01 May 2026 – Friday of Week 4 of Easter (St Joseph the Worker)
01 May 2026 – Friday of Week 4 of Easter (St Joseph the Worker)
Optional Memorial: St Joseph the Worker – readings Lect 11:1013 – see below
1st Reading: Acts 13:26-33
Jesus was put to death, but raised and exalted by God
[Paul went on to say]
“My brothers, you descendants of Abraham’s family, and others who fear God, to us the message of this salvation has been sent. Because the residents of Jerusalem and their leaders did not recognize him or understand the words of the prophets that are read every sabbath, they fulfilled those words by condemning him. Even though they found no cause for a sentence of death, they asked Pilate to have him killed. When they had carried out everything that was written about him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb. But God raised him from the dead; and for many days he appeared to those who came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, and they are now his witnesses to the people. And we bring you the good news that what God promised to our ancestors he has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising Jesus; as also it is written in the second Psalm, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you.”
Responsorial: Psalm 2: 6-11
R./: You are my Son; this day I have begotten you.
‘It is I who have set up my king
on Zion, my holy mountain.’
I will announce the decree of the Lord:
The Lord said to me: ‘You are my Son.
It is I who have begotten you this day.’ (R./)
‘Ask and I shall bequeath you the nations,
put the ends of the earth in your possession.
With a rod of iron you will break them,
shatter them like a potter’s jar.’ (R./)
Now, O kings, understand,
take warning rulers of the earth;
serve the Lord with awe
and trembling, pay him your homage. (R./)
Gospel: John 14:1-6
In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places
Jesus said,
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. And you know the way to the place where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
Many rooms in God’s House
Pope Francis has said that the doors of our church should be open wide and welcoming. This is a refreshing contrast antidote to the narrow, legalistic form of church favoured by those who refer constantly to the the barriers against eucharistic communion with Christians of other churches.
What a positive tone resonates to those Last Supper words of Jesus: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.” This is central to our faith. To be trying to know the truth means that we are already on the right way. Christ draws people even before they start to look for him. The flower is touched by sunlight before it turns toward the sun.
In his synagogue sermon Paul roamed through the Hebrew Bible, beginning with the patriarchs and Moses and ending with John the Baptist preparing the way for Jesus. Some of this was already in yesterday’s reading. But in the second half of this sermon, Paul speaks directly to the situation of his hearers. He turns from the written word to the message spoken by the living God. The whole Bible, he says, leads up to Jesus, who gives each event its full meaning. Paul moves from the parchment to the person, calling us to move on from formal doctrine and have personal experience of Jesus.
We “followers of the way” must move beyond and below the creed to refresh our personal encounter with the Lord who speaks to our hearts. We are also on “the way” even when sin or misfortune makes us desolate. Even in times of turmoil and struggle, we are still “on the way,” with Jesus. Just as there are many mansions in the Father’s house, so the ways that lead to those mansions are many and varied. The only absolute guideline Jesus gives about staying on track with him is the commandment of love, that agapé which was the hallmark of his whole life on earth.
This gospel is a favourite for funerals and is easy to see why. Jesus tells his disciples that though he is leaving them by death, he is really going back to the God from whom he came. He promises that we too will make the journey after him. He will return to take us with him into the Father’s house for which we are destined. Jesus came among us to show the way to the Father. His whole purpose was to bring God to us and us to God.
The many rooms in the Father’s house indicate a place of universal hospitality. Heaven is not an elite place for a select few, but an open space for the many, just as Jesus did not come for the sake of the just, but for sinners. He is the Way to the Father for all who follow him. He promised that, when lifted up from the earth, he would draw all people to himself. If we follow him as our Way in this life, we will in the end come to live with him in the Father’s house.
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St Joseph the Worker
This commemoration, instituted by pope Pius XII in 1955, proposes the example and intercession of Joseph as worker and provider. On this date many countries celebrate the dignity of human labour.
1st Reading: Genesis 1:26–2:3
God the Creator, source of all creative labour
God said:
“Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.
Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea,
the birds of the air, and the cattle,
and over all the wild animals
and all the creatures that crawl on the ground.”
God created man in his image;
in the divine image he created him;
male and female he created them.
God blessed them, saying:
“Be fertile and multiply;
fill the earth and subdue it.
Have dominion over the fish of the sea,
the birds of the air,
and all the living things that move on the earth.”
God also said:”See, I give you every seed-bearing plant all over the earth
and every tree that has seed-bearing fruit on it
to be your food; and to all the animals of the land,
all the birds of the air,
and all the living creatures that crawl on the ground,
I give all the green plants for food.”
And so it happened.
God looked at everything he had made,
and he found it very good. Evening came,
and morning followed-the sixth day.
Thus the heavens and the earth and all their array were completed.
