Joseph The Worker

 

 

 

The Dignity of Work

The Dignity of the Worker

May 1 is the feast of St. Joseph the Worker. 

The feast was originated by Pope Pius XII in 1955 to counter the “May Day” celebrations sponsored by the Communists. 

 But the relationship between St. Joseph and the cause of workers goes further back, all the way to the early Church, which emphasized that Jesus was himself a worker – a humble carpenter – trained by his carpenter father, Joseph.

United States Conference of Bishop Statement

The economy must serve people, not the other way around. Work is more than a way to  make a living; it is a form of continuing participation in God’s creation. If  the dignity of work is to be protected, then the basic rights of workers must  be respected--the right to productive work, to decent and fair wages, to the  organization and joining of unions, to private property, and to economic  initiative.

Network ISSUE AREA: INCOME

NETWORK believes in the dignity of work and the right to meaningful work for all. National legislation should move from adjusting a minimum wage to creating a living wage.

Prayer and Action

Celebrating St Joseph the Worker today, we recall all workers who have experienced injustice and sought better working conditions for themselves and those around them. The teachers going on strike, and all teachers across the United States, are shaping our education system and forming the young women and men who will soon enter the workforce, and serve as our politicians, engineers, and innovators. Their contribution to the common good cannot be understated. All workers deserve dignity, fair compensation, and safe work environments that allow them to shape our shared future and contribute to the common good.

Prayer For Those Seeking Employment 

Loving God, 

you created the human race and know each one of us by name. 

Through Christ you have chosen us to be your sons and daughters, 

and to build up your Kingdom on earth. 

Give us work so that we may share our talents with others and know the dignity and satisfaction that you give us through our work. 

Give us patience while you open doors and wisdom to see your will. 

Keep our families in your care, and provide for all our needs. 

Never let stress diminish our love for each other 

nor the desire for material things lessen our love for you. 

With confidence and trust we make this prayer thru Jesus.

 

Amen.

From: Prayers for Catholic Living

Divine Mercy Sunday

Gospel for Mercy Sunday

John 20:19-31

Jesus among His Disciples

So when it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.”  And when He had said this, He showed them both His hands and His side. The disciples then rejoiced when they saw the Lord. So Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained.”

But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples were saying to him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.”

After eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors having been shut, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.” Then He said to Thomas, “Reach here with your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand and put it into My side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing.” Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!”  Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.”

Pope Francis’ Reflection

“Seeing” for ourselves

Thomas wanted to “see inside,” He wanted to touch “with his hand the Lord’s wounds, the signs of his love.” This is how Thomas is our twin, because so often we need to know for ourselves that God exists rather than taking others’ word for it. “No, we too need to ‘see God,’ to touch him with our hands and to know that he is risen for us,” the Pope said.

A Love Story

Pope Francis tells us that it is by seeing Jesus’ wounds that the disciples of all time know that we have been forgiven because we “contemplate the boundless love flowing from his heart”, a heart that beats for each person. When Thomas touched the Lord’s wounds, Jesus became “My Lord and my God.” Pope Francis describes the appropriation of God as mine as a “love story.” The uncertain, wavering disciple then falls in love with the Lord telling him: “You became man for me, you died and rose for me and thus you are not only God; you are my God, you are my life. In you I have found the love that I was looking for, and much more than I could ever have imagined,” 

Jesus, I Trust in You 

Simply speaking, then, the “Divine Mercy” is another name for the revelation of this magnificent love of God, which culminates in the life, death and resurrection of Christ. Christians have long known and praised this abundant mercy. In this sense, devotion to the Divine Mercy is not new.

Less than a century ago, however, Christians were challenged by God himself to a renewed awareness and trust in His mercy, which has begun to fan the old flame of devotion into a more ardent veneration. Our Lord spoke to a young Polish nun, giving her a timeless reminder for all of humanity:

“Mankind will not have peace,” He said, “until it turns with trust to My mercy. … Proclaim that mercy is the greatest attribute of God.”

