Meaning and Importance of Work

09-01-2024Pastor's CornerFr. Bob Deehan

On this Labor Day weekend, we’re invited to reflect upon the meaning and importance of work for ourselves as individuals, for our families and community, and for the wider society.

Work has far more significance than merely the practical means to “earn a living” so that we can feed, clothe and house ourselves and our families. Our Catholic Church has a rich set of teachings which explore a “spirituality of work.”

Two major sources are the encyclical of Pope St. John Paul II, On Human Work (Laborem Exercens) LE and the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World (Gaudium et Spes) of the Second Vatican Council, which the Holy Father quotes a great deal in his encyclical. Work can be seen as a sharing in the activity of the Creator. (# 25, LE) “For when man works he not only alters things and society, he develops himself as well. He learns much, he cultivates his resources, he goes outside himself and beyond himself… The norm of human activity is this: that in accord with the divine plan and will, it should harmonize with the genuine good of the human race, and allow people as individuals and as members of society to pursue their total vocation and fulfill it… A person is more precious for what he is than for what he has. Similarly, all that people do to obtain greater justice, wider brotherhood, and a more humane ordering of social relationships has greater worth than technical advances. For these advances can supply the material for human progress, but of themselves alone they can never actually bring it about.” (#26, LE) “… It is through man’s labor that not only “the fruits of our activity” but also “human dignity, brotherhood and freedom” must increase on earth. Let the Christian who listens to the word of the living God, uniting work with prayer, know the place that his work has not only in earthly progress but also in the development of the kingdom of God, to which we are called through the power of the Holy Spirit and through the word of the Gospel.” (#27 LE)

Another source of reflection on work springs from St. Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians 12: 4–7, “There are different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit; there are different forms of service but the same Lord; there are different workings but the same God who produces all of them in everyone. To each individual, the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit.” It draws us to ask, how has God blessed me and allowed me to work in some capacity to accomplish His purpose? And still, it’s not so important what we do, but how we do it - inspired by the Holy Spirit while reflecting the person of Jesus Christ in the doing of it. May your prayer this Labor Day weekend include a fruitful reflection on work and a special intention for those who are looking for employment.