Easter at Work
(Originally posted April 12, 2012)
Easter at work: a glorious sentiment, isn't it?
Imagine these days of the Octave of Easter filled with celebration at work. Everyone greets you as they do in the Byzantine right of the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church: Chist is Risen! And you respond: He is truly risen! You go about your daily work in this sanctified atmosphere, celebrating throughout the work day in your greetings, in the special food people bring to share with each other.
Okay, it's all a fantasy. Work isn't like that at all. But I'm hoping and praying I can at least elevate my work during this Easter Octave.
Each day this whole week, from Easter Sunday through Easter Saturday, is considered a "solemnity." We say the "Gloria" at daily Mass and hear plenty of "Alleluias." The priest wears white (as he will throughout the entire Easter Season). The contrast with Lent couldn't be more dramatic.
Yet, at work, it's usually "business as usual." My fantasy never has and probably never will happen - at least not while I'm alive. But it should, shouldn't it?
Shouldn't our entire life reflect the glory of Easter, and doesn't that include work? So what can I do to at least live my Faith during this glorious week?
I can remind myself each day of what's really important, even as I work hard to accomplish my work goals and objectives, true to my commitment to provide value to my employer and my customers. And what is that? What is really important?
With all that we derive from our work - money, recognition, satisfaction, etc. - we can remember that only in God can we be fully satisfied. And during Easter, Our Lord gives us the perfect image - His rising from the dead - to remind us of this. All that matters in this life is that we get to Heaven. His resurrection made that possible for each of us. This is why all yearning for anything else - money, recognition, satisfaction from our work - all remains unfulfilled in this life. The experience, the feeling of disappointment or lack of fulfillment with those rewards and pleasures of this life that we seek so strenuously, sometimes so desperately, that disappointment in passing accomplishments and pleasures is proof that there is no unlimited, everlasting, and perfect satisfaction in this world.
God alone is that unlimited, everlasting and perfect satisfaction! We can't ever be satisfied without God; only in God, with God, can we be fully satisfied.
The triumph of the Resurrection, the glorious Easter Season, all this reminds us of the immutable, certain reality that God is everything. Our relationship to Jesus Christ is all that matters in this world.
And so - even without the public greetings and sharing of the Truth of the Resurrection at our place of work - we go about our business, diligently attending to the task at hand, steadily working to accomplish the objectives of our day's work. But the glory of Easter accompanies our efforts in a special way all during this Easter week.
Keep an open mind and heart to Christ during Easter week. Make the effort. With prayer and hope, it will spill over and begin to infuse every day of your work. The spirit of the Risen Christ will animate all your work, every day.
I realize this is asking a lot. But it's not a fantasy, like my picture of the "Easter workplace" above. It's real and it's there for us all, if only we would would strive in our prayer and work each day.
So, again, Happy Easter to all of you.
Christ is risen! He is truly risen!
Easter at work: a glorious sentiment, isn't it?
Imagine these days of the Octave of Easter filled with celebration at work. Everyone greets you as they do in the Byzantine right of the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church: Chist is Risen! And you respond: He is truly risen! You go about your daily work in this sanctified atmosphere, celebrating throughout the work day in your greetings, in the special food people bring to share with each other.
Okay, it's all a fantasy. Work isn't like that at all. But I'm hoping and praying I can at least elevate my work during this Easter Octave.
Each day this whole week, from Easter Sunday through Easter Saturday, is considered a "solemnity." We say the "Gloria" at daily Mass and hear plenty of "Alleluias." The priest wears white (as he will throughout the entire Easter Season). The contrast with Lent couldn't be more dramatic.
Yet, at work, it's usually "business as usual." My fantasy never has and probably never will happen - at least not while I'm alive. But it should, shouldn't it?
Shouldn't our entire life reflect the glory of Easter, and doesn't that include work? So what can I do to at least live my Faith during this glorious week?
I can remind myself each day of what's really important, even as I work hard to accomplish my work goals and objectives, true to my commitment to provide value to my employer and my customers. And what is that? What is really important?
With all that we derive from our work - money, recognition, satisfaction, etc. - we can remember that only in God can we be fully satisfied. And during Easter, Our Lord gives us the perfect image - His rising from the dead - to remind us of this. All that matters in this life is that we get to Heaven. His resurrection made that possible for each of us. This is why all yearning for anything else - money, recognition, satisfaction from our work - all remains unfulfilled in this life. The experience, the feeling of disappointment or lack of fulfillment with those rewards and pleasures of this life that we seek so strenuously, sometimes so desperately, that disappointment in passing accomplishments and pleasures is proof that there is no unlimited, everlasting, and perfect satisfaction in this world.
God alone is that unlimited, everlasting and perfect satisfaction! We can't ever be satisfied without God; only in God, with God, can we be fully satisfied.
The triumph of the Resurrection, the glorious Easter Season, all this reminds us of the immutable, certain reality that God is everything. Our relationship to Jesus Christ is all that matters in this world.
And so - even without the public greetings and sharing of the Truth of the Resurrection at our place of work - we go about our business, diligently attending to the task at hand, steadily working to accomplish the objectives of our day's work. But the glory of Easter accompanies our efforts in a special way all during this Easter week.
Keep an open mind and heart to Christ during Easter week. Make the effort. With prayer and hope, it will spill over and begin to infuse every day of your work. The spirit of the Risen Christ will animate all your work, every day.
I realize this is asking a lot. But it's not a fantasy, like my picture of the "Easter workplace" above. It's real and it's there for us all, if only we would would strive in our prayer and work each day.
So, again, Happy Easter to all of you.
Christ is risen! He is truly risen!
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