FIFTH WEEK OF EASTER

SAINTS OF THE DAY ~ FEAST DAY: MAY 1, 2024

Greetings beloved family and Happy Wednesday, the feast of Saint Joseph the Worker! Through the intercession of St. Joseph, we pray for all fathers, workers and all those who labour in this world. May the Lord bless the work of our hands🙏

We thank God for the  gift of life and for the gift of the new month of May. The entire month of May is dedicated to our beloved Mother Mary, the Mother of God. May she continue to intercede for us and may God’s grace and mercy be with us all during this season of Easter🙏

Watch “Holy Mass and Holy Rosary on EWTN | May 1, 2024” |

Pray “Holy Mass from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | May 1, 2024 |

Pray “Holy Rosary from Lourdes, France” | May 1, 2024 |

Pray “Holy Rosary from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | May 1, 2024 |https://youtu.be/D7_78Cm8fV0?si=_kngJM3qhjX0Io-F

Pray “The Chaplet of Divine Mercy | from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | May 1, 2024 |

Pray “Holy Rosary ALL 20 Mysteriels VIRTUAL🌹JOYFUL🌹LUMINOUS🌹SORROWFUL🌹GLORIOUS” on YouTube |

Memorare Chaplet | Prayer in Difficult Times (Powerful Prayer) |

Today’s Readings: Wednesday, Fifth Week of Easter, May 1, 2024
Reading 1, Acts 15:1-6
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 122:1-2, 3-4, 4-5
Gospel, John 15:1-8

OR

Today’s Bible Readings: Feast of Saint Joseph the Worker
Reading 1, Genesis 1:26B – 2: 3 or Colosians 3: 14-15, 17 , 23-24
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 90:2, 3-4, 12-13, 14 and 16
Gospel, Matthew 13:54-58

DEVOTION OF THE MONTH OF MAY: MONTH OF OUR LADY: In addition to the myriad feast days honoring Our Lady under her many titles and virtues, the entire month of May is especially given to her praise. In the words of Pope Paul VI, May is “a month which the piety of the faithful has long dedicated to Mary, the Mother of God … For this is the month during which Christians, in their churches and their homes, offer the Virgin Mother more fervent and loving acts of homage and veneration; and it is the month in which a greater abundance of God’s merciful gifts comes down to us from our Mother’s throne.”

THE POPE’S MONTHLY INTENTIONS FOR 2024: FOR THE MONTH OF MAY – FOR THE FORMATION OF RELIGIOUS AND SEMINARIANS: We pray that religious women and men, and seminarians, grow in their own vocations through their human, pastoral, spiritual and community formation, leading them to be credible witnesses to the Gospel.🙏

https://www.usccb.org/prayers/popes-monthly-intentions-2024

PRAYER FOR PEACE ~ POPE FRANCIS:

Lord God of peace, hear our prayer!

We have tried so many times and over so many years to resolve our conflicts by our own powers and by the force of our arms. How many moments of hostility and darkness have we experienced; how much blood has been shed; how many lives have been shattered; how many hopes have been buried… But our efforts have been in vain. Now, Lord, come to our aid! Grant us peace, teach us peace; guide our steps in the way of peace. Open our eyes and our hearts, and give us the courage to say: “Never again war!”; “With war everything is lost”. Instill in our hearts the courage to take concrete steps to achieve peace. Lord, God of Abraham, God of the Prophets, God of Love, you created us and you call us to live as brothers and sisters. Give us the strength daily to be instruments of peace; enable us to see everyone who crosses our path as our brother or sister. Make us sensitive to the plea of our citizens who entreat us to turn our weapons of war into implements of peace, our trepidation into confident trust, and our quarreling into forgiveness. Keep alive within us the flame of hope, so that with patience and perseverance we may opt for dialogue and reconciliation. In this way may peace triumph at last, and may the words “division”, “hatred” and “war” be banished from the heart of every man and woman. Lord, defuse the violence of our tongues and our hands. Renew our hearts and minds, so that the word which always brings us together will be “brother”, and our way of life will always be that of: Shalom, Peace, Salaam! Amen🙏

