Today we observe Labor Day and consider the importance of work in our lives. When I think of Labor Day, I remember living in eastern Europe just a few years after the fall of Communism. They still celebrated May Day, the great Communist holiday adulating work. People joked that they took time off work to praise work.
Laborem exercens
St. John Paul II, probably because he came from a Communist country, dedicated one of his first encyclicals to this theme. Laborem exercens, written in 1981, analyzes work from a Christian point of view.
The saint writes some interesting things about work. He says that even before the Fall, in Paradise, we human beings still had to work. There was, of course, a curse pronounced on Adam after the Fall: “By the sweat of your face shall you get bread to eat.”
But even before the Fall came the commandment: “Be fertile and multiply. Fill the earth and subdue it.” Certainly this involved activity, or work. After the introduction of concupiscence, however, work has become a drudgery at times. No matter how much we might like our job, I think we all have the experience of dreading to go back to work sometimes.
St. John Paul ties legitimate ownership of property to work. Owners of property were not meant just to heap up as much things as they can for themselves, but should transform what they own into something useful for people.
Private Property
To illustrate ownership of private property, I like to use an example. Picture three men swimming to an island in the ocean from their capsized boat. Of course when they get to the island, none of them owns any part of it. During the course of their first day, one man basks in the sun on the beach. The second spends the day swimming. The third looks for rocks, brush and trees and starts working them into a small hut to protect himself from the elements.
We can say that the third man has constructed for himself the right to his hut. The materials belong to no one, but I think we can see how he has the right to enjoy the fruits of his labor, a right which the other two have not earned.
Work as Service
Work is a service to other people. When we work we are offering a service or producing a product that other people need or want. Doing our work well, then, is an act of goodness to others.
Sometimes in our spiritual lives we consider how we can practice charity toward others. One way is to serve others well and cheerfully with the work we do. Yes, we get paid for work; however, we (usually) get paid whether we do it well or not. An employee who goes out of his way to help someone with a peculiar need is showing charity. A factory worker who prays for those who will use the goods she is making is performing acts of charity.
The workplace is also a place of evangelization. An employee who truly respects his fellow workers is giving others a good example of how to act at work. The employee who exhorts her fellow workers to be faithful to Christ is engaging in a spiritual work of mercy. We all know that priests do not have access to most places of work. It is in this area, then, that laypeople are overwhelmingly God’s instruments in encouraging workers to be faithful.
As work is a major part of our lives, the way we work will be a major part of our life in Christ. Let us make the most of it!
Thank you, Father Mike. I loved the line “Doing our work well, then, is an act of goodness to others.” And I loved what Jerry pointed out that too often the focus is on the employer’s ethical obligations and not the obligations of the employed. A great message for today.
I love this reflection for several reasons. The dignity of work is such an important concept because the sweat of our brow mixed with the effort that generates it, can definitely be oriented as an act of charity to others. I also like that you emphasized the workers’ ethical responsibility. So often in church, the intercessory prayers are focused solely on employers treating workers properly, but seldom do we pray that workers justify the wage they earn. It seems sometimes the church sees only one side of the coin. I applaud that you see a symmetry of effort for both employer and employee, especially in a society that is becoming very entitlement oriented – and there your island example is on point. Locke, in great part, would agree with your beneficial use of materials and property. God Bless
Thank you, Father Mike. for your insights on how we should view our time at work. May we thank God for our gift of employment and always strive to make it a channel of helping others.