Does Work Distract You from What's Really Important?
Work distracts some of us from what's really important: the practice of our Holy Faith, that is, to know, love and serve God.
I know Catholic men (present company included) whose work takes up so much time and and energy that the practice of their faith has really taken a back seat to their primary occupation: work. "Primary occupation" here specifically refers to that which occupies their mind, heart and body most of their waking hours. If work is your primary occupation - and I hope this isn't something you haven't at least thought about already - you need to change your priorities.
This isn't meant to minimize the time and effort many of us simply must put into our work in order to earn a decent living. Indeed, many of us can barely make ends meet, and have little or no ability to generate surplus earnings beyond what is needed to feed, clothe and shelter our families. It's not meant to say that we should shirk that responsibility.
Remember, please that the work we do each day, done in conspectu Dei - literally "in the sight (or view) of God" - can be a path to sanctity, and ought to be so. But is that really how you work? Or do you get down to business and wind up virtually ignoring God, leaving His Holy Will, His Law at the door when you arrive for work each day? Do you plow ahead with the pressing issues of the day and ignore Our Blessed Lord, He who loves us so that He suffered and died so that we all might spend eternal life with Him in a state of blissful happiness? Does today's project, the customers' needs, the boss's demands, squeeze out any hint of gratitude and love for Our Lord throughout your busy days at work?
In one sense, it can be challenging to balance the demands of work with our love of God, but in another it really isn't. If we spend any amount of time praying and studying our Holy Faith each day - even if only for a few minutes early in the morning before going to the job - we can't help but develop a deeper understanding of the love God has for us and, naturally, a deeper love of God. We can't help but develop the habits of taking a moment to begin our work day in prayer, saying occasional short prayers during the day (simple aspirations like: "Jesus, I love you"), even making time for Holy Mass during the week when possible, or, where a church is open during the day, a visit to the Blessed Sacrament. We can't help but develop a work routine around Him rather than around us.
So take this, please, as encouragement to do so and know that if someone like me can make progress in this direction (albeit it tiny baby steps), so can you.
Of course, there are those of us whose work is demanding but who aren't just working to earn a decent living: our work provides great rewards, even riches. Such people, who work without God at the center of their work, place their souls in great jeopardy. I don't think we have to dwell on specifics here; you get the point I'm sure.
While few of us may be in that position, many of us do work between the area of "decent living" and "great rewards." Those of us who do may have the greatest challenge: we have no possible excuse for keeping God at the periphery of our daily work. We do earn a surplus. We can control our time to some degree, without jeopardizing our ability to feed, clothe and shelter our families. In short, we have more than we need. And yet we somehow find it hard to make time for God. How can this be, given all we've just talked about here? How can we not put God at the center of our somewhat "charmed" lives now? What's so important about this work of ours, and its excess rewards, that keeps God at arms length?
The consequences of keeping God at arms length at work on our souls are immeasurable. The cascading effect of leaving Our Lord at the door when we begin our day's work spill into the rest of our lives in many ways. By separating Him from any part of our lives - ANY PART WHATSOEVER - we open a rift between us and Him that will threaten to become an abyss over time. What starts as a crack grows to a canyon.
Take God to work and keep Him there with you. More next time...
I know Catholic men (present company included) whose work takes up so much time and and energy that the practice of their faith has really taken a back seat to their primary occupation: work. "Primary occupation" here specifically refers to that which occupies their mind, heart and body most of their waking hours. If work is your primary occupation - and I hope this isn't something you haven't at least thought about already - you need to change your priorities.
This isn't meant to minimize the time and effort many of us simply must put into our work in order to earn a decent living. Indeed, many of us can barely make ends meet, and have little or no ability to generate surplus earnings beyond what is needed to feed, clothe and shelter our families. It's not meant to say that we should shirk that responsibility.
Remember, please that the work we do each day, done in conspectu Dei - literally "in the sight (or view) of God" - can be a path to sanctity, and ought to be so. But is that really how you work? Or do you get down to business and wind up virtually ignoring God, leaving His Holy Will, His Law at the door when you arrive for work each day? Do you plow ahead with the pressing issues of the day and ignore Our Blessed Lord, He who loves us so that He suffered and died so that we all might spend eternal life with Him in a state of blissful happiness? Does today's project, the customers' needs, the boss's demands, squeeze out any hint of gratitude and love for Our Lord throughout your busy days at work?
In one sense, it can be challenging to balance the demands of work with our love of God, but in another it really isn't. If we spend any amount of time praying and studying our Holy Faith each day - even if only for a few minutes early in the morning before going to the job - we can't help but develop a deeper understanding of the love God has for us and, naturally, a deeper love of God. We can't help but develop the habits of taking a moment to begin our work day in prayer, saying occasional short prayers during the day (simple aspirations like: "Jesus, I love you"), even making time for Holy Mass during the week when possible, or, where a church is open during the day, a visit to the Blessed Sacrament. We can't help but develop a work routine around Him rather than around us.
So take this, please, as encouragement to do so and know that if someone like me can make progress in this direction (albeit it tiny baby steps), so can you.
Of course, there are those of us whose work is demanding but who aren't just working to earn a decent living: our work provides great rewards, even riches. Such people, who work without God at the center of their work, place their souls in great jeopardy. I don't think we have to dwell on specifics here; you get the point I'm sure.
While few of us may be in that position, many of us do work between the area of "decent living" and "great rewards." Those of us who do may have the greatest challenge: we have no possible excuse for keeping God at the periphery of our daily work. We do earn a surplus. We can control our time to some degree, without jeopardizing our ability to feed, clothe and shelter our families. In short, we have more than we need. And yet we somehow find it hard to make time for God. How can this be, given all we've just talked about here? How can we not put God at the center of our somewhat "charmed" lives now? What's so important about this work of ours, and its excess rewards, that keeps God at arms length?
The consequences of keeping God at arms length at work on our souls are immeasurable. The cascading effect of leaving Our Lord at the door when we begin our day's work spill into the rest of our lives in many ways. By separating Him from any part of our lives - ANY PART WHATSOEVER - we open a rift between us and Him that will threaten to become an abyss over time. What starts as a crack grows to a canyon.
Take God to work and keep Him there with you. More next time...
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