“Your ordinary contact with God takes place where your fellow men, your yearnings, your work and your affections are. There you have your daily encounter with Christ. It is in the midst of the most material things of the earth that we must sanctify ourselves, serving God and all mankind.” - St. Josemaria Escriva

Who are some of the holiest saints that we can think of? Mother Theresa, St. Peter, St. Paul, St. Maximilian Kolbe are a few that certainly come to mind. For myself, the saint that always comes to mind first is St. Joseph. While neglected in the bible and often in discourse, being the spouse of our holy mother is quite the undertaking, and something that stands out in his sanctification. 

How do you even prepare for that? 

How can you ever measure up to someone conceived without sin? 

In order for any man to achieve their greatness, they must undergo a period of formation and growth, particularly spiritually, and I am of the belief that his came through his work and own professional development.

What do we know about St. Joseph? We know he was a carpenter, he was the foster father of Jesus …..and that’s about it. Even with this limited amount of information, I think it tells us all we need to know about the man and his growth into a father of the church. The art of carpentry in particular is something that we should consider. Today, it takes about 4 years to receive an apprenticeship in carpentry, and probably another year or two at least to become comfortable or  an expert in it. We should also consider the fact that this work was most likely done alone. Sure, Joseph probably had a father figure or role model that handed down the work or business to him, but most of his work would have been done by himself. I firmly believe that in the silence of his work, and within the work itself, was where St. Joseph first met, and grew with the Lord.

I know that the work we do may not lend itself to the opportunities Joseph had with our Lord, but that does not mean the Lord cannot be met, and cannot be shared, with others in our work. Our work is our vocation, and it is in our vocations that we encounter the Lord most deeply, and journey with him through our lives. Your career should be influenced and saturated in prayer, and the work accomplished in that career should undergo the same. 

This saturation can be done practically, through mental prayer, the rosary, or even spiritual reading. What might be the most important though is a commitment to the sacraments, particularly to mass and confession. 

Beginning or ending one’s day with the sacrifice of the mass is such a profound and deeply engrossing way of uniting our work or our state in life with the Lord and His calling for us. That and making a habit of constantly receiving His mercy in reconciliation are critical if we are to drench our work daily life in the precious blood of Christ.

When we live out our vocations in this way, when we work and accomplish goals professionally through this method, we are directly serving the Lord, and making his name known. Our world has a deep, deep need for holy priests and religious. Yet at the same time we have that same need, if not an even deeper need, for holy professionals in their career paths. It is how I believe Joseph entered into his holiness, and how he is a model of holiness for all of us today.

There is a story of a journalist asking St. Josemaria which area in Opus Dei’s headquarters was his favorite spot to talk to Jesus. Josemaria took the journalist up to his office, and to a balcony that overlooked the busy city streets of Madrid, and pointed to the bus stop that sat just below their view. The future saint then explained that we encounter Jesus most intimately, most profoundly in our everyday settings. 

What more of an everyday setting do we have than our careers and our work. Entrusting both of these these fully to our Lord, and thriving in that work, is the most manifest way to serve Him. No questions asked.