Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Feast of St Joseph the Worker (May 1)



Today's feast, of St Joseph the Worker, is one that has perhaps been looking rather dated in recent years, but can perhaps gain a new lease of life in the light of the current Pope's emphasis on the social teaching of the Church.

The feast was introduced by Pope Pius XII in 1955, to counter Communist May Day celebrations.

With the collapse of communism, the rationale for it has looked rather less obvious.

However, the recent recognition of the adverse social consequences of increasing income inequality, and the association of wealth with the accumulation of capital rather than the rewards of hard work, particularly in countries such as America where wages have failed to keep pace with productivity and income growth, perhaps the feast can gain a new lease of life...

You can find the Gospel and the Matins readings for the feast here.

You might want to note, however, that the Monastic Breviary does provide the option of using the texts for the slightly older, non-workerized version of the feast - the Diurnal has them at MD [130].

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