Jesus’ Blue-collar Workers

Back in the 1920’s, a man named Franco left his native country and came to the United States. He quickly took a job digging ditches. For Franco, who loved being outdoors and craved lots of physical exercise, the work was ideal. After he had learned to speak English, Franco’s friends began urging him to get a better job and begin to “come up” in the world. But Franco would have none of it. He was a happy ditch-digger. One day he received news that a rich relative in the old country had died and left him a million dollars. “Now will you change your life?” a friend asked. “Of course,” Franco replied. “You mean you’ll stop digging ditches?” “No,” said Franco, “but now I can have a chauffeur drive me to work.” No doubt about it, Franco was a devoted, dyed-in-the-wool, certified blue-collar worker.

In today’s Lesson, from Mark’s Gospel, Jesus says, “If any man would come after Me, let him deny himself and…