Free Republic

COMMENTARY: For the best model for workers, look not to a man named Marx but to a carpenter named Joseph.The Childhood of Jesus. (photo: Gerard van Honthorst / Web Gallery of Art) May Day has all sorts of historically varied meanings and traditions among various groups, including Catholics. Since the late 19th century, however, May 1 has been particularly known for its association with workers — particularly, its appropriation if not exploitation by socialists and communists. That began in earnest on May 1, 1889, when socialists launched International Workers’ Day. “May 1st is May Day, the International Workers’ Holiday,” explains...

Each year on May 1, the Catholic faithful celebrate the feast day of Saint Joseph the Worker. This feast day, instituted by Pope Pius XII in 1955, was meant to provide downtrodden laborers with a spiritual patron, as well as an alternative to the communist labor agitation that was prevalent at the time. The Catholic faith has a great heritage of honoring and celebrating labor and laborers. Because of that, this feast day offers us an opportunity, and a great responsibility, to build a robust and life-giving culture through laborers and their work. We must continue to take up that...