The Sunday Sermon Archive

Dear Friend,

The Church has a tradition of christening pagan festivals, taking dates and ceremonies, and giving them an entirely new and Christian significance. Today's feast has taken the civil observance of Labor Day and placed it under the patronage of St. Joseph, the humble workman whom God chose to watch over the childhood of the Incarnate Word. "We were created for happiness: we were made happy when we were first made. We were given Paradise: to enjoy its delight. We received a commandment: that obeying it we might win merit, not that He knew not what was to be, but as laying down the law of free will. Through envy we were deceived. We were cast forth because we had broken the law. We hungered, because we did not deny ourselves: being defeated and overcome by the Tree of Knowledge. For the Commandment was with us from our beginning, being in a manner an unvarying guide to our soul, and a restraint upon pleasure; and to it we were reasonably made subject, so that we might regain by keeping it wat we had lost by not keeping it. That we might live we needed a God Incarnate, and dying for us. We died with Him, that we might be cleansed of our sin. We rose with Him, because we died with Him. And with Him shall we be glorified, because we have risen with Him."

Today, many in the world are inclined to look down upon work of any kind. A humorous observation says: we tend to work very hard at avoiding work. God is instructing us through today's feast that humble labor is good and pleasing to Him. It is through patient and humble labor that we more intimately follow Jesus. In our works, we can deny ourselves what we would rather be doing. In performing the labors, we bear the burden of our daily cross. This is to be our answer to Jesus when He invites us to be His disciples by daily denying ourselves and taking up our cross to follow Him.

The world considers labor and laborers lowly and insignificant, as we see in today's Gospel. "Is not this the carpenter's son? … And they were scandalized in His regard." Yet God considers the humble laborer worthy of great honor and respect, as we see today in this feast of St. Joseph.

We need to ignore or rise above the thoughts and perceptions of the world and our own fallen nature. Our bodies were made to work, and work is good and necessary for our physical and spiritual well-being. The idle person soon finds his body growing weaker and wearier in atrophy. In his heart and soul, he soon discovers the truth of the old saying: "Idle hands are the devils' workshop." When the mind and body are not occupied, the path is open to the evil influences of our fallen natures, the fashions of the world, and the temptations of the devils.

One of the best remedies against these spiritual assaults upon our souls is to engage our minds and bodies in physical activity — labor. When our minds and bodies are engaged, they are not open to evil suggestions. Then when the work ends for the day, our bodies can modestly/moderately take the nourishment and rest they need. A physically tired body readily goes to sleep, so our minds do not have to deal with disturbing thoughts or desires. And the next day, we are called upon to deny ourselves once again and take up the crosses or labors of the day. Day after day, the laborer gives no quarter to the devil, the world, or his fallen nature. Day by day, the laborer advances in grace and wisdom before both God and men.

We very often consider labor to be a curse or punishment because of the sin of Adam. I do not believe this. Before Adam had sinned, God commanded him to tend to the Garden of Paradise and subdue the earth. He was given a physical body to do physical things (labor). Once sin entered and men turned away from God, labor took on the aspect of being difficult and burdensome. Man in rebellion against God found the earth in rebellion against him. The world now produced thorns and weeds, and man had to struggle to produce his needed nourishment — we must now eat bread by the sweat of our brows. When we are in rebellion against God, labor is heavy, bitter, painful, and sorrowful. But when we are living in the grace of God, we find that Jesus is faithful to His word. When we take up our crosses for the love of God, we find that the labor of the crosses is made light, sweet, pleasant, and joyful.

We are often tempted to judge the value of our labors by the material progress we make. Sometimes men can put forth their best efforts with very little to show for it in the way of material advantages. We should not allow this to discourage us. It is not the material progress that should motivate us, but rather the spiritual progress should be our primary motivation. If our labors are performed for the love of God, we will always put forth our best efforts, and mostly we will make both material and spiritual progress. However, sometimes, we will find that we have labored in vain for material advantages. If we have genuinely labored for the love of God, we will always make spiritual progress, and we will gain spiritual rewards. It is said that all things work for the good of those who love God.

If we first seek (labor) for the Kingdom of God, everything else (material things) will be given to us. We may not have the best or the most in material things, but God will provide us sufficiently with what we need. And more often than not, God gives us even more than we need so that we can express the love of God and our neighbors by sharing with them what we have above and beyond our needs.

email: father@friarsminor.org Franciscan Benefactor Seraph Subscription Vocations Have you remembered God?

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