Work as a Means of Interior Sanctification - Part 2
We're continuing our previous discussion about work as a means of interior sanctification. Last time we presented some specific ways we can organize and orient our work to advance our spiritual lives. Today let's deepen our understanding by recalling that each of us has been called to our work in different ways. As Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski teaches us in Working Your Way Into Heaven, that calling may come to us as...
"a vocation, or an inclination, a fancy or a sense of mission, or through compliance and obedience to our superiors."
The most obvious example of one sort of vocation would be a calling to the priesthood, especially those in religious orders. Obedience plays a primary role in their lives. It could also include those of us who work for organizations that promote an support important causes. But even those of us who just work at "regular" jobs having nothing to do with the Church or explicitly charitable pursuits have, in some sense, responded to a calling. For example, we may marry and raise a family. Even those called to the single/unmarried life may live in that state as the result of a calling from God. Indeed, we were all once taught that each of us has a vocation (a calling) to either the clergy, the married, or the single life. You don't hear this explicitly discussed as much as it once was, but the teaching still applies. I remember specifically praying about my own vocation as a boy. I was taught to do so in order to follow God's plan for me.
But whatever our vocation, we all have work to do each day. And while there's no one way to go about doing that work, for Whom we do it, and how we do it makes all the difference.
We all answer to a boss when we ply our trade every day. Even those of us who are the boss - whether the CEO of a multi-national corporation, or the owner of a small business, answer to shareholders, customers, and clients. And so our work requires us to respond to our various bosses by structuring our time accordingly. We carry out plans that derive from the boss's desire to further the success of the enterprise or the customers needs and wants. We need to know our business plan in enough detail to be sure that we carry out our part of that plan faithfully. If we do, we have the expectation of rewards for a job well done.
But as Catholics, it's critically important that we understand Who our ultimate boss is. At the end of the day, we answer to God. In this context, His Plan ultimately rules and guides our thoughts, words, and actions at work (and everywhere else). While our earthly bosses can't do everything to carry out the business's plan (that's why they us!), God could, of course, execute His Plan any way He chooses. He chooses to leave the details to us. While we don't always know His Plan in all its details, we must recognize that our place is to carry it out. And we don't just acknowledge this in some more or less theoretical way. What we do every day reflects this understanding. At the very least, how we do our jobs and how we treat others should flow from our recognition of the Two Great Commandments: to love God and to love our neighbor like ourselves. We will therefore be diligent in our appointed service by producing the best possible work we can, and we will treat all with whom we come in contact in a charitable manner. Our faithful execution of our duties, and our consistent charitable behavior has its rewards too.
"God entrusts us with the small details of temporal life and repays our faithfulness with life everlasting...Therefore whatever we do, we should regard as being done on God's order. Seeing things in this light we must be faithful even in small matters."
It's essential that we consciously and sincerely desire to carry out God's Plan, despite our lack of knowledge of the specifics. Here our faith steps in. We trust that, if we desire to do His Will, He will give us the grace to do our part, whatever that might be. At times we may not think we're succeeding; we likely won't know how our thoughts, words, and actions on the job on any given day carry out His Plan. But that's just the point of faith: We believe, even if we don't know everything. What we do know is that our desire to be faithful will keep us on the right path. All will work according to His Will because we desire to work according to His will. By uniting our will to His, we keep ourselves and our work in line with His Plan.
Okay, I'm not a theologian. And I'm probably expressing myself clumsily here. But I hope this conveys at the very least the attitude we must have in our work. The fact is that any of us, if we proceed pure heart and a firm, persistent will to do God's Will, can be part of His great Plan of Creation. But we must - must - suppress our own ego, our self-centered will, and submit to His.
"Man, by his submission, is the executor of God's universal plan in its details."
Next time we'll see how we should go about our daily tasks, in light of all we learned today.
"a vocation, or an inclination, a fancy or a sense of mission, or through compliance and obedience to our superiors."
The most obvious example of one sort of vocation would be a calling to the priesthood, especially those in religious orders. Obedience plays a primary role in their lives. It could also include those of us who work for organizations that promote an support important causes. But even those of us who just work at "regular" jobs having nothing to do with the Church or explicitly charitable pursuits have, in some sense, responded to a calling. For example, we may marry and raise a family. Even those called to the single/unmarried life may live in that state as the result of a calling from God. Indeed, we were all once taught that each of us has a vocation (a calling) to either the clergy, the married, or the single life. You don't hear this explicitly discussed as much as it once was, but the teaching still applies. I remember specifically praying about my own vocation as a boy. I was taught to do so in order to follow God's plan for me.
But whatever our vocation, we all have work to do each day. And while there's no one way to go about doing that work, for Whom we do it, and how we do it makes all the difference.
We all answer to a boss when we ply our trade every day. Even those of us who are the boss - whether the CEO of a multi-national corporation, or the owner of a small business, answer to shareholders, customers, and clients. And so our work requires us to respond to our various bosses by structuring our time accordingly. We carry out plans that derive from the boss's desire to further the success of the enterprise or the customers needs and wants. We need to know our business plan in enough detail to be sure that we carry out our part of that plan faithfully. If we do, we have the expectation of rewards for a job well done.
But as Catholics, it's critically important that we understand Who our ultimate boss is. At the end of the day, we answer to God. In this context, His Plan ultimately rules and guides our thoughts, words, and actions at work (and everywhere else). While our earthly bosses can't do everything to carry out the business's plan (that's why they us!), God could, of course, execute His Plan any way He chooses. He chooses to leave the details to us. While we don't always know His Plan in all its details, we must recognize that our place is to carry it out. And we don't just acknowledge this in some more or less theoretical way. What we do every day reflects this understanding. At the very least, how we do our jobs and how we treat others should flow from our recognition of the Two Great Commandments: to love God and to love our neighbor like ourselves. We will therefore be diligent in our appointed service by producing the best possible work we can, and we will treat all with whom we come in contact in a charitable manner. Our faithful execution of our duties, and our consistent charitable behavior has its rewards too.
"God entrusts us with the small details of temporal life and repays our faithfulness with life everlasting...Therefore whatever we do, we should regard as being done on God's order. Seeing things in this light we must be faithful even in small matters."
It's essential that we consciously and sincerely desire to carry out God's Plan, despite our lack of knowledge of the specifics. Here our faith steps in. We trust that, if we desire to do His Will, He will give us the grace to do our part, whatever that might be. At times we may not think we're succeeding; we likely won't know how our thoughts, words, and actions on the job on any given day carry out His Plan. But that's just the point of faith: We believe, even if we don't know everything. What we do know is that our desire to be faithful will keep us on the right path. All will work according to His Will because we desire to work according to His will. By uniting our will to His, we keep ourselves and our work in line with His Plan.
Okay, I'm not a theologian. And I'm probably expressing myself clumsily here. But I hope this conveys at the very least the attitude we must have in our work. The fact is that any of us, if we proceed pure heart and a firm, persistent will to do God's Will, can be part of His great Plan of Creation. But we must - must - suppress our own ego, our self-centered will, and submit to His.
"Man, by his submission, is the executor of God's universal plan in its details."
Next time we'll see how we should go about our daily tasks, in light of all we learned today.
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