During this Easter season, please let us all continue to pray for peace all over the world, particularly in Africa, the Middle East, for an end to the current war in Israel-Palestine, and the Ukraine-Russia conflicts and for peace in our families and throughout our divided and conflicted World. Amen 🙏

On this special feast day, as we continue to celebrate our risen Lord, with special intention through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary, and the Saints, we pray for the Clergy and religious as they serve in the Lord’s Vineyard. We also pray for the sick and dying. We especially pray for our loved ones who have recently died and we continue to remember our beloved, we pray for the repose of their gentle souls and the souls of all the faithful departed, may the Lord receive them into the light of Eternal Kingdom. Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord. And let perpetual light shine upon them. May their gentle souls through the mercy of God rest in perfect peace with our Lord Jesus Christ… Amen 🙏 ✝️🕯✝️🕯✝️🕯

PRAYER FOR THE DEAD: In your hands, O Lord, we humbly entrust our brothers and sisters. In this life, you embraced them with your tender love; deliver them now from every evil, and bid them eternal rest. The old order has passed away: welcome them into paradise, where there will be no sorrow, no weeping or pain, but fullness of peace and joy with your Son and the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen🙏

Prayers for Peace | https://mycatholic.life/catholic-prayers/prayers-for-peace/

MEMORIAL OF SAINT JOSEPH THE WORKER, SPOUSE OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY AND SAINT PEREGRINE LAZIOSI, RELIGIOUS: Today, we celebrate the Feast of Saint Joseph the Worker, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint Peregrine Laziosi, Religious. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary, Saint Joseph and Saint Peregrine, we humbly pray for all fathers and workers, we pray for their safety and well-being, we particularly pray for those seeking for jobs and those workers experiencing injustice,  we pray for better working conditions for them. All workers deserve dignity, fair compensation, and safe work environments that allow them to contribute to the common good. May the Lord bless the work of our hands and provide for all those in need. We also pray for the sick and dying, we particularly pray for those who are suffering from cancer and other terminal diseases, we hope the prayers of the Saints can bring them divine healing, comfort and strength from our Lord. Every life is a gift. We pray for God’s deliverance from impossible causes or situations. We pray for the souls in Purgatory and the repose of the gentle souls of our beloved family members who recently passed away and the souls of all the faithful departed, may the Lord receive them into the light of Eternal Kingdom. For all widows and widowers. And we continue to pray for our Holy Father, Pope Francis, the Bishops, the Clergy and all those who preach the Gospel. For vocations to the priesthood and religious life, for the Church, for persecuted christians, for all the innocent who suffer violence due to political or religious unrest, for the conversion of sinners and Christians all over the world. Amen🙏

SAINT JOSEPH THE WORKER: (flourished 1st century CE, Nazareth, Galilee, region of Palestine; St. Joseph has two feast days on the liturgical calendar. The first is the Principal feast day, March 19th ~ St. Joseph, the Husband of Mary. The second is May 1st ~ St. Joseph, the Worker). Today the Church celebrates the occasion of the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker, the Patron saint of all workers and all those who labour in this world, in conjunction with the secular celebration of the Labour Day or May Day.

St. Joseph (1st c.) was born in Bethlehem in Judea and later settled in Nazareth. By Divine command St. Joseph was the foster father of God Incarnate, our Lord Jesus Christ, and the chaste spouse of Our Blessed Mother Mary, a carpenter and  a virtuous man who was not wealthy. He came from the royal lineage of King David. St. Joseph was a compassionate man, and obedient to the will of God. He was entrusted with the great mission to guard, protect, and provide for the temporal needs of God’s most precious gifts, the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Child Jesus, in the role of husband and father within the Holy Family.

