Some Thoughts About the Hidden Life of Christ and Our Work
During the Christmas Season, we're reminded of Our Lord's birth and early life. As we emerge from the Christmas Season, we find Our Lord beginning his "public" life. But in between those early days and those three years before his Passion, Death, and Resurrection, Jesus grew up under the tutelage of His mother Mary and foster father Joseph, eventually to begin work as a carpenter in his home town of Nazareth. We refer to these years as His "hidden" life. We know little of the actual events of these years. But many theologians and spiritual writers have, in a thoughtful, prayerful manner, guided by faith, tried to imagine Our Lord's hidden life. We will look to one such writer to find lessons for us as we go about our work today.
But first, let's remind ourselves that the perfect example for us as we approach our work today is - who else? - Jesus Christ. Right? After all, He worked at a regular job for many years before He began to travel about Palestine and spread the Good News. Of course, the Gospels don't contain the words of Our Lord at work during His hidden life; just the words He spoke when He was at work during His public life. But while we don't have the more direct connection to Him that we can get when we read the Gospels, we can, with the help of those various theologians and spiritual writers derive some understanding of Him as He worked day after day in the shop, both beside St. Joseph and - after St. Joseph died - by Himself. Hmm...maybe He had a helper or two...maybe not. The point is, while we don't have direct testimony about His daily activities it's not all that difficult, if we apply our intellect and imagination, to see Our Lord at work.
Now let's remember that while He was one Person, that Person of Jesus Christ had two natures: God and man. This is an article of our Holy Faith. Mysterious perhaps, but true nevertheless. And while we may not understand this article of our faith 100%, we do know this: Jesus was fully human. He was a man like us. And - this is important - nothing He did was beyond our ability. Therein lies the value of not only recalling the fact that He worked for many years just like us during His hidden life, but also to think about, indeed to meditate on these facts, on this awesome reality.
Not only can we - and should we - meditate on this wonderful and mysterious hidden life of Our Lord, but we can - and should - look to Him as an example in our daily work. "What would Our Lord do?" is a question we can - and should - ask in any and all specific circumstances throughout our busy work day. Of course, we're not talking about stopping each and every time we think, say, or do anything on the job. Never mind that we'd never get anything done, but we'd likely drive ourselves crazy. But let's look at an example where asking "What would Our Lord do?" makes perfect sense: dealing with difficult people.
It might be the boss, a co-worker, a customer, whoever. Do you think Our Lord ever had to deal with difficult people in His work. Well, we know He did in his public life: hypocritical Pharisees criticizing His good works, public officials abusing their office (Herod, Pilate), people questioning His sanity, saying He was doing Satan's work. It's all in the Gospels. Think about how He reacted to these situations. Now, do you think He might have dealt with difficult people in the course of His daily work in the shop, e.g., an overly-demanding customer, a supplier not delivering materials on time? It's more than likely, isn't it? Now think about how He might have reacted to these people in those unpleasant circumstances.
We bring all this up not to provide answers, but - more importantly - so you can think about, even meditate on Our Lord working day to day; so that next time you encounter difficult people, or any other difficulty in your work, you might ask yourself: "What would Our Lord do?"; so that you will understand that there's no reason not to try to emulate Him in His daily work as you go about your own work.
Next time we'll spend some time with a spiritual writer who'll give us more to chew on.
But first, let's remind ourselves that the perfect example for us as we approach our work today is - who else? - Jesus Christ. Right? After all, He worked at a regular job for many years before He began to travel about Palestine and spread the Good News. Of course, the Gospels don't contain the words of Our Lord at work during His hidden life; just the words He spoke when He was at work during His public life. But while we don't have the more direct connection to Him that we can get when we read the Gospels, we can, with the help of those various theologians and spiritual writers derive some understanding of Him as He worked day after day in the shop, both beside St. Joseph and - after St. Joseph died - by Himself. Hmm...maybe He had a helper or two...maybe not. The point is, while we don't have direct testimony about His daily activities it's not all that difficult, if we apply our intellect and imagination, to see Our Lord at work.
Now let's remember that while He was one Person, that Person of Jesus Christ had two natures: God and man. This is an article of our Holy Faith. Mysterious perhaps, but true nevertheless. And while we may not understand this article of our faith 100%, we do know this: Jesus was fully human. He was a man like us. And - this is important - nothing He did was beyond our ability. Therein lies the value of not only recalling the fact that He worked for many years just like us during His hidden life, but also to think about, indeed to meditate on these facts, on this awesome reality.
Not only can we - and should we - meditate on this wonderful and mysterious hidden life of Our Lord, but we can - and should - look to Him as an example in our daily work. "What would Our Lord do?" is a question we can - and should - ask in any and all specific circumstances throughout our busy work day. Of course, we're not talking about stopping each and every time we think, say, or do anything on the job. Never mind that we'd never get anything done, but we'd likely drive ourselves crazy. But let's look at an example where asking "What would Our Lord do?" makes perfect sense: dealing with difficult people.
It might be the boss, a co-worker, a customer, whoever. Do you think Our Lord ever had to deal with difficult people in His work. Well, we know He did in his public life: hypocritical Pharisees criticizing His good works, public officials abusing their office (Herod, Pilate), people questioning His sanity, saying He was doing Satan's work. It's all in the Gospels. Think about how He reacted to these situations. Now, do you think He might have dealt with difficult people in the course of His daily work in the shop, e.g., an overly-demanding customer, a supplier not delivering materials on time? It's more than likely, isn't it? Now think about how He might have reacted to these people in those unpleasant circumstances.
We bring all this up not to provide answers, but - more importantly - so you can think about, even meditate on Our Lord working day to day; so that next time you encounter difficult people, or any other difficulty in your work, you might ask yourself: "What would Our Lord do?"; so that you will understand that there's no reason not to try to emulate Him in His daily work as you go about your own work.
Next time we'll spend some time with a spiritual writer who'll give us more to chew on.
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