudi.org
SAINT Joseph the carpenter shows us the importance of human work in God’s plan, Pope Francis said during his catechesis yesterday at Paul VI Hall.
“Not enough consideration is given to the fact that work is an essential component of human life, and even of the path of sanctification,” he said.
“Work is not only a means of earning a living – it is also a place where we express ourselves, feel useful, and learn the great lesson of concreteness, which helps keep the spiritual life from becoming spiritualism.
“Unfortunately, however, labour is often a hostage to social injustice and, rather than being a means of humanization, it becomes an existential periphery.”
Pope Francis pointed out in the time of Jesus, being a carpenter was hard work involving construction with wood, stone, and iron.
The pay was not great.
Pope Francis said when Mary and Joseph presented Jesus in the temple, their offering was two turtledoves, the offering of the poor.
Jesus learned the carpenter’s trade from his father, so Christ was a hard-working man who earned a modest income too.
As Pope Francis suggested, this led to the surprise of people when the Lord began his public life and demonstrated great knowledge and wisdom.
“This biographical fact about Joseph and Jesus makes me think of all the workers in the world, especially those who do gruelling work in mines and certain factories; those who are exploited through undocumented work; the victims of labour: we have seen a lot of this in Italy recently; the children who are forced to work and those who rummage among the trash in search of something useful to trade…” Pope Francis said.
“Let me repeat what I said – the hidden workers, the workers who do hard labour in mines and in certain factories, let’s think of them.
“Let’s think about them.
“Let’s think about those who are exploited with undeclared work, who are paid in contraband, on the sly, without a pension, without anything.
“And if you don’t work, you have no security. Undocumented work. And today there is a lot of undocumented work.
“Many young people, many fathers, and mothers experience the ordeal of not having a job that allows them to live tranquilly.
“They live day-to-day… I would like to remember each of them and their families today.
“Let us take a moment of silence, remembering these men, these women, who are desperate because they cannot find work.”
