Work is a Gift

In most of the world today is celebrated as Labor Day, a day to celebrate and honor workers of all professions.  It is for this reason that the Church declared today as the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker so that a religious dimension might be added to this day throughout the world.  While Joseph is given to us for consideration of work, the Gospels are filled with parables and stories about work.

In every instance of Jesus referring to work he sees it as a work of stewardship, a partnership between humankind and God for the ongoing preservation of the earth and all living things.  Work is something entrusted to us.  Work is an extension of our fundamental vocation to show love and mercy to others.  And in the Benedictine tradition work is the spouse of prayer, an extension of our prayer, an incarnation of prayer.  

Many people do not see work in this way, often because working conditions have historically been oppressive for many people: dangerous, undignified, low-paying, degrading, and made only to serve the interests of the owner and his profits.  Today's feast and holiday remind us of the dignity of work and our obligation to make of it something noble and uplifting for all.