Day 4 - Novena for Workers, the Unemployed and Underemployed

Day 4 Novena Reflection

As a child, Jesus learned from Joseph the Worker how to work with wood. He would later climb upon a wooden cross to re-create all humanity, making it new through the culmination of His great work of redemption. All the work of Jesus Christ was joined to His Heavenly Father's work. That is the same relationship which we now have with the Father through Him. Though there is some biblical support that the toil or "sweat" of work is due to the Fall (See, Gen 3:19), human work is not a punishment for sin. Work occurred before the Fall in the Garden of Eden. Our first parents tilled the garden. That was work. Jesus was always doing the work of the One who sent Him (John 9:3-4) and we are invited to do the same in the work which is part of our daily human existence.

Novena Prayer Seeking the Intercession of St Joseph the Worker

Beloved Father, through the life, death and resurrection of your only begotten Son, Jesus the Christ, we have become your adopted sons and daughters. Through Baptism we are now members of His Body, the Church. Our Savior Jesus taught us that "whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother, and sister, and mother."

We thank you that promise includes each one of us.

As members of the family of Jesus we turn to you in prayer. In Jesus, we are joined in a communion of love which is stronger than death, along with the saints, the holy ones. They are the great cloud of witnesses the bible speaks of. They have gone before us marked with the sign of redemption and lived their lives by faith. (Hebrews 12:1)

They inspire us by their holy lives. They also pray for us from their place in your communion of love.

In a special place of honor in that communion is St. Joseph. He said YES to your call to be the chaste husband of Mary, the Mother of the Lord; the foster father of Jesus and the Guardian of the Redeemer. A man of few words, Joseph spoke with action and calls us to the way of active faith. The Patron of all workers also shows us the dignity of all human work when joined to Jesus.

Joseph always said YES to your invitations of grace. He always put Mary and Jesus ahead of himself. He invites us to do the same in our daily lives. The carpenter who taught the child Jesus to work with wood in the workshop of Nazareth shows us that all human work participates in the loving plan of redemption. At 33 years old, Jesus, the carpenter's son (Matthew 13:55), freely embraced the wood of the Cross and reconciled us to you, and to one another, for the sake of the world.

Joseph loved Jesus and Jesus loved Joseph. That love continues.

St. Joseph, you who loved Jesus with a genuine fatherly love, we ask you to pray for us as we follow the Way of Jesus in our everyday lives. You understand the challenges of raising a family, earning a living, facing the difficulties of life, and always remaining faithful to God.

We now turn to you and ask for your intercession. By your prayers, obtain for us the special graces we need to be faithful to our own specific vocation and live our lives in service to Jesus as you did.

St. Joseph, today I specifically ask you:

Glory be the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, AMEN

St. Joseph the Worker, Pray for Us

Final Blessing:
May the Blessing of Almighty God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit come upon you and remain with you forever

Giving Tuesday | Help Us Rebuild

AMEN

Start the Novena for Workers, the Unemployed and Underemployed

Browse our Novenas

Novena for Workers, the Unemployed and Underemployed 

Novena for Workers, the Unemployed and Underemployed 

Deacon Keith Fournier

---

Novena to Joachim and Anne for Christian Married Couples 

Novena to Joachim and Anne for Christian Married Couples 

Deacon Keith Fournier

---

Novena to Our Lady of Guadalupe for a New Culture of Life 

Novena to Our Lady of Guadalupe for a New Culture of Life 

Deacon Keith Fournier

---

Novena to the Saints in Heaven for the saints on earth  

Novena to the Saints in Heaven for the saints on earth  

Deacon Keith Fournier

---

Novena to Our Lady of Fatima for Conversion 

Novena to Our Lady of Fatima for Conversion 

Deacon Keith Fournier

---

Novena to the Heavenly Father for our Earthly Fathers 

Novena to the Heavenly Father for our Earthly Fathers 

Deacon Keith Fournier

---

Novena to the Holy Spirit for a New Pentecost for the Church 

Novena to the Holy Spirit for a New Pentecost for the Church 

Deacon Keith Fournier

---