The Mystery of Redemption in Work - Part 2
We continue our discussion of the mystery of redemption
in work by more closely considering how hard work can become a
supernatural instrument that frees us from sin by uniting us with the
suffering Christ. In Working Your Way into Heaven, Stefan Cardinal Wyszynski engages us in a discussion of how the difficulty of hard work can become an agent for our redemption:
"Hard work frees us gradually from the body and its powers; by tiring the body, it calms it down and makes it easier for us to exercise control over it...wearisome work may repay to God the debts incurred by sin."
We're addressing what most of us have experienced: the "hardness" of work on our body, mind, and spirit. From my own experience, I can attest to stretches of work where demands have caused physical and mental stress that felt - at least for a spell - unbearable. In such times, we're here reminded:
"The sweat of a man's toil-stained face marks a suffering that purifies not so much the body as the soul. In this suffering is the whole Calvary of man, who dies every day on the cross of his life in order to destroy death by this slow death-agony, and so to attain the glory of resurrection. Man, bathed in sweat, knows that there is no earthly reward, no wages or recompense, that could ever pay him enough for this sacrifice."
In those and the following words we see how our work takes on a supernatural aspect. Notice the role of suffering, our holy (if not always welcome) companion" in this vale of tears:
"For it is in such toil we discover the value of suffering...in such toil we discover the value of patience."
By patiently persisting in our work day in and day out, no matter how difficult it may at times be, it becomes an instrument of redemption. Here's how:
"It is possible for us here below to sweat the stains of sin, our whole responsibility for our faults, out of our system by means of work, and to give them back to the earth from which we took our sins. This is the extraordinary dispensation of time."
God has given us this time to work out our redemption through our daily toil. Fortunately, for most of us, as we continue to apply ourselves each day, the difficulties of our labor will yield fruit. Our accomplishments may help us get a raise or a promotion. But they also, as is the case when we struggled to overcome the difficulties we encounter to achieve our ends, may be a means of our redemption.
"To the natural joy of a new task completed there is added a supernatural joy that the work is, in every respect, well, done, since it brings us even further on our road to eternal life."
Isn't it wonderful that both the difficulties of our work and the achievements they may yield can help us get to Heaven? And aren't we blessed, as Catholics, to understand this happy circumstance?
But in our joyful gratitude let's not forget those who may not be so blessed. Cardinal Wyszynski urges us to remember those who surround us who may not have this understanding as they go about their daily business.
"We must also offer God the pain and labor of those who in their labor think neither of Him nor of the supernatural value of work. Let us glance around at the people working near us. Which of them ever things that his work is satisfaction for sin? We must make good their failure to offer it.
"And we must also offer God the pain and labor of those who curse the work appointed by God, who rail at both the work and God And there are many like that: not merely individuals, but whole doctrines, whole systems of thought. They curse God and Adam because man wears himself out at work, for they cannot distinguish God's intention from bad human arrangements. Who will take up the toil that they have wasted?"
The Church has always opposed unjust working conditions. But it has also opposed political, economic, and social systems that claim to provide solutions that ignore or deny God's central role in our lives and in human history. As we pray for those who themselves labor without God, and those who attempt to separate or "expel" God from their work, let's recall that
"Christ wants us to place the whole burden of our work on His Cross, to become co-sufferers with Him. The hardship of work is our daily cross."
We diligently and courageously tackle any task, not matter how difficult or distasteful, offering up all our efforts as a sacrifice in union with Our Lord's sacrifice on the Cross. In our charity, we keep those who ignore or reject Our Lord. Until they turn towards Him Who gave His life that we may have eternal life, they will never understand the mystery of redemption in work.
"Let us ask ourselves now whether the toil of work is a curse or a punishment or whether it is yet another lifeline, an opportunity of increasing redemptive grace in oneself?...We will obtain full redemption only from Christ: 'Come to me all you who labor and are burdened; I will give you rest.'"
"Hard work frees us gradually from the body and its powers; by tiring the body, it calms it down and makes it easier for us to exercise control over it...wearisome work may repay to God the debts incurred by sin."
We're addressing what most of us have experienced: the "hardness" of work on our body, mind, and spirit. From my own experience, I can attest to stretches of work where demands have caused physical and mental stress that felt - at least for a spell - unbearable. In such times, we're here reminded:
"The sweat of a man's toil-stained face marks a suffering that purifies not so much the body as the soul. In this suffering is the whole Calvary of man, who dies every day on the cross of his life in order to destroy death by this slow death-agony, and so to attain the glory of resurrection. Man, bathed in sweat, knows that there is no earthly reward, no wages or recompense, that could ever pay him enough for this sacrifice."
In those and the following words we see how our work takes on a supernatural aspect. Notice the role of suffering, our holy (if not always welcome) companion" in this vale of tears:
"For it is in such toil we discover the value of suffering...in such toil we discover the value of patience."
By patiently persisting in our work day in and day out, no matter how difficult it may at times be, it becomes an instrument of redemption. Here's how:
"It is possible for us here below to sweat the stains of sin, our whole responsibility for our faults, out of our system by means of work, and to give them back to the earth from which we took our sins. This is the extraordinary dispensation of time."
God has given us this time to work out our redemption through our daily toil. Fortunately, for most of us, as we continue to apply ourselves each day, the difficulties of our labor will yield fruit. Our accomplishments may help us get a raise or a promotion. But they also, as is the case when we struggled to overcome the difficulties we encounter to achieve our ends, may be a means of our redemption.
"To the natural joy of a new task completed there is added a supernatural joy that the work is, in every respect, well, done, since it brings us even further on our road to eternal life."
Isn't it wonderful that both the difficulties of our work and the achievements they may yield can help us get to Heaven? And aren't we blessed, as Catholics, to understand this happy circumstance?
But in our joyful gratitude let's not forget those who may not be so blessed. Cardinal Wyszynski urges us to remember those who surround us who may not have this understanding as they go about their daily business.
"We must also offer God the pain and labor of those who in their labor think neither of Him nor of the supernatural value of work. Let us glance around at the people working near us. Which of them ever things that his work is satisfaction for sin? We must make good their failure to offer it.
"And we must also offer God the pain and labor of those who curse the work appointed by God, who rail at both the work and God And there are many like that: not merely individuals, but whole doctrines, whole systems of thought. They curse God and Adam because man wears himself out at work, for they cannot distinguish God's intention from bad human arrangements. Who will take up the toil that they have wasted?"
The Church has always opposed unjust working conditions. But it has also opposed political, economic, and social systems that claim to provide solutions that ignore or deny God's central role in our lives and in human history. As we pray for those who themselves labor without God, and those who attempt to separate or "expel" God from their work, let's recall that
"Christ wants us to place the whole burden of our work on His Cross, to become co-sufferers with Him. The hardship of work is our daily cross."
We diligently and courageously tackle any task, not matter how difficult or distasteful, offering up all our efforts as a sacrifice in union with Our Lord's sacrifice on the Cross. In our charity, we keep those who ignore or reject Our Lord. Until they turn towards Him Who gave His life that we may have eternal life, they will never understand the mystery of redemption in work.
"Let us ask ourselves now whether the toil of work is a curse or a punishment or whether it is yet another lifeline, an opportunity of increasing redemptive grace in oneself?...We will obtain full redemption only from Christ: 'Come to me all you who labor and are burdened; I will give you rest.'"
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