Pope Francis Puts Work in Its Proper Place

We were talking last time about the place of our work in our lives - more specifically how so many of us define ourselves by what we do at work or who we are at our place of work. It seems many of us place great weight on "what we do" or on our position in our companies - maybe too much weight. So when I came across these comments by Pope Francis, I thought they would give us another perspective of the proper place of work in our lives.

The Pope's asks us:

"Where is our treasure? What is the most important, the most precious reality for you, the reality that pulls at my heart like a magnet? What pulls at your heart? Can I say that it is the love of God? Is there the will to do good to others, to live for the Lord and for our brothers? Can I say this? Everyone answers in his heart..."

So, busy working people, occupied all day with work, struggling to earn a living, to get ahead: Is your first, freshest, best and greatest effort for God and our neighbor? 

"But someone might say to me: But, Father, I am someone who works, who has a family. For me the most important thing is to move my family ahead, to get ahead in work...Of course, it is true, it is important. But what is the power that unites the family? It is precisely love, and God is the one who sows love in our hearts, the love of God: It is precisely the love of God that gives meaning to the little daily duties and also helps us face the great trials. This is man's true treasure - going forward in life with love, with that love that the Lord sowed in the heart, with the love of God..."

And let's not be vague about this "love of God" or even our love of neighbor. It's really quite specific, according to Pope Francis:

"The love of God has a name and a face: Jesus Christ. The love of God manifests itself in Jesus...We love persons, and the person whom we love is Jesus, the gift of the Father among us. It is a love that gives value and beauty to everything else; a love that gives strength to the family, work, study, friendship, art, to every human activity. And it gives meaning even to negative experiences because this love allows us to go beyond these experiences, to go beyond, not to remain prisoners of evil, but makes us go beyond, it always opens us up to hope. So the love of God in Jesus always opens us up to hope, to that horizon of hope, to that ultimate horizon of our pilgrimage. In this way even our struggles and falls have a meaning. Our sins too have meaning in the love of God, because this love of God in Jesus Christ always forgives, it loves us so much that it always forgives us.

If you have some time off these days before Labor Day, or if your work slows down a bit and gives you time and space to breathe and think a bit, think about this, about where your treasure is, where you put your first, freshest, best effort. Put your work in its proper place in your life.