St. Joseph, the carpenter

Spring Break just ended, and it's back to the graduate school life once again. Reading concrete books and preparing for a guest lecture tomorrow about serviceability control ... it's all great and tiring. I like the famous quote by Joseph Conrad from his book, Heart of Darkness:

“I don't like work--no man does--but I like what is in the work--the chance to find yourself. Your own reality--for yourself not for others--what no other man can ever know. They can only see the mere show, and never can tell what it really means.”- Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness

It's funny how work allows us to have an organized daily life. Well, let's look at the weekends. Not having the necessity or obligation to get up early we can choose to sleep in, rest, and relax. Oh, it's so wonderful. Imagine if all of our days were like that.. at one point or another we would be bored. Boredom leads to a deteriorating self, in the sense that we no longer strive to be the best we can be.

But this quote is missing something. Of course, Heart of Darkness is not at all a religious book but rather a book on the obsession of human heart that destroys the lives of other human beings in Africa... STILL, if we take this and evolve it.. work is a way that God gives us as a way to give praise to Him!

So how is all of this related to the title of St. Joseph? Well, for me it's awesome that on the first day back to school the Church celebrates the feast day of St. Joseph. The adopted earthly father of Our Lord Jesus Christ was also a hard worker. He was a carpenter. That was great profession! Everyone else was trying to just get by with plantation agriculture or milking cows... of course, compared to tax collectors it wasn't as profitable, but nevertheless it brought a steady income. He had plans and dreams of his own -- of betrothing Mary, building a house on their own, and raising a family. Imagine what he felt when he found out that she was pregnant, and the baby wasn't his.

"Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly." - Mt. 1:19

Give him a break! He had other plans! "Get Married, Make Babies!" (My Big Fat Greek Wedding). But no, God gave him another story. God changed his plans. So what did Joseph do? He accepted them -- both Mary and the Child. And by calling the Child his own, he became like an outcast to those around them.

"[Joseph] did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife." - Mt 1:24

It is so beautiful-- to accept the Will of God over our own plans in the way that Joseph did. Do you accept it in your own life? Pray that St. Joseph watch over us, help us in our daily work, and help us to also accept God's Will in times when we don't understand them.

"St. Joseph was an ordinary sort of man on whom God relied to do great things. He did exactly what the Lord wanted him to do, in each and every event that went to make up his life." - St. Josemaria Escriva

"Saint Joseph was a just man, a tireless worker, the upright guardian of those entrusted to his care. May he always guard, protect and enlighten familes." - Blessed John Paul II

"Faith nourished by prayer: this is the most precious treasure that Saint Joseph transmits to us. Generations of fathers have followed in his footsteps who, with the example of a simple and laborious life, imprinted on their children's souls the inestimable value of faith, without which every other good runs the risk of being in vain." - Blessed JPII