By Fr. Glenn Jones

Happy Labor Day weekend to everyone! We are now seeing how the days are shortening, the weather is cooling, schools are opening (some, at least) and the cottonwoods along the Rio Grande are beginning to acquire a yellow tint, hinting of the nearness of autumn. Then there are the campaign signs blossoming along the wayside … candidates positioning … pundits  screeching. Ah, well…

Now Labor Day is the perfect time to contemplate the value and obligation of human work.

We all have the responsibility to work in one way or the other if we are able. Even St. Paul writes: “If anyone will not work, let him not eat. For we hear that some of you are living in idleness, mere busybodies, not doing any work. Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work in quietness and to earn their own living.” (2 Thessalonians 3:10-12) 

Certainly this does not remove the obligation for charity toward the truly poor, but there is obligation as well to at least sincerely seek work and not simply receive idly the charity of others when one is able to work. In fact, work is the vehicle through which we provide charity. Those who refuse work when they are capable of doing so can be stealing food from the mouths of those who are truly poor and in need, for a dollar to them is a dollar less to the hungry, the naked, etc. As we read in Proverbs: “He who is slack in his work is a brother to him who destroys.” (Proverbs 18:9)

Even from the very beginning of the Bible we find the elevation of work—that of God creating, and then: “…on the seventh day God finished his work which he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done.” (Genesis 2:2) … foreshadowing the Sabbath rest, which itself foreshadows the well-deserved rest for the diligent … for those who enter eternal life. And so in work we resemble and emulate God Himself and execute His will, for we read in Genesis: “The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it” (Genesis 2:15) Like any farmer, “tilling and keeping” entails responsible use.; after all, even Eden wouldn’t have stayed a paradise if Adam clear-cut every tree and strip-mined every plot of earth. Planning for future generations and the sustainable environment health is also part of the work we are to do.

In the Gospels, Jesus Himself affirms the dignity of work in His early life as a carpenter of Nazareth. Now, if you’ve never done carpentry, know that it is strenuous and tiring, dirty and exacting work, especially with only hand tools like Jesus would have had. So consider: here was God Himself not disdaining strenuous labor, but rather embracing daily weariness and fatigue, sweat and grime, so as to demonstrate the merit of human labor. In that vein it’s worth quoting the Catholic Catechism at some length:

“Human work proceeds directly from persons created in the image of God and called to prolong the work of creation by subduing the earth, both with and for one another. [Genesis 3:14-19]…Work honors the Creator’s gifts and the talents received from him…By enduring the hardship of work in union with Jesus, the carpenter of Nazareth and the one crucified on Calvary, man collaborates in a certain fashion with the Son of God in his redemptive work. He shows himself to be a disciple of Christ by carrying the cross, daily, in the work he is called to accomplish. Work can be a means of sanctification and a way of animating earthly realities with the Spirit of Christ.” (para. 2427)

And so work is essential to human dignity and a cooperation with God Himself, and it is something that everyone can do in some form or fashion—from knitting socks to building skyscrapers to brain surgery.  A work to which we are all called—and for which virtually no one is unable—is what St. Benedict calls the “Work of God”—prayer and praise…for the good of the world, and for the salvation of all. Thus the Catechism reminds us: “The lives of the faithful, their praise, sufferings, prayer, and work, are united with those of Christ and with His total offering, and so acquire a new value.” (CCC 1368)

Obviously not all are called to the same work. As St. Paul writes: “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of working, but it is the same God who inspires them all in every one.” (1 Corinthians 12:4-6)  But all legitimate work has value else it would not be done, and so we always should work to the utmost of our ability, remembering: “Do you see a man skillful in his work? he will stand before kings…” (Proverbs 22:29) 

I often tell young people that, if they are earnest and dependable, they will rarely be without employment; such laborers are treasured by all. And those with more prestigious positions should never disdain those who do not have them, but even more so practice humility for the gifts they have been given; after all:  “What have you that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if it were not a gift?” (1 Corinthians 4:7) And remember that “…every craftsman and master workman who labors…All these rely upon their hands, and each is skillful in his own work. Without them a city cannot be established, and men can neither sojourn nor live there…they are not sought out for the council of the people, nor do they attain eminence in the public assembly…But they keep stable the fabric of the world, and their prayer is in the practice of their trade.” (Sirach 38:27, 33-34) Without the foundation built by the trades and manual labor, little in our society would get done.

So … enjoy the holiday rest if you have it. But, come Tuesday … let’s get back to work!

“Whatever your task, work heartily, as serving the Lord and not men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward; you are serving the Lord Christ.” (Colossians 3:23-24)

Rev. Glenn Jones is the Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe and former pastor of Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church in Los Alamos.