This Feast was instituted by the great Pope Pius XII in the year of 1955, during the time when the threat of Communism was rising everywhere in the world, with many Christians and people all around the world oppressed by Communist regimes and governments, and others yet having dangerous Communist movements and uprisings that were aiming to destroy the Christian faith, the Church and the belief in God. The atheistic Communists thought that they could overcome God and His Church, but the Lord showed them through this Feast of St. Joseph the Worker, that their belief and understanding of labour was truly flawed and inadequate, and one that the world should be wary about.

On May 1, 1955, Pope Pius XII granted a public audience to the Catholic Association of Italian Workers, whose members had gathered in Saint Peter’s Square to celebrate the tenth anniversary of their society. They were solemnly renewing, in common, their promise of loyalty to the social doctrine of the Church, and it was on that day that the Pope instituted the liturgical feast of May 1st, in honor of Saint Joseph the Worker. He assured his audience and the working people of the world: “You have beside you a shepherd, a defender and a father in Saint Joseph, the carpenter whom God in His providence chose to be the virginal father of Jesus and the head of the Holy Family. He is silent but has excellent hearing, and his intercession is very powerful over the Heart of the Saviour.” To foster deep devotion to Saint Joseph among Catholics, and in response to the “May Day” celebrations for workers sponsored by Communists, Pope Pius XII instituted the feast of Saint Joseph the Worker in 1955 to emphasize the dignity, meaning, and value of human work in the eyes of God, and to give all laborers a model of virtue as well as a heavenly intercessor and protector. This feast extends the long relationship between St. Joseph and the cause of workers in both Catholic faith and devotion.

Beginning in the Book of Genesis, the dignity of human work has long been celebrated as a participation in the creative work of God. By work, humankind both fulfills the command found in Genesis to care for the earth (Gn 2:15) and to be productive in their labors. Saint Joseph, the carpenter and foster father of Jesus, is but one example of the holiness of human labor. This silent Saint, who was given the noble task of caring and watching over the Virgin Mary and Jesus, now cares for and watches over the Church and models for all the dignity of human work. This feast day helps celebrate the dignity of workers by honoring Saint Joseph, one of the hardest working fathers of all time. St. Joseph’s mission continues from heaven as the Patron Saint of the Catholic Church. He is also the Patron Saint of many causes including fathers, laborers, families, unborn children, immigrants, carpenters, workers, employment, explorer, pilgrims, traveller, engineers, realtors, against doubt and hesitation, social justice and of a happy death, China Belgium, From the State of Ceará and the city of Macapá in Brazil, Canada, Croatia, Korea, Indonesia, Zapotlan in Mexico Vietnam, Tagbilaran City, Bohol, Mandaue City, Bailen, Cavite,  Cebu Cavite, Cebu, Philippines, Americas; Austria; diocese of Baton Rouge, California; Belgium; diocese of Biloxi, Mississippi; Bohemia; diocese of Buffalo, New York and many others.

According to Pope Saint John Paul (1920 – 2005), “Saint Joseph is a man of great spirit. He is great in faith, not because he speaks his own words, but above all because he listens to the words of the Living God. He listens in silence. And his heart ceaselessly perseveres in the readiness to accept the Truth contained in the word of the Living God”.

“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 families.”

SAINT JOSEPH THE WORKER PRAYER: O Glorious St. Joseph, model of all those who are devoted to labor, obtain for me the grace to work conscientiously, putting the call of duty above my natural inclinations, to work with gratitude and joy, in a spirit of penance for the remission of my sins, considering it an honor to employ and develop by means of labor the gifts received from God, to work with order, peace, moderation and patience, without ever shrinking from weariness and difficulties, to work above all with purity of intention and detachment from self, having death always before my eyes and the account that I must render of time lost, of talents wasted, of good omitted, of vain complacency in success, so fatal to the work of God. All for Jesus, all through Mary, all after thine example, O Patriarch St. Joseph. Such shall be my motto in life and in death… Amen🙏

PRAYER: Lord God, You have created all things, and imposed on man the necessity of work. Grant that, following St. Joseph’s example, and under his protection, we may accomplish the works You give us and obtain the rewards You promise…Amen. St. Joseph, the Worker ~ Pray for us🙏

