The month of September signals the end of the summer and the beginning of the fall season. The summer break is over and we begin the new school year.
We always begin with the celebration of Labor Day. A tradition that was started in 1880 by President Grover Cleveland in the aftermath of the deaths of a number of workers killed during the 1894 protests known as the Pullman Strike.
Labor Day is a special occasion to thank God for the gift of work and to pray for the economic recovery of our country. No doubt that we are going through difficult times and many of our brothers and sisters are suffering as a consequence of the global economic crisis.
The times that we are going through give us a new perspective of the beauty of work as a participation of the work of creation and a blessing and right for all human persons.
To better understand the importance of work for the human person, we need to reflect on the example of Our Lord Jesus Christ. The gospels say that Jesus worked for most of his adult life — until he was about 30 –– as a carpenter, just like his earthly “father,” Joseph
We can truly say that Jesus who worked with human hands and loved with a human heart came to give all of us the grace we need to become saints –– not in spite of, or apart from our work, but in our work and through our work.
That is why the Catholic Church has so much to say about the dignity of work. It is no exaggeration to say that the Catholic Church is the first institution in human history to respect the dignity of work. It’s true also that there is no other sacred book that has more to say about work than the Bible.
Among the many aspects of the spirituality of work that we can reflect on these days there are two that we have to remember: work must become prayer and the ultimate reason for working is the love of God and others.
The Catholic spirituality of work means doing your work always in the presence of God, and doing your work in the spirit of worship and service. The spirituality of work also means working with an attitude of prayer.
Then, our work is intended to be much more than simply a means to worthy ends. Our work is intended to be a kind of worship, an offering of love to God, a way we give him thanks and praise. “Whatever you do,” St. Paul used to say, “do all for the glory of God.” (1 Cor 10:31)
In this Year of the Priest, Labor Day is celebrated two days before the feast day of a model priest, St. Peter Claver (September 9), a Spanish Jesuit who carried out his pastoral ministry in Cartagena (Colombia) in the early 17th Century.
Peter Claver felt moved by the more than a thousand slaves who arrived at that city every month to be distributed throughout South America.
With great courage and extraordinary humility, Peter Claver dedicated 44 years of his life to the spiritual and material care of the slaves and to fighting for their freedom until his death.
He defended them, showed them kindness, cared for them in sickness, and won their confidence. Peter then trained interpreters as catechists, in order to teach the faith to the slaves in their many different tongues.
His work was a labor of love. St. Peter was canonized in 1888 by Pope Leo XIII, the same pope who wrote the first social encyclical to address the teachings of the church regarding the gift of work.
Through the intercession of this saintly priest who dedicated himself to defending slaves’ rights, we ask the Lord to help each of us, in our specific situations, to promote a society that is more just, worthy, and reconciled, where the life of every human being, from conception to natural death, is protected not only by laws, but by the labor practices of all those who have decision-making ability and influence in our society.
I pray that our Lord give success to all the work of your hands, hearts, and minds –– that through your work you might give honor to God and help to sanctify yourselves, and your brothers and sisters.