The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite us to the intersection of Love as expressed by John 3:16 and work as celebrated in the Memorial of St. Joseph the Worker.
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| Love and work |
The reading from the Book of Acts describes the arrest of the apostles before their trial before the Sanhedrin.
* [5:17–42] A second action against the community is taken by the Sanhedrin in the arrest and trial of the Twelve; cf. Acts 4:1–3. The motive is the jealousy of the religious authorities over the popularity of the apostles (Acts 5:17) who are now charged with the defiance of the Sanhedrin’s previous order to them to abandon their prophetic role (Acts 5:28; cf. Acts 4:18). In this crisis the apostles are favored by a miraculous release from prison (Acts 5:18–24). (For similar incidents involving Peter and Paul, see Acts 12:6–11; 16:25–29.) The real significance of such an event, however, would be manifest only to people of faith, not to unbelievers; since the Sanhedrin already judged the Twelve to be inauthentic prophets, it could disregard reports of their miracles.1
The psalmist, fresh from the experience of being rescued (Ps 34:5, 7), can teach the “poor,” those who are defenseless, to trust in God alone (Ps 34:4, 12).
* [Psalm 34] A thanksgiving in acrostic form, each line beginning with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. In this Psalm one letter is missing and two are in reverse order. The psalmist, fresh from the experience of being rescued (Ps 34:5, 7), can teach the “poor,” those who are defenseless, to trust in God alone (Ps 34:4, 12). God will make them powerful (Ps 34:5–11) and give them protection (Ps 34:12–22).2
In the Gospel from John, Jesus teaches Nicodemus about the depth with which God loves the world.
* [3:17–19] Condemn: the Greek root means both judgment and condemnation. Jesus’ purpose is to save, but his coming provokes judgment; some condemn themselves by turning from the light.
* [3:19] Judgment is not only future but is partially realized here and now.3
Mary Lee Brock comments we are reminded in this Easter season that God trusts us and wants us to be saved.
This is so easy and so attainable. Yet this wonderful gift runs counter to an achievement oriented, work obsessed society. Of course we have a responsibility to accept this gift and to always strive to live in the light. The gospel has a chilling warning reminding us that we can prefer the darkness. The renewal of Easter invites us to reject the evil temptations and live the truth and come to the light so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God.
Just as my dad taught me to take the big life lessons one step at a time, I feel renewed in my daily practice of prayer. This Easter season I commit to being more present to others. My daily Examen will help me embrace the consolations and sit with the desolations. I pray that living in the light be just as easy as riding a bike.4
Don Schwager quotes “The Intensity of God's Love and Our Response,” by John Chrysostom, 347-407 A.D.
"The text, 'God so loved the world,' shows such an intensity of love. For great indeed and infinite is the distance between the two. The immortal, the infinite majesty without beginning or end loved those who were but dust and ashes, who were loaded with ten thousand sins but remained ungrateful even as they constantly offended him. This is who he 'loved.' For God did not give a servant, or an angel or even an archangel 'but his only begotten Son.' And yet no one would show such anxiety even for his own child as God did for his ungrateful servants..." "He laid down his life for us and poured forth his precious blood for our sake - even though there is nothing good in us - while we do not even pour out our money for our own sake and neglect him who died for us when he is naked and a stranger... We put gold necklaces on ourselves and even on our pets but neglect our Lord who goes about naked and passes from door to door... He gladly goes hungry so that you may be fed; naked so that he may provide you with the materials for a garment of incorruption, yet we will not even give up any of our own food or clothing for him... These things I say continually, and I will not cease to say them, not so much because I care for the poor but because I care for your souls." (HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 27.2–3)5
The Word Among Us Meditation on John 3:16-21 notes that everything that proceeds from God originates in love. It is who He is. He loved so much that his love overflowed and spoke creation into existence. It continued to overflow and cascaded onto fallen creation, onto sinful men and women, onto us.