Sister Mary Faustina Kowalska, born in 1905, was a cloistered nun of the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy in Poland. On Feb. 22, 1931, Jesus first appeared to Sister Faustina.

Prayer For Mercy

God is the Father of all mercies. In him we place our faith as we pray the following petitions:

Reader

For our Holy Father, Pope Francis, bishops, priests, and all the faithful:

that in this Year of Faith, each will bear witness to the love and mercy of God;

We pray to the Lord:

All:  Lord, hear our prayer.

For all who have committed grave sin and who are afraid to go to confession:

that their fears will dissolve in the face of Jesus’ longing to forgive and be reconciled to them;

We pray to the Lord:

All: Lord, hear our prayer.

For those who serve in public office:

that they govern with true compassion for the lives of the most vulnerable among us— especially unborn children, the elderly, and persons with disabilities;

We pray to the Lord:

All:   Lord, hear our prayer.

For parents:

that, by their guidance and the witness of their own lives,

they will teach their children how to love and forgive when they have been wronged;

We pray to the Lord:

All:   Lord, hear our prayer.

For the protection of conscience rights and religious liberty,

and that all people of good will may work together

against the increasing threats to these fundamental rights;

We pray to the Lord:

All:   Lord, hear our prayer.

For peace throughout the world, and especially in Ukraine, 

that ancient prejudices and hatreds will be replaced by a spirit of mercy;

We pray to the Lord:

All:  Lord, hear our prayer.

Almighty and merciful Father, we give you thanks for all of your many blessings, and we ask you to hear these petitions in the name of your Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

All: Amen.

 

2022 Earth Day

 

Pursuing the Common Good 

for Our Common Home

WHAT IS EARTH DAY?

Earth Day is a secular celebration that many faith communities have incorporated into their annual calendars for awareness and action. Friday, April 22, 2022, marks the 52nd anniversary of Earth Day. This year, the secular Earth Day theme  is “Investing in Our Planet” and our Catholic Climate Covenant  program complements that Earth Day theme.

A Prayer for Our Earth

  - Pope Francis, Laudato Si

All-powerful God, 

you are present  in the whole universe and in the smallest of your creatures.

You embrace  with your tenderness all that exists. 

Pour out upon us the power of your love, that we may protect  life and beauty.

Fill us with peace, that we may live as brothers  and sisters, harming no one. 

O God of the poor, help us to rescue the abandoned and forgotten of this earth, 

so precious in your eyes. Bring healing to our lives, 

that we may protect  the world and not prey on it,

that we may sow beauty, not pollution and destruction. 

Touch the hearts of those who look only for gain at the expense of the poor

and the earth. 

Teach us to discover the worth of each thing, to be filled with awe and contemplation, to recognize that we are profoundly united with every creature  

as we journey towards  your infinite light. 

We thank you for being with us each day.

Encourage us, we pray, in our struggle for justice, love and peace.

Readings

READING 1

[The] common  good is to be understood [as] “the  sum total of social conditions which allow people, either as groups or as individuals, to reach their fulfillment more fully and more easily.” The common  good concerns the life of all. It calls for prudence from each, and even more from those who exercise the office of authority. 

Catechism of the Catholic Church #1906

READING 2

Working for the common  good requires us to promote the flourishing of all human  life and all of God’s creation. In a special way, the common  good requires solidarity with the poor who are often without the resources to face many problems, including the potential impacts of climate change.  Our obligations to the one human  family stretch across space and time. They tie us to the poor in our midst and across the globe, as well as to future generations. The commandment to love our neighbor invites us to consider the poor and marginalized of other nations as true brothers  and sisters who share with us the one table of life intended by God for the enjoyment  of all. 

~Global Climate Change: A Plea for Dialogue, Prudence,

 and the Common Good,

U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), 2001, #25.

