J
JReducation
Guest
A few days ago, I had to prepare a lesson for the postulants. I decided to reflect on Labor Day. As I was preparing the lesson, it struck me that labor and the worker are historically an important part of Catholic tradition. Sometimes on these threads, we reduce Traditional Catholicism to the never ending debates about the EF & OF, CITH & COTT, and Latin & Vernacular. When we do this, we risk missing much of Catholic Tradition. One of those is the Theology of Work.
Looking through the Scripture, in the opening chapter of Genesis, God reveals himself to us as a worker. The ancient Jewish writers present to us a God who is at work. To emphasize that point, they add a seventh day to the Creation Narrative where God rests. We know that God is not a corporeal being who gets tired as we do. The message is that God works. We have often written about “the work of creation” and “the work of salvation.”
As we navigate through the Scripture we see that God creates man in his image and likeness; but what does he do? He assigns to Adam the task of caring for creation. Again, we see God disclosing the value of work by building it into human nature.
But let’s not stop there. Let’s observe those whom God has called. The patriarchate of Israel begins with the call of a shepherd, Abram. The royal family begins with another shepherd. The Church begins with workers. The Apostles were not aristocrats. At the Incarnation, the Eternal Logos becomes flesh and appears to the world as the son of a carpenter.
As the Church evolves, we see the value and place or work in the life of faith. Some of the great theologians and spiritual masters teach us of the value of work. St. Benedict, the Theologian of Obedience par excellence, tells his brothers to work and pray. This is extremely important. Benedict and Scholastic founded their religious family on the principle of obedience. In fact, the Benedictine Rule requires only two vows: obedience and stability. However, work and prayer are necessary to nurture obedience. It is not enough to sit and obey. Benedict and Scholastica teach us that we cannot obey, unless we know how to pray and work. It’s not an either or proposition.
Holy Father Francis, the Master Theologian on Poverty, told his sons and daughters that they must obey without question. He went as far as including a curse in his writings for those who did not obey him. Let’s look at what he commands them to obey. Like Paul, he tells them that they must work. That those who do not know how to work, must learn to do so. At one point, there was an aristocratic man who joined the brotherhood, whom Franciscan Tradition has called Brother Hat. This particular brother would not wear a cowl. He insisted on wearing a hat. Brother Francis took a deep gulp of air and tolerated that. It soon became apparent that Brother Hat did not do his share of work. That’s when Brother Francis lost it.
It’s hard to imagine Brother Francis of Assisi losing it. We have distorted his image, presenting him as a pious, mellow, gentle chap. He was pious and gentle, but never mellow. He was very strong and very demanding of himself, his brothers and the laity. The one thing that he demanded was work.
You see, Francis understood that poverty is not a means, but an end. It is goal for which we work. The man who is poor owns nothing but his sinfulness. The man who is poor does not own his own Will. The man who is poor, does not own his achievements. Like the serfs who worked for the feudal lords, the poor man works for the Father. Like Christ, the poor man does not do as he wishes or gets frustrated because life does not turn out as he hopes it will. He accepts the will of the Father, as Christ accepted it on the Mt. of Olives. How do poor people sustain themselves? They work. The poor are not aristocrats who sit and live off the work of their subordinates.
Jesus Christ worked. Christ the King is a worker king. If we are to do as Paul says, “conform to Christ in all things” and as St. John says, “remain in his love,” then we must embrace obedience and poverty. Work is the external expression of our journey to the poor and obedient Christ.
Have we ever stopped to think about the workers of the world, the value of work, and our responsibility to work? The Holy Father Francis said that when we are not compensated for our work, we should feel no shame in appealing to “The table of the Lord,” in other words, we should beg. But begging should only come after we have attempted to work. We were not created for entitlement. Work reminds us of that reality.
Labor Day may be an American holiday, but it has a place in Traditional Judeo-Catholic theology.
