Work for Glory of God

“Nothing seems tiresome or painful when you are working for a Master who pays well, who rewards even a cup of cold water given for love of Him.” St. Dominic Savio

The best summer job I had was working at a campground near the beach in my small city. It paid very little, and it involved some hard jobs to do. Later, I spent a lot of time looking for a place that I could call home at work. When I was studying, I would job hop a fair bit to make ends meet. I have had several working stints in other countries which helped me grow as a person. I would put in a lot of effort in some places of employment and stay well past than closing time. Coming in early and leaving late often drew criticism from colleagues with comments such as, “You have nothing else to do but come to work?” Sad comments which could be interpreted as pushing mediocrity. I found it a joy to be at some places of employment but also some places were a chore.

“Heroism at work is to be found in finishing each task.” St. Josemaria Escriva

I learned a lot over the years. Sometimes, my best work was doing charitable work. It gave me a sense of satisfaction. We categorize work as being cool, or prestigious or menial among several adjectives. When we work hard, we also receive a joy from that work. I have had some low paying jobs, and some were outright difficult. However, getting a pay cheque also gave me a sense of honour. I remember when I was a teenager, I got a wallet from my godparents as a gift. I showed my mom and I told her that I now needed a job to fill it up, so I went to work. I didn’t understand what those words meant then. I do now though years later.

St. Thomas Aquinas reminded us that, “Without work, it is impossible to have fun.”

We reduce work to something that needs to be done just for the money. I remember at one place of work, my colleagues would countdown on the calendar to the next holiday and living for that day. I never wanted that. Sometimes, we want to enjoy ourselves without the responsibility. This is something I needed to learn. The pandemic has caused many people to change jobs and even quit outright. I only know this from articles I have read but it seemed intriguing that it was happening. I thought about it as to how someone would simply quit. Maybe we are looking for something more from our work and we have only begun now to ask those provoking questions.

“Christian perfection consists in three things: praying heroically, working heroically, and suffering heroically.” St. Anthony Mary Claret

Many of the Apostles were fishermen. They had different jobs but, in the end, they worked for God. I think it must have been surprising for the Apostles to realize the transformation they had gone through in their new lives after the Resurrection. In the book, “Generating Traces in the History of the World,” by Luigi Giussani, he writes, “Work is thus the final synthesis of the relationship between the ‘I’ and the reality that provokes it…… projecting it towards destiny… towards Christ…...”

Giussani had written many books and I do not want to draw out one line because it does not do justice to his writings. However, upon reading this it made me think about work and the need for it.

We need to be engaged with reality and work is only a part of that. We live in the world, and we need to be practical in the sense that we need to earn a living in some way. But work does not involve only earning. I visit monasteries and convents and even in there, the need to work is evident. However, it all goes back to one person – Christ. Our work, our play, our free time, our studies among a host of other endeavours all relate back to Christ. Once we recognize who is our anchor, for me, the road becomes clear just a bit more.

“Whatever you do, do it for the love of Jesus. Don’t only work to please your superiors.” St. Alphonsa