Following Our Lady as We Shake Up Our Work Day
Our recent discussion about shaking up the work day progressed from the practical to the spiritual. We were even able find a connection to this glorious Easter Season when we noted "greatest shaking up the world has ever experienced: the Passion, Death, and - most especially - the Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
This led us to the realization that the gold standard to which we should aspire is the imitation of Christ in our lives. And that extends to our time at work. In fact, it's particularly important for us to hold to this standard during our work day, if only due to the simple fact that most of us spend most of our waking, productive hours at our jobs.
Today, with that background in mind, the rubber hits the road. We're going to get some solid advice about just how our lives should reflect the life of Jesus Christ. And we'll see if we can apply that advice to our work day. But before get to the life of Christ, let's take a brief detour through Mary. Here we recall and follow the advice that has come to us through centuries of Catholic teaching: to Jesus through Mary. In that light, we'll briefly redirect our attention to Our Lady to better understand the life of Jesus Christ that we're called to imitate by looking first at her life. Our source will be a work by the Catholic writer Amy Welborn called Mary and the Christian Life. (You can find this work in pdf form HERE.) To help us better understand Our Blessed Mother, Ms. Welborn gives us a little peak at the daily life of Mary and Joseph in Nazareth.
And that toil wasn't somehow "easier" for her because of her holiness. When our Lord was a baby, she nursed, she was awakened at night by his crying, she perhaps fretted if he caught cold or seemed out of sorts. When he was a toddler, she needed to be vigilant as he learned to walk and get into things. Even when He was an adult, helping St. Joseph in the family business, she didn't call on Jesus to miraculously clean the house, go to the well for water, cook dinner...well, you get the point.
She was like us in every way except sin. She laughed and cried; she had good days and bad. And given the poverty of her surroundings she worked long and hard hours to provide both necessities and comforts to her family, good wife and mother that she was. Offering all that she did everyday to Our Lord, she shows us how to do so as well. The patience and persistence she displayed in the face of her daily struggles throughout the day can serve as a perfect model for us at work. Whenever we're tempted to grumble, to gossip, to give vent to ill temper, she calls us to charity and cheerfulness.
We might consider developing the simple habit of praying to her from time to time by internally reciting her special prayer "Hail Mary, full of grace..." As we greet her in the same manner as the angel Gabriel did in her home in Nazareth, we might remember how she willingly and immediately accepted the awesome role of Mother of God. We might ourselves then diligently attend to our appointed tasks, willingly and immediately. Acknowledging her as our Mother, we might learn to rely on her for our own necessities and receive her comfort throughout the day. Eventually, we may find that any day with Mary is a good day.
Next week, accompanied by Our Blessed Mother, and through her intercession, we'll learn more about what it might mean to imitate Christ in our lives, and seek ways to follow His example in our daily work.
For now, as we attend to our work, let's remember that we remain surrounded by the glory of the Easter Season.
This led us to the realization that the gold standard to which we should aspire is the imitation of Christ in our lives. And that extends to our time at work. In fact, it's particularly important for us to hold to this standard during our work day, if only due to the simple fact that most of us spend most of our waking, productive hours at our jobs.
Today, with that background in mind, the rubber hits the road. We're going to get some solid advice about just how our lives should reflect the life of Jesus Christ. And we'll see if we can apply that advice to our work day. But before get to the life of Christ, let's take a brief detour through Mary. Here we recall and follow the advice that has come to us through centuries of Catholic teaching: to Jesus through Mary. In that light, we'll briefly redirect our attention to Our Lady to better understand the life of Jesus Christ that we're called to imitate by looking first at her life. Our source will be a work by the Catholic writer Amy Welborn called Mary and the Christian Life. (You can find this work in pdf form HERE.) To help us better understand Our Blessed Mother, Ms. Welborn gives us a little peak at the daily life of Mary and Joseph in Nazareth.
Daily life for Mary would have been about work, just as it was for everyone else: working in vineyards or groves, doing craft work, cooking, caring for children. Joseph, a woodworker, would have been engaged in constructing some support structures for buildings—rafters and such—but was probably busiest with objects like tables and benches.Notice how work took a fundamental and pervasive place in the daily life of Mary, just as it did for everyone around her - and just as it does for us. You can read much more about Mary's life in this book; but suffice it to say here that you'll find this most perfect of creatures did not spend most of her waking hours in some lofty spiritual reverie in the Presence of Our Lord. Her waking hours consisted of much the same combination of toil and attention to the often boring and burdensome details of daily life that we all encounter.
...A young Jewish woman who lived an ordinary life of work and prayer, who lived in a spirit of gratitude to God and trust in God’s power to save: a young woman who embodied the faith of the people of Israel. In the midst of her work and prayer, that promise is fulfilled and Hope is born. In the ordinary life of Mary, the extraordinary takes shape.
And that toil wasn't somehow "easier" for her because of her holiness. When our Lord was a baby, she nursed, she was awakened at night by his crying, she perhaps fretted if he caught cold or seemed out of sorts. When he was a toddler, she needed to be vigilant as he learned to walk and get into things. Even when He was an adult, helping St. Joseph in the family business, she didn't call on Jesus to miraculously clean the house, go to the well for water, cook dinner...well, you get the point.
She was like us in every way except sin. She laughed and cried; she had good days and bad. And given the poverty of her surroundings she worked long and hard hours to provide both necessities and comforts to her family, good wife and mother that she was. Offering all that she did everyday to Our Lord, she shows us how to do so as well. The patience and persistence she displayed in the face of her daily struggles throughout the day can serve as a perfect model for us at work. Whenever we're tempted to grumble, to gossip, to give vent to ill temper, she calls us to charity and cheerfulness.
We might consider developing the simple habit of praying to her from time to time by internally reciting her special prayer "Hail Mary, full of grace..." As we greet her in the same manner as the angel Gabriel did in her home in Nazareth, we might remember how she willingly and immediately accepted the awesome role of Mother of God. We might ourselves then diligently attend to our appointed tasks, willingly and immediately. Acknowledging her as our Mother, we might learn to rely on her for our own necessities and receive her comfort throughout the day. Eventually, we may find that any day with Mary is a good day.
Next week, accompanied by Our Blessed Mother, and through her intercession, we'll learn more about what it might mean to imitate Christ in our lives, and seek ways to follow His example in our daily work.
For now, as we attend to our work, let's remember that we remain surrounded by the glory of the Easter Season.
Happy Easter!
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