About Today
Friday 1 May 2026
Friday of the 4th week of Eastertide
or Saint Joseph the Worker
The Lord has truly risen, alleluia.
Year: A(II). Psalm week: 4. Liturgical Colour: White.
St Joseph the Worker
The feast of Saint Joseph the Worker is not a mere Catholic copying of the Communist First of May – any more than Christmas is a mere copy of the pagan feast of Saturnalia. The dates are taken over, for obvious reasons; but the content is radically different.
The Christian view of work is the opposite of the materialist view. A worker such as St Joseph is not a mere lump of labour – “1.00 human work units.” He is a person. He is created in God’s own image, and just as creation is an activity of God, so creation is an activity of the worker. The work we do echoes the glorious work that God has done. It may not be wasted; or abused; or improperly paid; or directed to wrong or pointless ends. To do any of these things is not oppression, it is sacrilege. The glory of the present economic system is when it gives so many, of whatever class, the chance to build and create something worthwhile, whether from their own resources, or in collaboration with others, or by attracting investment from others. But its shame is when that does not happen: when people are coerced, by greed or by poverty, into being “lumps of labour.” Whether the labour is arduous or not makes no difference; whether it is richly paid or not makes no difference.
Because she must combat the anti-humanist Communist heresy the Church is sometimes thought to be on the side of capital. Reading the successive Papal encyclicals on labour and society, from Rerum Novarum (1891) onwards, will soon dispel that illusion. The enemies of the Church have no reason to read them; all too often we feel too comfortable in our present economic state and refrain from reading them also.
See the Wikipedia article on Catholic social teaching.
Today's Mass reading: The God-fearers
Today’s reading from the Acts of the Apostles shows us the ‘God-fearers’, the non-Jews who revered Judaism without actually becoming Jews themselves. We tend to forget them in our view of history because they don’t fit easily into our ‘either-or’ categories, but the Jews were aware of them to the extent – for example – of having rules about which parts of the Temple they were or were not allowed to enter.
In today’s pagan world there are also many who are ‘God-fearers.’ We have a duty to them just as the Jews did. On the one hand we must deny them nothing that might nourish them, on the other hand (just like the Jews) we must not pretend that there is no difference between them and us: to say that there is no difference would be to deny the very thing that they revere. On the other hand, to go all-out enthusiastic about bringing them into the fold is usually the best way of chasing them away from it. You lead a horse by walking beside it, not by pulling it from the front. To catch a fish, you do not jump into the water and splash around trying to grab it.
There is no simple instant formula. We don’t know what God’s plan for our friend’s soul is – nor for ours. But there is a plan, and one way or another each of us can be a means of grace for anyone, a channel through which the Spirit will do his work.
Memorial of Saint Joseph the Worker
Today's gospel reading John 14:1-6
At that time: Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.’ Thomas said to him, ‘Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’At that time: Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.’ Thomas said to him, ‘Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’At that time: Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.’ Thomas said to him, ‘Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Reflection on the sculpture
The Gospels tell us that Joseph was a skilled craftsman, a carpenter. In the context of a small village, such a trade would have brought in some income, enough to support a modest but stable household. While not wealthy, the Holy Family likely lived with a degree of self-sufficiency. Just a few kilometres from Nazareth, the city of Sepphoris was being developed by Herod Antipas during Jesus’ early years. The remains of that city can still be seen today. It is possible that Joseph, as a tradesman, may have found work there during its construction or perhaps supplied some of his carpentry work to support the building efforts.’
Saint Joseph is one of the most striking figures in the Gospels because he never speaks a single word. He shows us that holiness is lived, not spoken! And yet, his life is full of decisive action. He receives four dreams: first, to take Mary as his wife; then to flee with the child Jesus into Egypt; later to return to Israel; and finally to settle in Nazareth for safety. Each time, he responds immediately, no hesitation, no argument, just quiet obedience to God. A carpenter by trade, he becomes the guardian of the Holy Family, protecting them in moments of real danger. Tradition calls him a “just man,” and perhaps that is his greatest lesson: that God often works not through loud voices, but through those who are quiet, but listen deeply... and then act.
Our tender sculpture of Saint Joseph captures him not in action, but in a quiet moment. He is seated, reflective, perhaps even drifting into sleep. It is easy to imagine this as part of a Nativity scene, where Joseph is often shown slightly apart, watchful yet withdrawn, holding the mystery in silence. Perhaps he is dreaming one of his four dreams. There is something deeply human in this sculpture: Joseph depicted not as a traditional saint or hero, but as guardian, thinking, protecting, pondering the weight of what has been entrusted to him.
The sculpture belongs to the rich tradition of glazed terracotta in Renaissance Italy, a technique made famous by the workshop of the Della Robbia family. Using clay coated in a luminous tin glaze, these artists created works that were both durable and radiant, the glaze almost glowing with light. Unlike marble, this material allowed for warmth and intimacy.
