During these summer months, we start thinking
more about vacation days, looking for ways to take a break from work. Some
companies even adjust for summer hours or close for a few weeks.
Year round, advertisers try to tempt us with
images of rest and leisure. They want us to imagine ourselves near the beach,
idle, holding a cold drink. They paint inactivity as an ideal moment we should
constantly pursue.
While we consider our vacation options this
summer, as these opportunities certainly afford us periods to recharge our
batteries and spend more time with family, I think we can also consider the
blessings of work both at home and in our professional occupations. After all,
the reality of work continues no matter the month.
Rather than looking at work as drudgery or an
obligation we try to escape, St. Josemaria Escrivá, whose feast day we observe
on June 26, taught that work can be a path to holiness. “Work is a gift from God,” he said. “It is
something to be sanctified and something which sanctifies.” (Christ is Passing
By, 47).
The founder of Opus Dei (Latin for “Work of
God”) said, “Work is part and parcel of man’s life on earth. It involves
effort, weariness, exhaustion: signs of the suffering and struggle which
accompany human existence and which point to the reality of sin and the need
for redemption. But in itself work is not a penalty or a curse or a
punishment.”
He further notes, “It makes no sense to
classify men differently, according to their occupation, as if some jobs were
nobler than others. Work, all work, bears witness to the dignity of man, to his
dominion over creation. It is an opportunity to develop one’s personality. It
is a bond of union with others, the way to support one’s family, a means of
aiding in the improvement of the society in which we live and in the progress
of all humanity” (Christ is Passing By, 47).
Among our Catholic devotions, there are a
variety of novenas, a nine-day prayer period, to ask God for a specific
intention. a “novena for work” to St. Josemaria offers some good points to
consider. The focus for each of the nine days is reflected in the titles: 1. Work
as a path to holiness; 2. Work done for love of God; 3. Working with order and
constancy; 4. Well-finished work; 5. All honest work is dignified; 6. Work done
in company with God, and with rectitude of intention; 7. Maturing in virtue
though work; 8. Work as service, a help for others; and 9. Apostolate through
work.
The selection from his writings and intention
each day offer a closer look at the value of the work we do. They remind us of
the power of prayer, love and sacrifice.
Reading further, here are a few of his words
on the subject:
“Sanctity is not for a privileged few. The
Lord calls all of us. He expects love from all of us — from everyone, wherever
they are; from everyone, whatever their state in life, their profession or job.
For the daily life we live, apparently so ordinary, can be a path to sanctity:
it is not necessary to abandon one’s place in the world in order to search for
God … because all the paths of the earth can be the occasion for an encounter
with Christ” (Letter 24-III-1930, no. 2).
“Let us work. Let us work a lot and work
well, without forgetting that prayer is our best weapon. That is why I will
never tire of repeating that we have to be contemplative souls in the middle of
the world, who try to convert their work into prayer.” (Furrow, Work, Chap. 15,
497)
“It is no good offering to God something that
is less perfect than our poor human limitations permit. The work that we offer
must be without blemish and it must be done as carefully as possible, even in
its smallest details, for God will not accept shoddy workmanship. 'Thou shalt
not offer anything that is faulty,' Holy Scripture warns us, 'because it would
not be worthy of him.' For that reason, the work of each one of us, the
activities that take up our time and energy, must be an offering worthy of our
Creator. It must be operatio Dei, a work of God that is done for God: in
short, a task that is complete and faultless.” (Friends of God, Working for
God, 47)
“We acquire the style of contemplative souls,
in the midst of our daily work! Because we become certain that he is watching
us, while he asks us to conquer ourselves anew: a little sacrifice here, a
smile there for someone who bothers us, beginning the least pleasant but most
urgent job first, carefulness in little details of order, perseverance in the
fulfilment of our duty when it would be so easy to abandon it, not leaving for
tomorrow what should be finished today: and all this, to please him, Our Father
God!” (Friends of God, Working for God,
67)
St. Josemaria’s writings are reinvigorating,
placing work in a new light. While we are “workin’ for a livin’" as
intoned in the 1980’s song by Huey Lewis and the News, our work can also
sanctify us. No matter how monotonous or challenging, our prayers direct our
approach. And this makes all the difference, filling each task with joy.
(Originally
published in June 2018 edition of The Valley Catholic newspaper)