SAINT PEREGRINE LAZIOSI, RELIGIOUS: St. Peregrine (1265-1345) is an Italian saint of the Servite Order. He was born of a wealthy family to Berengario Laziosi, Flora Aspini at Forli, Italy, in about the year 1265. He was a man of violence and anger when he was young, he turned away from his former way of life and entered the Order of Friar Servants of Mary (Servites) and gave himself to the service of the sick and needy. As a youth St. Peregrine was a fiery and impetuous leader of a faction fostering civil discord and opposition to the Pope. When St. Philip Benizi was sent to mediate peace in the city of Forli, St. Peregrine personally stopped the public appeal by striking St. Philip. Later, feeling remorse, Peregrine went out of the city, found St. Philip and begged his forgiveness and asked his advice.

Heroically, St. Peregrine gave up his companions and devoted his life to penance, prayer and care of the poor and sick. He joined the Servants of Mary, now known as the Servites, an order founded in Florence during Peregrine’s lifetime, and which was devoted to prayer and service. At the age of 60 his leg became infected with cancer and a doctor advised that it be amputated. St. Peregrine crawled to the Servite monastery chapel room, where he prayed to Our Lord. Miraculously his leg was cured. “Because of this miracle wrought by prayer, the church canonized him in 1726, and named him the patron saint of cancer sufferers.” He died in 1345 at the age of 80. St. Peregrine Laziosi was Beatified on April 15, 1609 at Saint Peter’s Basilica, Rome, Papal States by Pope Paul V and was Canonized on December 27,  1726 at Saint Peter’s Basilica, Rome, Papal States by Pope Benedict XIII. St. Peregrine is the Patron Saint of cancer patients; AIDS patients; open sores; skin diseases; sick people and those with life threatening diseases.

PRAYRR: St. Peregrine, we come to you confidently to implore your aid with God in our necessity. You were converted instantly from a worldly life by the good example of one holy person. You were cured instantaneously of cancer by God’s grace and unceasing prayer. In your gracious kindness please ask the Lord to heal us also in body, mind and soul. May we then also imitate you in doing His work with renewed vigor and strength… Amen🙏

Graciously hear the prayers which we present O God, to you in honor of St. Peregrine, your beloved servant and patron of those suffering from cancer, AIDS, or other life-threatening disease. Grant that we may receive help in our needs through the intercession of him whose life was so pleasing to you. Hear us in the name of Christ, our Lord… Amen. St. Peregrine Laziosi, Religious ~ Pray for us🙏

SCRIPTURE REFLECTIONS

Bible Readings for today, Memorial of Saint Joseph the Worker | USCCB | https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/0501-memorial-joseph-worker.cfm

Gospel Reading ~ Matthew 13:54-58

“Is he not the carpenter’s son?”

“Jesus came to His native place and taught the people in their synagogue. They were astonished and said, “Where did this man get such wisdom and mighty deeds? Is he not the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother named Mary and his brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas? Are not his sisters all with us? Where did this man get all this?” And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his native place and in his own house.” And he did not work many mighty deeds there because of their lack of faith.”

In today’s Gospel reading, people ask, ‘Is this not the carpenter’s son?’ The term carpenter maybe translated as craftsman or artisan. It suggests someone who worked with wood but also with other materials, such as stone. The Gospels indicate that Joseph was a skilled labourer. In that village culture, a skill could be a small source of income. Jesus’ family were not wealthy but probably not destitute either. Joseph had a marketable skill. Just below Nazareth, about five kilometres away, while Jesus was a child, a new city was being built by Herod Antipas called Sephoris. The ruins of the city are still to be seen today. It is interesting to speculate that Joseph might have found work as that city was being built. Today we remember Joseph the worker. His small income allowed him to support his family, from day to day. The importance of Joseph’s role in providing the relatively secure environment in which Jesus could grow to maturity as a human being is probably underestimated. He certainly helped to create, with Mary, the religious environment in the home which allowed Jesus to grow in His relationship with God. St. Joseph’s faithfulness to his task created the space for Jesus to be faithful to His calling. St. Joseph reminds us that our own personal response to our own calling from God will always have huge consequences for others.

