The Church throughout the world celebrates the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker today. In Matthew 13, 55 Jesus is called “the carpenter’s son.” St. Mark’s Gospel simply calls Him “the carpenter.” (6, 3). In a sense, we need to celebrate Jesus the worker today as well as Joseph the worker.
Did you know that, in the past, manual work was referred to in religious language as “servile work?” And did you know that it was forbidden on Sundays? Strangely enough, if you were an accountant you could spend all your Sundays accounting, but if you were a farmer, for example, or a carpenter, you had to remain idle.
The word “servile” comes from the Latin servilis, meaning of a slave. Thus, “servile work” meant “the work of slaves.” Hidden in this language was a disdain for manual labor – a disdain which is certainly not from the Gospel – Jesus Himself was a carpenter, or more accurately a builder!
Let’s not lose sight of the dignity and relevance of work. The Book of Genesis tells how God gave a creative role to the first man and woman by handing over to them the task of populating the earth and subduing it (which did not mean to exploit it, but to develop and protect it, to cultivate it with their own labor). Why is this important? All human work is part of the strategy of God’s love. We are called to plant and safeguard all that the earth produces and in this way we take part in the work of creation! Work is essential to our dignity, it “anoints” us with dignity, so to speak. In fact, it makes us resemble God, who has worked and works still, for He is always at work. (John 5, 17)
