How Your Work Can Make You Immortal
Can your work make you immortal? Some people think so.
For example, let's take a guy like Donald Trump. Now, I don't know the man - and I'm not picking on him or anything. It's just that here's a guy who creates big buildings and slaps his name on them: Trump Tower, Trump Apartments, Trump Casino, Trump This, Trump That. I'm guessing he likes to see his name on them now. And maybe he thinks his name will stay there after he's dead. I don't know this; it's just a guess.
Or take a President of the United States like, oh, Barack Obama. Whatever you think of him, he'll be remembered simply because he was President. No matter what he does or doesn't do, no matter how history judges him, he'll be remembered.
Of course, most of us aren't in that position. No matter what I do in my business, or how successful I might become, I assure you no one beyond my family and a few friends will remember me when I'm dead. And even then, within a couple of generations after I'm dead, I doubt anyone will be left who remembers me.
Nevertheless, I work hard. And I work pretty hard most days. I have to. I know that work provides my family with food, clothing and shelter. And I know that, for most of us, it's all we can do to provide for our families - especially these days.
But there's a whole side of work I don't want to neglect. It has to do with my immortal soul.
You see, when I work simply to provide food, clothing, shelter - and maybe a little comfort - for my family, I'm working the same way a pagan works. Work is strictly connected to this world when I work simply to provide material necessities for my family.
But I'm not a pagan. I'm a Catholic. What difference does it make? Well, I know I have an immortal soul. And once you know you have an immortal soul, you can't live like a pagan anymore. And that applies to your work too. You can't just work the same way a pagan works.
Once you know you have an immortal soul, that realization separates you from the world. But, and this is important, it changes how you work.
Your work is as much a part of you as it is a part of the world. Your work isn't just something you do for the here and now, just something that provides material necessities and comfort.
God made work as part of what and who we are. It's all in Genesis. Man is given dominion over all creatures, to care for and cultivate the goods created by God. He created things to exist for us, for man's use.
Work precedes the Fall; it is part of the the original state of man; it is not a curse or a punishment.
Jesus worked. He preached about work. He spoke of how He worked. He worked tirelessly. After His time supporting His family in Nazareth, think about all the preaching, all the miracles he performed during His public life.
When we begin to see work as it really is - not just a part of this world, but a part of us - we can understand how work represents a basic, fundamental dimension of human existence. When we see work as it really is - work in its supernatural light - then our work is an act of charity when we provide for our families - not just necessity.
As an act of charity, work becomes an occasion for prayer, contemplation, part of our rising towards Heaven, even as we live and work in this world.
Yes, our immortality separates us from this world. But not from our work. All that we do at work assists us in achieving our ultimate goal, Heaven. Our work becomes an integral part of us, body and soul.
You don't need to be Trump or Obama. You don't need to become a wild success, achieve fame and fortune. You don't need to start up a company like Apple that dominates its industry. All of that has to do with the world. In worldly terms, Trump, Obama, Apple and all the rest are a big deal. But in the light of eternity - lux aeternae - they're not much at all.
In fact, they will all be forgotten in time as well. And all they accomplished in this world will have no more to do with helping make them immortal than your work does. (I hope they know this and strive for Heaven.)
We Catholic men know we were born with immortal souls. Each day, we work with that understanding. And so our work - an integral part of us, of who we are - becomes a means of getting to Heaven. We work our way to Heaven.
And so, even if we don't really understand all this completely (and I don't claim to - just a little maybe), we can know the real meaning of how work can make us immortal.
For example, let's take a guy like Donald Trump. Now, I don't know the man - and I'm not picking on him or anything. It's just that here's a guy who creates big buildings and slaps his name on them: Trump Tower, Trump Apartments, Trump Casino, Trump This, Trump That. I'm guessing he likes to see his name on them now. And maybe he thinks his name will stay there after he's dead. I don't know this; it's just a guess.
Or take a President of the United States like, oh, Barack Obama. Whatever you think of him, he'll be remembered simply because he was President. No matter what he does or doesn't do, no matter how history judges him, he'll be remembered.
Of course, most of us aren't in that position. No matter what I do in my business, or how successful I might become, I assure you no one beyond my family and a few friends will remember me when I'm dead. And even then, within a couple of generations after I'm dead, I doubt anyone will be left who remembers me.
Nevertheless, I work hard. And I work pretty hard most days. I have to. I know that work provides my family with food, clothing and shelter. And I know that, for most of us, it's all we can do to provide for our families - especially these days.
But there's a whole side of work I don't want to neglect. It has to do with my immortal soul.
You see, when I work simply to provide food, clothing, shelter - and maybe a little comfort - for my family, I'm working the same way a pagan works. Work is strictly connected to this world when I work simply to provide material necessities for my family.
But I'm not a pagan. I'm a Catholic. What difference does it make? Well, I know I have an immortal soul. And once you know you have an immortal soul, you can't live like a pagan anymore. And that applies to your work too. You can't just work the same way a pagan works.
Once you know you have an immortal soul, that realization separates you from the world. But, and this is important, it changes how you work.
Your work is as much a part of you as it is a part of the world. Your work isn't just something you do for the here and now, just something that provides material necessities and comfort.
God made work as part of what and who we are. It's all in Genesis. Man is given dominion over all creatures, to care for and cultivate the goods created by God. He created things to exist for us, for man's use.
Work precedes the Fall; it is part of the the original state of man; it is not a curse or a punishment.
Jesus worked. He preached about work. He spoke of how He worked. He worked tirelessly. After His time supporting His family in Nazareth, think about all the preaching, all the miracles he performed during His public life.
When we begin to see work as it really is - not just a part of this world, but a part of us - we can understand how work represents a basic, fundamental dimension of human existence. When we see work as it really is - work in its supernatural light - then our work is an act of charity when we provide for our families - not just necessity.
As an act of charity, work becomes an occasion for prayer, contemplation, part of our rising towards Heaven, even as we live and work in this world.
Yes, our immortality separates us from this world. But not from our work. All that we do at work assists us in achieving our ultimate goal, Heaven. Our work becomes an integral part of us, body and soul.
You don't need to be Trump or Obama. You don't need to become a wild success, achieve fame and fortune. You don't need to start up a company like Apple that dominates its industry. All of that has to do with the world. In worldly terms, Trump, Obama, Apple and all the rest are a big deal. But in the light of eternity - lux aeternae - they're not much at all.
In fact, they will all be forgotten in time as well. And all they accomplished in this world will have no more to do with helping make them immortal than your work does. (I hope they know this and strive for Heaven.)
We Catholic men know we were born with immortal souls. Each day, we work with that understanding. And so our work - an integral part of us, of who we are - becomes a means of getting to Heaven. We work our way to Heaven.
And so, even if we don't really understand all this completely (and I don't claim to - just a little maybe), we can know the real meaning of how work can make us immortal.
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