Saint Joseph
Anonymous Italian Renaissance Sculptor,
Executed between 1475-1500,
painted terracotta
Friday of the 4th week of Eastertide
or Saint Joseph the Worker
The Lord has truly risen, alleluia.
Year: A(II). Psalm week: 4. Liturgical Colour: White.
St Joseph the Worker
The feast of Saint Joseph the Worker is not a mere Catholic copying of the Communist First of May – any more than Christmas is a mere copy of the pagan feast of Saturnalia. The dates are taken over, for obvious reasons; but the content is radically different.
The Christian view of work is the opposite of the materialist view. A worker such as St Joseph is not a mere lump of labour – “1.00 human work units.” He is a person. He is created in God’s own image, and just as creation is an activity of God, so creation is an activity of the worker. The work we do echoes the glorious work that God has done. It may not be wasted; or abused; or improperly paid; or directed to wrong or pointless ends. To do any of these things is not oppression, it is sacrilege. The glory of the present economic system is when it gives so many, of whatever class, the chance to build and create something worthwhile, whether from their own resources, or in collaboration with others, or by attracting investment from others. But its shame is when that does not happen: when people are coerced, by greed or by poverty, into being “lumps of labour.” Whether the labour is arduous or not makes no difference; whether it is richly paid or not makes no difference.
Because she must combat the anti-humanist Communist heresy the Church is sometimes thought to be on the side of capital. Reading the successive Papal encyclicals on labour and society, from Rerum Novarum (1891) onwards, will soon dispel that illusion. The enemies of the Church have no reason to read them; all too often we feel too comfortable in our present economic state and refrain from reading them also.
See the Wikipedia article on Catholic social teaching.
Today's Mass reading: The God-fearers
Today’s reading from the Acts of the Apostles shows us the ‘God-fearers’, the non-Jews who revered Judaism without actually becoming Jews themselves. We tend to forget them in our view of history because they don’t fit easily into our ‘either-or’ categories, but the Jews were aware of them to the extent – for example – of having rules about which parts of the Temple they were or were not allowed to enter.
In today’s pagan world there are also many who are ‘God-fearers.’ We have a duty to them just as the Jews did. On the one hand we must deny them nothing that might nourish them, on the other hand (just like the Jews) we must not pretend that there is no difference between them and us: to say that there is no difference would be to deny the very thing that they revere. On the other hand, to go all-out enthusiastic about bringing them into the fold is usually the best way of chasing them away from it. You lead a horse by walking beside it, not by pulling it from the front. To catch a fish, you do not jump into the water and splash around trying to grab it.
There is no simple instant formula. We don’t know what God’s plan for our friend’s soul is – nor for ours. But there is a plan, and one way or another each of us can be a means of grace for anyone, a channel through which the Spirit will do his work.
Memorial of Saint Joseph the Worker
Today's gospel reading John 14:1-6
At that time: Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.’ Thomas said to him, ‘Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’At that time: Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.’ Thomas said to him, ‘Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’At that time: Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.’ Thomas said to him, ‘Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Reflection on the sculpture
The Gospels tell us that Joseph was a skilled craftsman, a carpenter. In the context of a small village, such a trade would have brought in some income, enough to support a modest but stable household. While not wealthy, the Holy Family likely lived with a degree of self-sufficiency. Just a few kilometres from Nazareth, the city of Sepphoris was being developed by Herod Antipas during Jesus’ early years. The remains of that city can still be seen today. It is possible that Joseph, as a tradesman, may have found work there during its construction or perhaps supplied some of his carpentry work to support the building efforts.’
Saint Joseph is one of the most striking figures in the Gospels because he never speaks a single word. He shows us that holiness is lived, not spoken! And yet, his life is full of decisive action. He receives four dreams: first, to take Mary as his wife; then to flee with the child Jesus into Egypt; later to return to Israel; and finally to settle in Nazareth for safety. Each time, he responds immediately, no hesitation, no argument, just quiet obedience to God. A carpenter by trade, he becomes the guardian of the Holy Family, protecting them in moments of real danger. Tradition calls him a “just man,” and perhaps that is his greatest lesson: that God often works not through loud voices, but through those who are quiet, but listen deeply... and then act.
Our tender sculpture of Saint Joseph captures him not in action, but in a quiet moment. He is seated, reflective, perhaps even drifting into sleep. It is easy to imagine this as part of a Nativity scene, where Joseph is often shown slightly apart, watchful yet withdrawn, holding the mystery in silence. Perhaps he is dreaming one of his four dreams. There is something deeply human in this sculpture: Joseph depicted not as a traditional saint or hero, but as guardian, thinking, protecting, pondering the weight of what has been entrusted to him.
The sculpture belongs to the rich tradition of glazed terracotta in Renaissance Italy, a technique made famous by the workshop of the Della Robbia family. Using clay coated in a luminous tin glaze, these artists created works that were both durable and radiant, the glaze almost glowing with light. Unlike marble, this material allowed for warmth and intimacy.
Saint Joseph
Anonymous Italian Renaissance Sculptor,
Executed between 1475-1500,
painted terracotta