READING 3

Integral ecology is a key concept  in chapter  four of Laudato Si’, Pope Francis’ encyclical on the environment. It flows from his understanding that “everything is closely related” and that “today’s problems call for a vision capable of taking into account  every aspect of the global crisis.” … Human ecology, Pope Francis argues, cannot  be separated from the notion of the common  good, which he calls “a central and unifying principle of social ethics.” Quoting Gaudium et Spes, the Second Vatican Council’s Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, he defines the common  good as “the  sum of those conditions of social life which allow social groups and their individual members  relatively thorough and ready access to their own fulfillment.”… For Pope Francis it is obvious that “where injustices abound and growing numbers  of people are deprived of basic human  rights and considered expendable, the principle of the common  good immediately becomes,  logically and inevitably, a summons  to solidarity and a preferential option for the poorest  of our brothers  and sisters.”

Integral Ecology: Everything is Connected

Fr. Thomas Reese,  S.J. NCR Aug 27, 2015

Earth Day 2022 Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udDqptXKGS0

Reflection Questions

• Why is the concept  of the common  good so central to Catholic social teaching and to our understanding on how we live our faith as a community?

• How are the concepts  of integral ecology and the common  good raised in the video segment about the Economy of Francesco? Can you think of examples of the common good and integral ecology in your life and in the life of your community?

Suggested Actions  

1) Action Alert on Climate Action

U.S. Senators are considering substantive climate provisions in budget legislation. Catholic Climate Covenant  and our partners  have launched “Encounter for Our Common  Home,” a coalition-wide advocacy campaign. By signing this Action Alert, you can send a letter to your senators,  inviting them to support  climate solutions from a place of faith and reason. This Action Alert is a critical part of the Encounter for Our Common Home campaign, which includes trainings and community-building efforts for encounters with U.S. Senators in May.  You are invited to sign this Alert now and join this transformational effort.

2) Personal  Sustainability Commitment

What are 4 things you care about and make a personal commitment to act upon. it. Listen to the cry of the Earth and the Cry of the poor  (hunger, poverty, deforestation, climate change,  biodiversity, etc.) then write a personal sustainability commitment - use the graphic below to assist you. 

Personal Sustainability  Commitment

Closing Prayer

God of all,

   Creator and ruler of the universe,

   You entrusted your world to us as a gift. 

   Help us to care for it and all people,

   that we may live in right relationship–

   with You,

   with ourselves, 

   with one another, 

   and with creation.

God of all,

   Creator and ruler of the universe,

   You entrusted your world to us as a gift. Help us to care for it and all people,

   that we may live in right relationship–

   with You,

   with ourselves, 

   with one another, 

   and with creation.

Holy Spirit,

   giver of wisdom and love,

   You breathe life in us and guide us. Help us to live according to your vision,

   stirring to action the hearts of all— individuals and families,

   communities of faith,

   and civil and political leaders.

Triune God, 

   help us to hear the cry of those in poverty, 
   and the cry of the earth,

   so that we may together care for our common  home.

Amen.

- U.S Conference of Catholic Bishops

Easter Alleluia

 

Sacred Triduum Days - Holy Saturday

In this in-between-time of waiting let us spend this day in quiet reflection and pray with the Catechumens awaiting the Easter Vigil and reception of the Sacraments of Initiation into the Church, the Body of Christ.  

The Burial of Jesus  Luke 23: 50 -56

Now there was a virtuous and righteous man named Joseph who, though he was a member of the council, had not consented to their plan of action. He came from the Jewish town of Arimathea and was awaiting the kingdom of God. He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. After he had taken the body down, he wrapped it in a linen cloth and laid him in a rock-hewn tomb in which no one had yet been buried. It was the day of preparation, and the sabbath was about to begin. The women who had come from Galilee with him followed behind, and when they had seen the tomb and the way in which his body was laid in it, they returned and prepared spices and perfumed oils. Then they rested on the sabbath according to the commandment. 