Since on the seventh day God was finished with the work he had been doing,
God rested on the seventh day from all the work he had undertaken.
So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy,
because on it he rested from all the work he had done in creation.
Or: Colossians 3:14-15, 17, 23-24
Charity, the bond of perfection
Brothers and sisters:
Over all these things put on love,
that is, the bond of perfection.
And let the peace of Christ control your hearts,
the peace into which you were also called in one Body.
And be thankful.
And whatever you do, in word or in deed,
do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus,
giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Whatever you do, do from the heart,
as for the Lord and not for men,
knowing that you will receive from the Lord
the due payment of the inheritance;
be slaves of the Lord Christ.
Responsorial: Psalm 89: 2-4, 12-14, 16
R./: Lord, give success to the work of our hands.
Before the mountains were born
or the earth or the world brought forth,
you are God, without beginning or end. (R./)
You turn men back into dust
and say: ‘Go back, sons of men.’
To your eyes a thousand years
are like yesterday, come and gone,
no more than a watch in the night. (R./)
Make us know the shortness of our life
that we may gain wisdom of heart.
Lord, relent! Is your anger for ever?
Show pity to your servants. (R./)
In the morning, fill us with your love;
we shall exult and rejoice all our days.
Show forth your work to your servants;
let your glory shine on their children. (R./)
Gospel: 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 offence at him. But Jesus said to them,
“A prophet is not without honour 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.
A man of strong and constant faith
(from Pope Francis’ general audience on the feast of St. Joseph the Worker, 2013)
Today,on the 1st of May, we commemorate St. Joseph the Worker and begin the month traditionally committed to the Virgin Mary. I would like to share with you two little reflections on these two vital persons in the life of Jesus, and of our own lives: the first, about work, the second about the contemplation of Jesus.
1. In the Gospel of St. Matthew, one of the times when Jesus returns to his native region, to Nazareth, and speaks in the synagogue, the Gospel underlines his fellow villagers’ astonishment at his wisdom, and the question they ask one another: is not this the Carpenter’s son?” (13:55). Jesus takes part in our history, he comes into our midst, being born of Mary by the work of God, but with the presence of St. Joseph, the legal father who defends him and even teaches him his trade. Jesus was born and resided in a family, in the Holy Family, picking up from St. Joseph the carpenter’s trade, in the workshop of Nazareth, sharing with him his dedication, hard work and fulfilment, in addition to each day’s troubles.
This brings to mind for us the dignity and relevance of work. The Book of Genesis tells how God gave a creative role to the first man and woman by handing over to them the task of populating the earth and subduing it, which does not mean to exploit it, but to develope and protect it, to cultivate it with their own labour (cf. Gen 1:28; 2:15). All human work is part of the strategy of God’s love; we are called to plant and safeguard all that earth produces and in this way we take part in the work of creation! Work is essential to the dignity of an individual; it “anoints” us with dignity, so to speak. It makes us resemble God, who has worked and works still, for He is always at work (cf. Jn 5:17). By our work one can maintain oneself and one’s family, and contribute to the development of one’s nation. On this point I am thinking of the problems faced by the world of work and enterprise in various countries. I think of the number of people, and not just young people, who are jobless, mainly because of an economic model of society, based on the selfish quest of gain, ignoring the needs of social justice.
I want to mention another particular work scenario that bothers me: what we could call “slave labour”, work that enslaves. How many people, worldwide, are victims of this kind of slavery, where the person is at the service of work, rather than work serving individuals so that they may have dignity. I would ask my brothers and sisters in faith and all men and women of goodwill to make a definitely reject the trafficking of individuals, which falls within the category of “servile labour.”.
My second thought for today is about about the contemplation of Jesus. Amid the silence of his everyday activity, St. Joseph shared with Mary a unique and constant focus of attention on Jesus. With loving commitment, they accompanied his developments, reflecting on everything that happened in his life. In the Gospels, Luke mentions twice the mindset of Mary, which is also that of St. Joseph: “She treasured all these things, and pondered them in her heart” (2:19.51). To listen to the Lord, we have to discover, to ponder His consistent presence in our lives; we have to stop and talk to Him, give Him space in our lives through prayer. Every one of us, even you adolescent boys and girls, and young people, so numerous right here this early morning, should ask yourselves: what amount of space do I offer the Lord? Do I stop to discussion with Him? Ever since we were bit, our parents have actually accustomed us to begin and end the day with a prayer, to teach us to feel that the friendship and the love of God accompany us. Let us remember the Lord more often in our days!
Let us ask St. Joseph and the Virgin Mary to instruct us to be faithful to our everyday commitments, to live our faith in daily actions and to give even more space to the Lord in our lives, to stop to contemplate his face.