Our first reading today, from the Mass of St. Joseph, gives the account of the creation of Man, how God made our first forebears and then placed everything under our care, stewardship and dominion, and then rested from all of His labours at the end of His work. In today’s reading, we can clearly see how the Lord’s own works in creating the world is also likened to that of a craftsman, and a carpenter. God is indeed the One Who had crafted and made the world, and He had patiently created us all, cared for us and provided for us all throughout despite our constant rebelliousness and unwillingness to listen to Him and obey His Law and commandments. Like St. Joseph, who as a carpenter, was looked down upon, we tend to do the same to the Lord as well, ignoring and abandoning Him, and only remembering Him when we have need of Him. Not only that, but the Lord Himself has willingly then come down upon us as we all know it, in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, sent into this world. He was born of His mother Mary, and became the Son of a humble and upright carpenter, St. Joseph himself. From St. Joseph, the Lord likely learnt the virtue of obedience and also other good and virtuous values and deeds, which we ourselves should take heed of and follow as well in our own lives. This same Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Saviour, would go on to bear His Cross, bearing the whole burden of our many and innumerable sins and punishments due to those sins, obediently following the will of His heavenly Father, and doing all just as how His foster father, St. Joseph, the model of all workers, has shown and taught Him earlier on in His life.

As we reflect on the words of the Sacred Scriptures today, let us all be inspired as well by the good examples showed by St. Joseph, holy worker and man of God, in all of his righteousness and virtuous life. Let us all commit ourselves to the Lord anew in the same manner as St. Joseph had committed himself, and let us all come closer to the Lord and carry on living our lives in the best way possible, as virtuous and faithful Christians, in doing God’s will and in living our lives to the best of our ability, in proclaiming God’s love and truth in our respective communities, now and henceforth. Each and every one of us have our part to play as Christians, to be exemplary and faithful in our daily living, and to inspire each other to walk ever more faithfully in God’s Presence, to live as how St. Joseph had once lived his life, with virtue and devotion to God. Let our work glorify the Lord and not for our own personal glorification or for the pursuit of our own selfish ambitions. May the Risen Lord continue to bless each and every one of us, and guide us in our works and ministry, and with the intercession from St. Joseph, His foster father, the patron and model of all workers, may all of us who labour and work continue to be reminded to do our work in accordance with God’s will and in line with our Christian faith and beliefs, and to carry on our works with consideration and care for others all around us. May God in His infinite grace and mercy, grant us His grace and may our Risen Lord be with us always, bless our works and efforts, and guide us in our journey and faith. May God be with us all and with His Church, now and always, forevermore. Amen🙏

Let us pray:

Saint Joseph, God gave you great responsibility in life, which you embraced with loving devotion and hard work. You found dignity in your labors as you sought to fulfill the will of God by caring for your family. Please pray for me, that I will always keep the right priorities in life, never wavering from my duty to labor, and never laboring in vain for selfish profit. I choose you as my model and intercessor this day and always. Saint Joseph, pray for me.🙏

My Jesus, Son of the carpenter, I thank You for the gift and inspiration of Your earthly father, Saint Joseph. I thank You for his ordinary life lived with great love and responsibility. Help me to imitate his life by fulfilling my daily duties of work and service well. May I recognize in the life of Saint Joseph, an ideal model for my own holiness of life. Saint Joseph the Worker, pray for us. Jesus, I trust in You ~ Amen🙏

Save Us, Savior of the World. Our Blessed Mother Mary, Saint Joseph the Worker and Saint Peregrine ~  Pray for us🙏

Thanking God for the gift of this day and praying for His Divine Mercy and Grace upon us all and for vocations to priesthood and consecrated life. Have a blessed, safe, grace-filled and fruitful Fifth Week of Easter 🙏

Blessings and Love always, Philomena💖