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IV. WORK AS AN
EXPRESSION OF LOVE
22. Work was the daily expression of love
in the life of the Family of Nazareth. The Gospel specifies
the kind of work Joseph did in order to support his family; he
was a carpenter. This simple word sums up Joseph's entire
life. For Jesus, these were hidden years, the years to which
Luke refers after recounting the episode that occurred in the
Temple: "And he went down with them and came to Nazareth,
and was obedient to them" (Lk 2:51). This "submission" or
obedience of Jesus in the house of Nazareth should be understood
as a sharing in the work of Joseph. Having learned the work
of his presumed father, he was known as "the carpenter's
son." If the Family of Nazareth is an example and model
for human families in the order of salvation and holiness, so
too, by analogy, is Jesus' work at the side of Joseph
the carpenter. In our own day, the Church has emphasized
this by instituting the liturgical memorial of St. Joseph the
Worker on May_1. Human work, and especially manual labor, receive
special prominence in the Gospel. Along with the humanity
of the Son of God, work too has been taken up in the mystery
of the Incarnation, and has also been redeemed in a special
way. At the workbench where he plied his trade together with
Jesus, Joseph brought human work closer to the mystery of Redemption.
23. In the human growth of Jesus "in wisdom,
age and grace," the virtue of industriousness played
a notable role, since "work is a human good" which "transforms
nature" and makes man "in a sense, more human."
The importance of work in human life demands
that its meaning be known and assimilated in order to "help
all people to come closer to God, the Creator and Redeemer, to
participate in his salvific plan for man and the world, and to
deepen... friendship with Christ in their lives, by accepting,
through faith, a living participation in his threefold mission
as Priest, Prophet, and King."
24. What is crucially important here is the
sanctification of daily life, a sanctification which each person
must acquire according to his or her own state, and one which can
be promoted according to a model accessible to all people: "St.
Joseph is the model of those humble ones that Christianity raises
up to great destinies;... he is the proof that in order to be a
good and genuine follower of Christ, there is no need of great
things--it is enough to have the common, simple and human virtues,
but they need to be true and authentic."
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