He gave his very heart, Jesus, to the world. He sent his Son to be a sacrifice for all the sin that separates us from him—a sacrifice that we could never make on our own. He sent his Son to us so that we might know what love looks like: a love so powerful that it infuses new life into cold or hard or wounded hearts. God so loved that he gave his all, for you . . . so that everyone who believes in him . . . Believe that Jesus died for you, personally. Believe that Jesus loves you even when you feel ashamed or unworthy of his love. Believe that nothing you have done, or failed to do, can ever change that truth. Believe that he will strengthen you in your weakness. Believe that he will forgive your every sin. Believe that his perfect love casts out all fear. Stake your life on it. Consciously choose to believe it, especially in the face of doubt, fear, or failure. God so loves you! So that you. . . might not perish but might have eternal life.6
On the Feast of St Joseph the Worker, a day on which the Church encourages us to celebrate the value of work, and the dignity and rights of workers, John Battle reviews the understanding of trade unions in Catholic Social Teaching as expressed by Saint John Paul II and Benedict XVI.
Yet labour unions remain the primary means of ensuring association among workers and of facilitating negotiations with employers in order to secure the advancement of worker conditions and the promotion of the dignity of human labour. John Paul II went as far as to suggest that trade unions are ‘a mouthpiece for the struggle for social justice’[iii], and both the encyclical from which that description comes, Laborem exercens, and the later Centesimus annus follow a tradition that stretches back to Leo XIII’s Rerum novarum (1891), which first underlined the role of trade unions.7
Friar Jude Winkler identifies the jealousy of the Sadducees over the apostles success preaching in the Temple. The love of God for the world is revealed in Jesus. Friar Jude reminds that we choose to live outside that Love in selfishness, sin, and loneliness.
Franciscan Media summarizes the Story of Saint Joseph the Worker.
Jesus, too, was a carpenter. He learned the trade from Saint Joseph and spent his early adult years working side-by-side in Joseph’s carpentry shop before leaving to pursue his ministry as preacher and healer. In his encyclical Laborem Exercens, Pope John Paul II stated: “the Church considers it her task always to call attention to the dignity and rights of those who work, to condemn situations in which that dignity and those rights are violated, and to help to guide [social] changes so as to ensure authentic progress by man and society.”8
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, observes the human ego wants two things: It wants to be separate and it wants to be superior! This is why Jesus says this self must “die” for something much better to be “found.” (Matthew 16:25). As long as the ego is in control, not much new will ever happen.
I believe Jesus says this in such a strong and absolute way because he knows that the human ego fixes upon roles, titles, status symbols, and concocted self-images; and he wants us to know that these are passing creations of our own minds and culture. They are not, in that sense, objectively “real.” Nor are they our true and deepest self. All of these images must die if we want the Real, but they do not die easily because we have mistaken them for elements of our real self for most of our life. We all suffer from a tragic case of mistaken identity.
The Real is that to which all the world religions point when they speak of heaven, nirvana, bliss, eternity, or enlightenment. Our mistake was that most Christians delayed this inner state until after death. This distorted and misshaped the spiritual search, making it into a cheap reward and punishment system—for later. Honestly, it too often attracted fear-based or self-interested people, not really lovers.9
The worker modeled by Joseph is one who has been transformed by the Spirit to live with reduced ego focusing on being co-creator with God of environments where love, justice, fairness, respect, safety, empathy, and compassion shine in the light.
References
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(n.d.). Acts, chapter 5 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved May 1, 2019, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/acts/5
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(n.d.). psalm 34 - usccb. Retrieved May 1, 2019, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/psalms/psalms34.htm
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(n.d.). Creighton U Daily Reflections - OnlineMinistries - Creighton University. Retrieved May 1, 2019, from http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html
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(n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved May 1, 2019, from https://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/
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(n.d.). 2nd Week of Easter - Mass Readings and Catholic Daily Meditations .... Retrieved May 1, 2019, from https://wau.org/meditations/2019/05/01/
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(2014, April 30). St Joseph the Worker and Bob Crow | Thinking Faith: The online .... Retrieved May 1, 2019, from https://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/st-joseph-worker-and-bob-crow
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(n.d.). Saint Joseph the Worker - Franciscan Media. Retrieved May 1, 2019, from https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-joseph-the-worker/
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(2019, May 1). Finding Our Life — Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved May 1, 2019, from https://cac.org/finding-our-life-2019-05-01/
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