Joseph is also "beloved of men." This is true because he worked as a carpenter and showed by his example the dignity of work, of whatsoever sort, that is done for God. Joseph was of noble lineage, of royal blood, but he had, nonetheless, to face the drudgery and hardship of a life of unremitting toil. That is why he stands forth as a model and encouragement to so many who, in this crazy world, have lost all they possessed. The number of such "displaced persons" is terrifying to contemplate. Of such as these Joseph will become the beloved if they turn to him and watch how poor he was, how hard he worked, how uncomplainingly he accepted the innumerable trials that crossed his path, how patient he was when he too was "displaced," abandoning himself with sublime courage into the hands of God.
It is certain that millions of our workers are blinded and deceived by a Lying propaganda. Fair promises are poured into their ears and impossible ideals are kept dangling before their eyes. The Catholic workingman will not be seduced. It is quite true that he will often have a grievance, and he will smart under an injustice that is obvious to any person taking trouble to inquire. He will be tempted to join up with those who would sweep away God and all Christian principles on the plea of thus establishing a new heaven and a new earth. The temptation will be particularly violent when his own Catholic employers exploit his needs, when fellow workingmen are treated more justly and humanely by nonCatholics.
Certainly he may and should use all lawful means to secure for himself a just wage. But he will often visit the worker's little shop at Nazareth and the visit, somehow, will always have a soothing effect. For he will learn, by degrees, that after all there are more important things and more lasting things than a mere pay envelope and what it can buy. "Joseph," writes Leo XIII, "content with what was his own, little as it doubtless was, bore with calm and dignified spirit the straitened circumstances necessarily connected with his meager means of livelihood. This was conformable to the example of his Son, Who, having accepted the form of a servant while being Lord of all, willingly subjected Himself to the utmost indigence and poverty."
And again: "Workers and all who are deeply embittered owing to reduced circumstances and a lower standard of living, particularly in these times, will not lack reason for rejoicing over the lot that has befallen them rather than bewailing it, provided they will but turn their gaze on the blessed members of that Holy Family. In common with them they are subject to labor, and with them they have the common cares of everyday life. Joseph, too, was bound to find ways and means of wresting a livelihood out of his earnings, while the very hands of God plied the tools of a carpenter. Nor indeed is there reason for us to wonder at those prudent men of affluence who in the past have wished to put away their wealth and to choose instead poverty, with Jesus, Mary, and Joseph."
This will sound foolish to the wise and prudent of the world. But does experience not bear out the truth that the happiest people are by no means those who abound in wealth? A priest and a student were sitting in a dimly lighted room on a cold night. The furniture was of the poorest, and the furnace was out. You would consider the whole setup rather miserable. Yet the two men talked of God and divine things and both of them were conscious of an intense joy in the depths of their souls.
Jesus, Mary, Joseph, when shall I begin to learn that "a man's happiness does not consist in the multitude of the things that he possesses"? St. Joseph, grant me to share in your deep contentedness, not being overanxious about what is transitory, encouraged by your noble example to work, not merely through necessity or to be paid, but in order, through my work, to attain to the sanctity intended for me by God.