Like a door that turns naturally on its hinge, the spirit of the Work “hinges upon ordinary work, professional work carried out in the midst of the world.”[7] The hinge of a door is not more important than the door itself, but it occupies a singular position. Just as a hinge by itself would be useless, without the door, similarly a professional occupation, however much it might shine, would have little meaning if it became an end in itself, rather than a means to sanctify all one’s ordinary, family and social life. And at the same time, what good is a door without its hinge? For us, professional work and family and social duties are inseparable elements of our unity of life, absolutely necessary to sanctify ourselves and to sanctify the world from within, shaping human society according to God’s will.[8]
Our professional work can indeed be God’s work, operatio Dei, because we are adopted children of God and we are all identified with Christ. The only-begotten Son has become man to unite us to himself, as the members of a body are united to the head, and he wants to work through each one of us. Truly we are Christ’s as Christ is God’s.[9] He lives and works in the Christian through grace.
