Very few people get a day dedicated to them, let alone receive a day dedicated to one of their duties. And yet, we have just that in Joseph. Joseph's main celebratory feast, a universal solemnity, is March 19. But he also has May 1st dedicated as St Joseph the Workman. In the Diocese of La Crosse, Wisconsin, the cathedral is named St Joseph the Workman and the feast of St Joseph the Workman is elevated to a solemnity.

So, why would the Church go through the trouble to give Joseph two feast days, let alone one honoring him as workman? Well first off, he is the second greatest saint, so that seems reason enough for two feasts. One could easily argue that maybe he deserves more. But we will let the Church decide that.

Still, what is so important in Joseph's work that we set aside one day to celebrate it? It is not his work, though being the second greatest saint, one can safely say it must have been great. But this celebration is about what came about from Joseph's work. Through Joseph's work, the Heavenly Father provided for His Eternal Son. Joseph's work accomplished a Heavenly task by earthly hands. Joseph was the earthly instrument the Father used for this very important task.

'Couldn't have the Father provided for Jesus directly?' Sure He could have. But He did not. This is how God in His infinite wisdom did it. And so we see in Joseph a great example of work. When we work for a small task, we generally do not work as hard or as diligently. But do so for larger, more important tasks. Well, imagine that the Son of God got fed or went hungry dependent upon your work. Talk about important.

And what did Joseph do? Carpentry as we hear in the Bible. And fathers taught their children their trade. Imagine trying to teach the Creator of the Stars how to properly use a hammer. Jesus could very well remember the whole life cycle of the tree used to create the hammer, but does He have to learn the muscle memory to swing a hammer properly? Interesting to ponder, but Jesus learned how to work from watching his virginal father. "Amen, amen, I say to you, a son cannot do anything on his own, but only what he sees his father doing; for what he does, his son will do also." [John 5:19] Surely, this applies to our Joseph as well.

Joseph, help us to work diligently in our duties, whether great or small, knowing that this is what Our Heavenly Father has set before us, not knowing exactly how our work is needed in Your plan of salvation. All for the greater glory of God. Amen.