Intercessions and closing prayer from the Church’s Evening Liturgy of the Hours for Holy Saturday. 

We Pray…

Jesus, son of God, come to set us free, lies bound in the earth. All who hoped in him await a new day, and so we pray:

O Christ, deliver us.

Jesus, you died to set us free;

- give true freedom to those bound because of race, sex, creed, or way of life.

You died that we might have life to the full;

- inspire and encourage women in their quest for equality.

You died revealing God's love for us;

- enlighten those who have no love for themselves; befriend and heal them.

You died leaving your mother in the care of another;

- bless those who leave all to serve you in their respective ways of life; encourage and comfort their families.

Death released you from the agony of the cross;

- be present to all who are ill; have pity on the elderly and the dying.

 

(add your own personal intercessions)  

Concluding Prayer

O God, by his life and his death on the cross, Jesus has revealed the depth of your love for us.  One in our flesh, he became one in our dying and burial.  Have mercy on us, forgive us our sins, and once again call us to life that we may be one with him in his resurrection.  This we ask through Jesus, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever.  AMEN.

Reflect with these Resources

Song At The Empty Tomb

Marty Haugen

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rJc8eJuKJQ

Triduum With Dan Schutte

 https://www.danschuttemusic.com/easter-triduum/

Sacred Triduum Days - Good Friday

 

Reading of the Passion

Judas Betrays Jesus

When Jesus had spoken these words, He went forth with His disciples over the ravine of the Kidron, where there was a garden, in which He entered with His disciples. Now Judas also, who was betraying Him, knew the place, for Jesus had often met there with His disciples. Judas then, having received the Roman cohort and officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, came there with lanterns and torches and weapons. 

Jesus before the Priests

So the Roman cohort and the commander and the officers of the Jews, arrested Jesus and bound Him, and led Him to Annas first; for he was father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high priest that year. Now Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jews that it was expedient for one man to die on behalf of the people.

Peter’s Denial of Jesus

Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. So they said to him, “You are not also one of His disciples, are you?” He denied it, and said, “I am not.” One of the slaves of the high priest, being a relative of the one whose ear Peter cut off, *said, “Did I not see you in the garden with Him?” Peter then denied it again, and immediately a rooster crowed.

Jesus before Pilate

Then they led Jesus from Caiaphas into the Praetorium, and it was early; and they themselves did not enter into the Praetorium so that they would not be defiled, but might eat the Passover. Therefore Pilate went out to them and said, “What accusation do you bring against this Man?” They answered and said to him, “If this Man were not an evildoer, we would not have delivered Him to you.” So Pilate said to them, “Take Him yourselves, and judge Him according to your law.” The Jews said to him, “We are not permitted to put anyone to death,” to fulfill the word of Jesus which He spoke, signifying by what kind of death He was about to die.

The Crown of Thorns

Pilate then took Jesus and scourged Him. And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on His head, and put a purple robe on Him; and they began to come up to Him and say, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and to give Him slaps in the face. Pilate came out again and  said to them, “Behold, I am bringing Him out to you so that you may know that I find no guilt in Him.” Jesus then came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Behold, the Man!”

The Crucifixion

So he then handed Him over to them to be crucified.

They took Jesus, therefore, and He went out, bearing His own cross, to the place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha. There they crucified Him, and with Him two other men, one on either side, and Jesus in between. Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It was written, “JESUS THE NAZARENE, THE KING OF THE JEWS.” 

Care of the Body of Jesus

After these things Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but a secret one for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus; and Pilate granted permission. So he came and took away His body. Nicodemus, who had first come to Him by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds weight. So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen wrappings with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. Now in the place where He was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. Therefore because of the Jewish day of preparation, since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.

