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“Work and Human Dignity”
Article 3 by Anna Gromek
If anyone will not work, let him not eat. (2 Th. 3:10)
Father Raniero Cantalamessa, OFM Cap., in his Sunday
homily on November 16, 2007, said that this Scripture is one
of the famous discourses on the end of the world, which
characterize the readings used at the end of the liturgical
year. It looks like the community of Thessalonica was an
early Christian community in which there were believers who
did not live their lives according to the teachings of
Christ. They did not work to maintain their family lives.
They thought that there was no need for preoccupation with
constant long-term work because the world was soon coming to
an end.
St. Paul said in 2 Th. 3:11: For we hear that some of
you are living in idleness, mere busybodies, not doing any
work. St. Paul instructs the Thessalonians to work
quietly and to earn their own living. He also reminds them
that when someone refuses to obey these rules, they should
make that person feel ashamed, warn him as a brother, but do
not look on him as an enemy.
In the culture of that time, manual labor was regarded as
degrading and should be left to slaves and the uneducated.
God, at the beginning of time, however, worked six days and
rested on the seventh day. Another great example is Jesus
who worked with his father, St. Joseph, probably for 17
years between His 13th and 30th year of age. So these
examples show us that work is a part of man’s original
nature and not a punishment. There is nothing wrong with
manual work. It is the same as intellectual or spiritual
work insofar as it is just as dignified.
Do we still look down upon manual labor? Do we ever
learn? Does this work have any value for heaven? We would be
the most pitiable of creatures if it does not have this kind
of value, because, beside charity and volunteer work, or
involvement in an apostolate, most of us must spend our time
and energy in ordinary jobs. As per Father Cantalamessa,
“The value of our work is not only conferred on it by the
‘good intentions’ we put into it or the morning offering we
make to God, it also has value in itself, as a participation
in God’s creating and redemptive work, and as service to our
brothers and sisters. A person who has done the most humble
jobs in life can be of ‘greater value’ than those people who
hold positions of great prestige.”
(Anna Gromek has served as a prayer
group leader and member of the DCCR Assembly for a number of
years. She and her husband, Jan, have recently moved to
Alberta, Canada, to be near family. They will be sorely
missed by the Detroit Catholic Charismatic Renewal.) |
