by Fr. Brian Wirth,
Director of Rural Life
Though busy to the point of exhaustion, May is an exciting month in our diocese.
As farmers continue to labor by the sweat of their brow, planting new crops this spring while also mitigating weeds in the field; and cattle farmers continue to provide ongoing health/profit checks for their cow/calf operations and work on pasture management; so too the academic school year and graduations are right around the corner.
This includes our seminarians at St. Gregory the Great Seminary, four of whom (two transitional deacons; two diocesan priests) will receive the Sacrament of Holy Orders later this month (May 23-24).
With all of this and more going on, we can appreciate the Entrance Antiphon proclaimed on the Memorial of St. Joseph the Worker which we celebrated May 1: “Blessed are all who fear the Lord and walk in his ways! By the labor of your hands you shall eat; blessed are you, and blessed will you be, alleluia.”
In a marvelous way, within the richness of our faith and God-given vocations, regarding the fidelity of farmers and priests/deacons in view of the Creator of the Universe, we see how blessed our diocese is in our towns, parishes, schools, and farms. Through the dignity of work and by the labor of the hands of farmers and priests alike, we eat and above all, partake in the Eternal Banquet of the Lord in the Eucharist.
As the Antiphon states: blessedness is fundamentally rooted in our possessing the spiritual gift of Fear of the Lord.
When we fear the Lord in awe as opposed to servile fear, we possess a greater love of God and trusting faith that God will provide for our every need, and thus are able to confidently follow His Will and walk in His ways via trusting faith.
In this respect, St. Joseph is a most virtuous example for us all. In his 1955 address on St. Joseph, Pope Pius XII stated: “There could not be a better protector to help you penetrate the spirit of the Gospel into your life … From the heart of the Man-God, Savior of the world, this spirit flows into you and into all men; but it is certain that no worker has ever been as perfectly and deeply penetrated by it as the putative father of Jesus, who lived with him in the closest intimacy and commonality of family and work.”
As such, any praise or accolade attributed to St. Joseph is truly right and just because in all of his physical and spiritual labors the sole desire of St. Joseph was to immerse himself ever more deeply into God’s divine will and love as “a faithful and righteous man.”
Properly, as the head of the Holy Family and the universal patron of workers, St. Joseph is a most virtuous example and reminder for all of us, as individuals, as workers, as families, as priests, and more as a diocesan family to continue to strive to possess more firmly the spiritual gift of fear of the Lord.
May is also the month in which we celebrate Mary in her May Crowning. This popular Marian devotion honors Mary as the Immaculate Mother of Jesus and Queen of Heaven and Earth with a crown of fresh flowers. As her beloved spiritual children, it is always a joy to see men and women of all ages process up with a wide assortment of roses in work to create her crown.
Undoubtedly, this is a work that pleases her to no end.
Although Mary is ever sinless, the spouse of the Holy Spirit, and the handmaid of the Lord, Mary was most certainly inspired by the work ethic of Joseph and Jesus. This work ethic of the Most Holy Family was equally a shared work of charitable solidarity, empowering Mary to undertake forever the greatest work of being the Mother of God and bearing the spiritual sword that pierced her heart in view of Jesus’ passion and death on the Cross.
So in our lives, brothers and sisters, there are many difficult works we must undertake as disciples of Jesus. However, we must never be afraid! For Christ has conquered sin and death once and for all this Easter. Through Christ, we are victorious in the Divine Work of salvation that God and the Most Holy Family have wrought for us. Therefore, whether laity or priests, may we never shy away from the work and labor that direct us more firmly to the glory of the Resurrection.
Finally, we are currently in the middle of the Novena to St. Isidore the Farmer (his feast day is May 15; the full novena is available at https://catholicrurallife.org/resources/spiritual/novena-to-st-isidore/). As a spiritual work and as an act of fear of the Lord, I humbly encourage us as a diocesan family to pray this novena with family or friends or add it to your personal prayers. Pray for your priests, all agriculture workers, and our diocese.
In view of the works God is calling us to undertake, like St. Isidore, may we possess greater faith and fear of the Lord, which allowed him to live a fervent life with Christ all while accomplishing every labor in great obedience and zeal.
May the Lord who has begun the good work in us by the hands of the Most Holy Family and through the intercession of St. Isidore the Farmer, bring it to completion.
