How Catholics Know That Work Is Not a Curse
Work is not a curse. We Catholic men need to understand this, if we don't already.
First, you have to understand that the whole idea of work being a curse comes from a misunderstanding of Adam and Eve losing the Garden of Eden. Lots of people - people who read and believe in the Bible - think that part of the deal of losing the Garden was that we'd have to work. But that's not true. Work was part of the original deal in the Garden, before the Fall. It's not a curse or a punishment.
God put Adam and Eve in charge of His creation. He gave them "dominion" over all creatures (not meaning, of course, that man could misuse or abuse His creation). We were meant to run things. We were meant to work.
Think about it. What sort of paradise would it be if there was nothing to do? Did God create the world and man to just sort of sit around in a kind o "la-dee-da" existence? Really, does that make any sense?
What happened after the Fall was our work became harsh, for the most part. The work we did before - in the Garden - was designed to be an integral part of our very nature. And it still is. But that bad old Original Sin made work a lot more difficult and (sometimes) nasty than it was originally designed to be.
Why bring all this up? It's got to do with the whole "weekend" mentality out there. So many of us work through our week, day after day, at jobs we hate and cant' wait for the weekend. The weekend's the time we "unwind" and "have some fun."
(Of course, a lot of us Catholic men with families don't usually get much chance for that, since family life kind of consumes us on the weekend - especially if we've been too busy during the week to spend any time with our families - but I think you know what I mean.)
Everyone's into it. Wednesday's called "hump" day (it's the middle of the week; when you get through Wednesday, you're over the hump). Work's a drag; we live for the weekend.
If you've got that sort of mentality, lose it. Hey, I've had it from time to time, so don't think I'm trying to preach at you here. It's just that I'm speaking from experience. If you've slipped into that mentality, you really have to lose it. You're not living according to God's plan.
Work may have gotten harder and harsher for us all after Adam and Eve screwed things up, but work is still an essential and fundamental part of us. We grow and develop as persons in our work. We can't afford to just treat work as a pain in the butt.
I know, it's easy for me to say these days. I'm doing something I enjoy. But believe me, even then, there are days where I look at my calendar and think it would be nice if it were Sunday. My work gets pretty hard at times.
But I try to think about how Jesus worked. He may have had a good job - starting with when He helped St Joseph in the family business, eventually taking over when St Joseph died - but it was hard work. Never mind the work He did when He left home to preach every day and perform miracles. Never mind when He finally suffered and died to save us - all part of His work.
So you can think of Jesus when things are rough. And then you can certainly remember that Sunday's a day of rest. God created the sabbath for us. He created it right from the beginning, before the Fall. Remember the Bible makes the point that God rested on the seventh day from His work. And so should we. That's our day of rest, our day to refresh our batteries, to relax a bit. He really did plan things well, and He didn't want us to just be miserable all the time just because our work would be hard and harsh after the Fall. Remember He loves us - even with all our sins and faults.
We Catholic men don't need this weekend mentality. In fact, on a practical level, it wasn't that long ago when men in cities commonly worked six days a week. The five days a week thing's only come about in the last century or so.
In any case, we've got Sunday for our rest, our recreation. And, PLEASE, don't give this up. Don't let Sunday be just another day. Don't just go to Mass in the morning, and treat the day like any other. The whole day is for God - and God gave us the day for ourselves. Make it special.
So work isn't a curse. It was always meant to be a part of life. God the Father works, Jesus works, and, come to think of it, the Holy Spirit works - everyday. Just like us.
First, you have to understand that the whole idea of work being a curse comes from a misunderstanding of Adam and Eve losing the Garden of Eden. Lots of people - people who read and believe in the Bible - think that part of the deal of losing the Garden was that we'd have to work. But that's not true. Work was part of the original deal in the Garden, before the Fall. It's not a curse or a punishment.
God put Adam and Eve in charge of His creation. He gave them "dominion" over all creatures (not meaning, of course, that man could misuse or abuse His creation). We were meant to run things. We were meant to work.
Think about it. What sort of paradise would it be if there was nothing to do? Did God create the world and man to just sort of sit around in a kind o "la-dee-da" existence? Really, does that make any sense?
What happened after the Fall was our work became harsh, for the most part. The work we did before - in the Garden - was designed to be an integral part of our very nature. And it still is. But that bad old Original Sin made work a lot more difficult and (sometimes) nasty than it was originally designed to be.
Why bring all this up? It's got to do with the whole "weekend" mentality out there. So many of us work through our week, day after day, at jobs we hate and cant' wait for the weekend. The weekend's the time we "unwind" and "have some fun."
(Of course, a lot of us Catholic men with families don't usually get much chance for that, since family life kind of consumes us on the weekend - especially if we've been too busy during the week to spend any time with our families - but I think you know what I mean.)
Everyone's into it. Wednesday's called "hump" day (it's the middle of the week; when you get through Wednesday, you're over the hump). Work's a drag; we live for the weekend.
If you've got that sort of mentality, lose it. Hey, I've had it from time to time, so don't think I'm trying to preach at you here. It's just that I'm speaking from experience. If you've slipped into that mentality, you really have to lose it. You're not living according to God's plan.
Work may have gotten harder and harsher for us all after Adam and Eve screwed things up, but work is still an essential and fundamental part of us. We grow and develop as persons in our work. We can't afford to just treat work as a pain in the butt.
I know, it's easy for me to say these days. I'm doing something I enjoy. But believe me, even then, there are days where I look at my calendar and think it would be nice if it were Sunday. My work gets pretty hard at times.
But I try to think about how Jesus worked. He may have had a good job - starting with when He helped St Joseph in the family business, eventually taking over when St Joseph died - but it was hard work. Never mind the work He did when He left home to preach every day and perform miracles. Never mind when He finally suffered and died to save us - all part of His work.
So you can think of Jesus when things are rough. And then you can certainly remember that Sunday's a day of rest. God created the sabbath for us. He created it right from the beginning, before the Fall. Remember the Bible makes the point that God rested on the seventh day from His work. And so should we. That's our day of rest, our day to refresh our batteries, to relax a bit. He really did plan things well, and He didn't want us to just be miserable all the time just because our work would be hard and harsh after the Fall. Remember He loves us - even with all our sins and faults.
We Catholic men don't need this weekend mentality. In fact, on a practical level, it wasn't that long ago when men in cities commonly worked six days a week. The five days a week thing's only come about in the last century or so.
In any case, we've got Sunday for our rest, our recreation. And, PLEASE, don't give this up. Don't let Sunday be just another day. Don't just go to Mass in the morning, and treat the day like any other. The whole day is for God - and God gave us the day for ourselves. Make it special.
So work isn't a curse. It was always meant to be a part of life. God the Father works, Jesus works, and, come to think of it, the Holy Spirit works - everyday. Just like us.
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