Non-Profit Internet Source for News, Events, History, & Culture of Northern Frederick & Carroll County Md./Southern Adams County Pa.

 

Four Years at the Mount

Sophomore Year

Work not to survive, but to live

Harry Scherer
Class of 2022

(9/2019) "In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground" (Genesis 3:19). God said this to Adam after he "listened to the voice of [his] wife", namely, to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (3:17). As man defied the Lord for this knowledge, work became toilsome. Before this act of rebellion, man was still charged with work: "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it" (1:28). These actions required work, but it was because of the active denial of the will of God that made this gift of work burdensome.

Our modern ears might recoil at the claim that work is a burden. Many of us consider ourselves "workaholics", literally, addicted to work. As alcoholism suggests a disordered use of alcohol, workaholism suggests a disordered use of work. In fact, the consequences of this obsession with work can define the zeitgeist of our postmodern world. Persons in this world are limited to their material production, regardless of the manner in which this production was procured.

Thankfully, these problems were addressed centuries ago. St. Antonio of Florence, a 15th century Dominican theologian and economist, was in the position to define the nature and end of work in order to encourage the State to reign in unbridled mercantilism, in the same way that distributes thought leaders in the 20th century Church like Ven. Fulton Sheen, G.K. Chesterton and Hilaire Belloc called for limitations to unbridled capitalism. Blessed Antonio clearly and concisely stated that "the object of making money is that we may provide for ourselves and our dependents. The object of providing for self and others is that one may live virtuously. The object of living virtuously is to save our souls and attain eternal happiness." My guess is that many who are considered successful in modern terms would submit to the first half of the first sentence and nothing more.

Consider the individualist response to the first claim. "By denying or minimizing the social and public character of the right of property," the postmodern culture denigrates the purpose of production to pure utility or pleasure (Pius XI, Quadragesimo Anno, 46). The modern cultural response to the second and third claim of Antonio would be simple: virtue does not exist or, if it does, is irrelevant to our progressing society and souls and eternal happiness does not exist because everything is material and happiness cannot be eternal.

On the other side, I consider the natural progression which Antonio suggests to be a refreshing and rational explanation of the nature of work. Outside of this understanding, work would seem pointless. Without the grace to sanctify the work which we have inherited as toilsome, why would we work at all? It is this grace which inspired Augustine to proclaim: "Late have I loved Thee, O beauty so ancient and new, late have I loved Thee!" The liberating admission that work can be done not just for the laboring individual but for others, that this unselfish work can lead us directly to virtue and that these good habits can, by the mercy of God, lead us directly to our sanctification is a justification of all our labors.

If these supernatural benefits were not enough to instill a "work ethic" in all of us, then the obligation to work will have to suffice. Scripture confirms what reason informs us: "if anyone will not work, let him not eat" (2 Th 3:10). These words reinforce a common and perennial resentment among, strangely enough, both the working and political class for those who receive much for little work. Culturally, we still accept that members of our society should work and receive what is appropriate for that work. Because this expectation revolves around a mentality which emphasizes the production of workers, those for whom productive work is difficult are deemed as less than human. Proof of this claim can be found in mental handicap-selective abortions in the Scandinavian countries and widespread sex-selective abortions in many Asian countries. Again, the teaching of St. Antonio provides an alternative method to this utilitarian derision of our work. Because the teaching of the Church regarding work does not limit its scope to mere production, the value of work is elevated to that which the human soul desires. For this reason, the small actions of a pure soul with Down Syndrome participates in the real meaning of work more than the tired labors of a CEO at a major finance firm. The person with Down Syndrome recognizes, at least passively, that true work is sanctifying, while the CEO works sixty-hour weeks in vain.

After our work has been completed, we have a temporary and final time of reposition. In this earthly life, we can recognize the fruits of our labors and take pride in our actions to the extent that Mother St. Theresa of Calcutta took pride in her actions: "I am a little pencil in the hand of a writing God who is sending a love letter to the world." In her time of repose, Mother Theresa considered the work of her hands as but an extension of the hands of God. We, too, have this time of repose to consider how we work, why we work and for whom we work. In this time, we can consider these questions from a merely superficial level when compared to our eternal repose. This time of repose on earth is a precursor to eternal contemplation of God, by His mercy. Now, we have the opportunity to consider the words of St. Paul when he says at the end of his second letter to Timothy: "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith" (2 Tim 4:7). Now is our opportunity to reclaim the authentic meaning of work in a culture which is desperately seeking this truth.

Read other articles by Harry Scherer