Wednesday May 1, 2019
ST. JOSEPH THE WORKER
Second Week of Easter
Introduction
To the people of Nazareth, Jesus was known as the son of a laborer, the son of the carpenter. Yes, God’s Son born in a workman’s family, and like the young people of his time, presumably helping his father in the carpentry workshop. The readings of today also present human work as a cooperation with the creative act of God: we are stewards of creation, to whom God has entrusted the work of his hands. Let us work as stewards of one another and of God’s creation.
Opening Prayer
Creative God,
when by your word
you had accomplished your creation,
you entrusted it to people
whom you had created in your image
and you said: fill the earth and subdue it.
Fill us with your Spirit, Lord,
that we may preserve the beauty and order
of your magnificent creation
and that like St Joseph
we take up the task entrusted to us
of perfecting your creation
in Christ Jesus, our Lord.
Reading 1: ACTS 14:19-28
In those days, some Jews from Antioch and Iconium
arrived and won over the crowds.
They stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city,
supposing that he was dead.
But when the disciples gathered around him,
he got up and entered the city.
On the following day he left with Barnabas for Derbe.
After they had proclaimed the good news to that city
and made a considerable number of disciples,
they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch.
They strengthened the spirits of the disciples
and exhorted them to persevere in the faith, saying,
"It is necessary for us to undergo many hardships
to enter the Kingdom of God."
They appointed presbyters for them in each Church and,
with prayer and fasting, commended them to the Lord
in whom they had put their faith.
Then they traveled through Pisidia and reached Pamphylia.
After proclaiming the word at Perga they went down to Attalia.
From there they sailed to Antioch,
where they had been commended to the grace of God
for the work they had now accomplished.
And when they arrived, they called the Church together
and reported what God had done with them
and how he had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles.
Then they spent no little time with the disciples.
Responsorial Psalm 145:10-11, 12-13AB, 21
R. (see 12) Your friends make known, O Lord, the glorious splendor of your kingdom.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Let all your works give you thanks, O LORD,
and let your faithful ones bless you.
Let them discourse of the glory of your kingdom
and speak of your might.
R. Your friends make known, O Lord, the glorious splendor of your kingdom.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Making known to men your might
and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.
Your kingdom is a kingdom for all ages,
and your dominion endures through all generations.
R. Your friends make known, O Lord, the glorious splendor of your kingdom.
or:
R. Alleluia.
May my mouth speak the praise of the LORD,
and may all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever.
R. Your friends make known, O Lord, the glorious splendor of your kingdom.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Alleluia LK 24:46, 26
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Christ had to suffer and to rise from the dead,
and so enter into his glory.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel: JN 14:27-31A
Jesus said to his disciples:
"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.
Not as the world gives do I give it to you.
Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.
You heard me tell you,
'I am going away and I will come back to you.'
If you loved me,
you would rejoice that I am going to the Father;
for the Father is greater than I.
And now I have told you this before it happens,
so that when it happens you may believe.
I will no longer speak much with you,
for the ruler of the world is coming.
He has no power over me,
but the world must know that I love the Father
and that I do just as the Father has commanded me."
Intercessions
As we celebrate St. Joseph today, let us being our intentions before the Lord.
– Lord, we pray you for your Church. Let it honor St Joseph, its patron, through a responsible and dedicated leadership, we pray:
– Lord, we pray you for those in public office, that they may lead their people with wisdom and justice, we pray:
– Lord, we pray you for heads of families, including single parents, that they may be dedicated to their children, we pray:
– Lord, we pray you for laborers who live by the work of their hands; may they do their work conscientiously and take pride in it, we pray:
– Lord, we pray you for ourselves. May we be people who know how to serve and to live in our presence, we pray:
– Lord, may the help of St Joseph help us all to serve you with love. We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Prayer over the Gifts
Lord God, here is bread,
like the bread earned by St Joseph
for the family of Nazareth.
Turn it into the bread of life,
your Son Jesus Christ.
that he may keep us going
to carry out the task you have entrusted to us.
Make us look at all work, however humble,
as ennobling us in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Prayer after Communion
Lord our God,
St. Joseph served the Holy Family
by the work of his hands.
Whatever task you have entrusted to us,
help us to put our heart in it
and see in it a way to serve people
and to give praise and glory to your name
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Blessing
“Is this not the carpenter’s son?” Human, the son of simple parents who had to work with their hands to earn the food of every day. And Jesus with them. The creator earning his bread. May you honor and respect work, with the blessing of almighty God, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Commentary
Among the factors that many of the New Testament personalities had in common, one often unmentioned is the fact that many of them had to do “jail time.” From John the Baptist to Jesus to Peter and Paul, encounters with religious and civil authorities often led to imprisonment. In today’s reading from Acts of the Apostles, the apostles as a group are apprehended but then set free by divine intervention; they return to their preaching mission, much to the amazement of their stunned jailers.
We are reminded in today’s Gospel that no human judgment can compare with that which comes from the rejection of God’s Son. The term world is used in two different senses in John’s Gospel. Used negatively, it is the arena where evil is at play and therefore worthy of disdain. In the positive sense, it is the focus of God’s love, the locus of redemption, the springboard to eternal life.
Where condemnation enters the picture, it is self-inflicted. It is a question of refusing God’s Son and choosing darkness over the light. Works that are evil survive only in the realm of darkness, while those who have the truth love the light and have nothing to fear.
As the baptized we have been snatched from the grasp of evil. We are people of light, truth adherents. Therefore, we are called to walk in the daylight, to do the work of God, with no fear of the dark. The only imprisonment that we have to fear is that of the soul. The “jail time” served in the New Testament was productive of good. But if the spirit is imprisoned we sit in darkness and death.
Taste and see how good the Lord is; happy the person who takes refuge in him.
Points to Ponder
Imprisonment for a worthy cause
Spiritual imprisonment
God’s love for the world
Self-condemnation
Celebración de la palabra
St. Joseph the Worker
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