'Work Is Sacred'

Richard A. Sokerka

As Labor Day approaches, it’s a good time to reflect on Pope Francis’ thoughts on work.

The Holy Father said at one of his weekly Wednesday general audiences recently that work is something sacred, and called out those who abuse it by either contributing to the unemployment crisis, or refusing to work in order to feed off the system. “Work is precisely from the human being. It expresses his dignity of being created in the image of God. Therefore, it is said that work is sacred.”

“Through work,” he said, “the family is cared for and children are provided with a dignified life and the common good is served, as witnessed by the example of so many fathers and mothers who teach their children the value of work for family life and society,” he said. As an example, he added, one has to look no further than the Bible where the Holy Family appears as a family of workers, and Jesus himself is called “the son of a carpenter” and even “the carpenter.”

Pope Francis also stressed the importance of balancing work and spiritual life. He said that the two are not opposed, but rather go hand-in-hand, since work expresses the dignity of the human person, created in God’s image. “Prayer and work can and should go together in harmony.” But he warned, when work deviates from God’s covenant with man and fails to respect his spiritual qualities, it becomes “a hostage of the profit-only logic,” producing negative consequences for families.

Part of the mission God has given to Christian families, he said, is to present the basic elements the creation of man was founded on. Among these, he said, is a true understanding of “the identity of man and woman and the bond they share, their call to bring children into the world, and the gift of work in making the world ever more fruitful and hospitable.”

That is why the family unit as the cornerstone of society in today’s world is so vital.