Fraternally,
Br. JR, OSF
Looking through the Scripture, in the opening chapter of Genesis, God reveals himself to us as a worker. The ancient Jewish writers present to us a God who is at work. To emphasize that point, they add a seventh day to the Creation Narrative where God rests. We know that God is not a corporeal being who gets tired as we do. The message is that God works. We have often written about “the work of creation” and “the work of salvation.”
As we navigate through the Scripture we see that God creates man in his image and likeness; but what does he do? He assigns to Adam the task of caring for creation. Again, we see God disclosing the value of work by building it into human nature.
But let’s not stop there. Let’s observe those whom God has called. The patriarchate of Israel begins with the call of a shepherd, Abram. The royal family begins with another shepherd. The Church begins with workers. The Apostles were not aristocrats. At the Incarnation, the Eternal Logos becomes flesh and appears to the world as the son of a carpenter.
As the Church evolves, we see the value and place or work in the life of faith. Some of the great theologians and spiritual masters teach us of the value of work. St. Benedict, the Theologian of Obedience par excellence, tells his brothers to work and pray. This is extremely important. Benedict and Scholastic founded their religious family on the principle of obedience. In fact, the Benedictine Rule requires only two vows: obedience and stability. However, work and prayer are necessary to nurture obedience. It is not enough to sit and obey. Benedict and Scholastica teach us that we cannot obey, unless we know how to pray and work. It’s not an either or proposition.
Holy Father Francis, the Master Theologian on Poverty, told his sons and daughters that they must obey without question. He went as far as including a curse in his writings for those who did not obey him. Let’s look at what he commands them to obey. Like Paul, he tells them that they must work. That those who do not know how to work, must learn to do so. At one point, there was an aristocratic man who joined the brotherhood, whom Franciscan Tradition has called Brother Hat. This particular brother would not wear a cowl. He insisted on wearing a hat. Brother Francis took a deep gulp of air and tolerated that. It soon became apparent that Brother Hat did not do his share of work. That’s when Brother Francis lost it.
It’s hard to imagine Brother Francis of Assisi losing it. We have distorted his image, presenting him as a pious, mellow, gentle chap. He was pious and gentle, but never mellow. He was very strong and very demanding of himself, his brothers and the laity. The one thing that he demanded was work.
You see, Francis understood that poverty is not a means, but an end. It is goal for which we work. The man who is poor owns nothing but his sinfulness. The man who is poor does not own his own Will. The man who is poor, does not own his achievements. Like the serfs who worked for the feudal lords, the poor man works for the Father. Like Christ, the poor man does not do as he wishes or gets frustrated because life does not turn out as he hopes it will. He accepts the will of the Father, as Christ accepted it on the Mt. of Olives. How do poor people sustain themselves? They work. The poor are not aristocrats who sit and live off the work of their subordinates.
Jesus Christ worked. Christ the King is a worker king. If we are to do as Paul says, “conform to Christ in all things” and as St. John says, “remain in his love,” then we must embrace obedience and poverty. Work is the external expression of our journey to the poor and obedient Christ.
Have we ever stopped to think about the workers of the world, the value of work, and our responsibility to work? The Holy Father Francis said that when we are not compensated for our work, we should feel no shame in appealing to “The table of the Lord,” in other words, we should beg. But begging should only come after we have attempted to work. We were not created for entitlement. Work reminds us of that reality.
Labor Day may be an American holiday, but it has a place in Traditional Judeo-Catholic theology.
Fraternally,
Br. JR, OSF
)…beforehand I was thinking it of more of a penance in order to stay focused on God (which is also true) but now I see it more of an “opening up” of one’s heart with the goal of letting God do all the planning, scheming, determining of what He wants to accomplish…so that we can be his heart and hands here on earth…am I thinking right?
Hey I’m Jewish. I have a righ to know my Jewish mothers. Trust me, they’re tyrants, but loveable. 
). Because a lot of Catholic immigrants were blue collar workers who were true laborers if you know what I mean 
. But blue collar jobs are fading and more jobs are white collar or something like white collar. The middle class is now white collar-ish. So in conclusion, I don’t know.