The Risen Christ at Work - Part 2

We continue with some excellent advice from Father Bernard Wuellner, S.J. We left off last time with these words that even us practicing Catholics should recall in a special way during this glorious Easter Season:

Earth, after all, is but for a little while; heaven is forever.

In the thoroughly secularized, even pagan world in which most of us work and live each day, we might forget this as we apply ourselves diligently to our work to provide a living for ourselves and our families. We might be tempted to forget that the activities of our daily lives must extend beyond the struggle for security to the struggle for sanctity. Let's turn back to Father's words to understand this at its deepest level:

The means, the goods of time, are far below the end – God – in value. A true rating of the worth of earthly things is sometimes spoken of as contempt for them. Though we need not regard them as wicked or worthless, yet part of the spiritual effort to live with Christ risen must consist in counteracting all those desires that shut spiritual goods out of our lives. Those things which the world, hostile to Christ, our own unreasonable flesh, and the tempting devil, would give us if we but wanted them, must be banished from our choices. We must not let ourselves be overthrown by worldly desires, as was the rich young man who approached our Lord. Love of the pleasures of sense is cockle that chokes the good seed of Christ’s truth in the lives of average sinners. Love of honors in this world pulls other stronger souls away from Christ. All such desires that stand against Christ’s mastery within us must be controlled, starved, and never allowed to compete with our desires for the gifts of Christ. To win this freedom from choosing these earthly, selfish, and evil things usually takes long spiritual training. That is why the ascetic life must mark those who are risen with Christ. A religious vocation, by demanding daily sacrifices, greatly assists this denial of self; and this death of self leads to detached purity of heart with regard to lower goods. But in or out of the religious state, every Christian who would be close to Christ must labor for his spiritual freedom from all things except God and His will.

And so we see why our daily mortification of self-will and pleasure-seeking must continue even now during the glorious Easter Season. We need to understand the fundamental importance that what Father calls "the ascetic life" describes not only religious living in a monastery, but all of us who desire to be close to Christ. And isn't that what you desire above all? I hope you answer "Yes!" since this is why Christ suffered, died and rose from the dead. His Passion, Death and Resurrection saved us from our sins so that we could spend eternity with Him in Heaven, not so that we could become "successful" in the eyes of this world.

So as you apply yourself diligently to your work today, remember that, in the new light of the Resurrection, we work not to gain riches, power or even security in this world. The quality of our work, our charitable interactions with all those with whom we come in contact this day can and should bring us closer to Christ. In the spirit of the Easter Season, let's open our minds and hearts to these insightful and beautiful words of Father Wuellner.