Reflect With These Resources

Music: O Sacred Head Surrounded

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwuW8QfLukM

Triduum With Dan Schutte

https://www.danschuttemusic.com/easter-triduum/

Holy Week Triduum - Holy Thursday

 

O God, who have called us to participate

In the most sacred Supper, 

In which your Only Begotten Son, 

When about to hand himself over to death,

Entrusted to the Church a sacrifice new for all eternity,

The banquet of his love,

Grant we pray,

That we may draw from so great a mystery,

The fullness of charity and of live.

Service:  Washing of The Feet

So, during supper, fully aware that the Father had put everything into his power and that he had come from God and was returning to God, he rose from supper and took off his outer garments.  He took a towel and tied it around his waist.  Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and dry them with the towel around his waist.  Her came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Master, are you going to wash my feet?”  Jesus answered and said to him, “What I am doing, you do not understand now, but you will understand later.”

Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.”  Jesus answered him, “unless I wash you, you will have no inheritance with me.” 

So when he has washed their fee and put his garments back on and reclined at table again, he said to them, “Do you realize what I have done for you?  You call me ‘teacher’ and ‘master’, and rightly so, for indeed I am.  If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another’s feet.  I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do.”      -John13 1-15

The First Eucharist

And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying,

“This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”

In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying,

“This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.”

-Luke 22:19-20

The Last Supper Liturgy ends with a Process of the Blessed Sacrament and the singing of the ‘Pange Lingua’.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXOnbSMAZz8

Passiontide Begins

“Hosanna to the Son of David;

blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord; 

Hosanna in the highest.”

Imagine 

This!

Use the power of your imagination to pray 

with this scene of Jesus’ Entry Into Jerusalem.

Walk along beside Jesus. Walk along in the crowd.

Gaze at the people surrounding you and welcoming Jesus.

Savor the experience of being with Jesus at this moment 

on his journey to Jerusalem.

Throughout Holy Week return often to the Gospel scene.

Gospel Scene:  Luke 19: 28 - 40

So they brought the colt to Jesus and put their cloaks over it.  

And he sat on it.  

Many people spread their cloaks on the road; 

A whole multitude of disciples began to praise God aloud with joy

For all the mighty deeds they had seen.

“Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord,

Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”  

Encounter Jesus

What do you See?  Hear?  Touch?

Where are you / Who are you in the crowd?

Mantra Prayer

Father, if this chalice cannot pass without my drinking it,

Your will be done!

Thus begins Passiontide

Lent Week V

 

All of Creation is crying out for mercy, for justice!  During this Fifth Week of Lent, we listen to the voices of Earth, Women, Children, Addicts, Victims of War, Hunger, Disease, Workers, those with medical pre-conditions, Farmers, Prisoners, Immigrants, Asylum Seekers, Educators, Refugees, Survivors of Human Trafficking and Abuse, the ‘Poor, Outcasts, Widows, Peacemakers…. All crying out for Justice! 

 How will we respond?
What first step do we take to respond to  these 
very insistent and loud calls for justice?

“Those that sow in tears shall reap rejoicing.
Although they go forth weeping, carrying the seed to be sown,
They shall come back rejoicing, carrying their sheaves.”
Psalm 126: 4 - 6

In the Gospel of John 8:1-11 we are witness to a gathered crowd, Jesus a woman caught in adultery, and the scribes and Pharisees.

Jesus is in the temple area teaching those who came to him. The scribes and Pharisees come with a woman caught in adultery, asking Jesus, ‘should we do as the Law prescribes and stone her’? 

His response is, ‘Let the one among you without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.’  Jesus’ Gospel Way is one of Non-Violence, Justice, Forgiveness and Mercy.  They cannot be separated, they are of the woven cloth of God’s Love and the one commandment,

‘Let us love God and love one another’.

Lent Week V Prayer

Lord, I turn my face towards you.
I too have sinned,
Let me hear your words of mercy and life,
As I cry out for justice!

Reflection from Prayerscapes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=155&v=V5ipEDL7Qqk

Psalm 91  Be With Me Lord

Marty Haugen

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKzmYk6x4kE