Practical Tips About Imiitating Christ at Work
The common thread of our posts for this Easter Season has been joy, particularly combining Easter joy with our work. The most efficacious way to do this - albeit the most challenging - would be to imitate Christ, including our time at work.
We've discussed this in the past in a number of different contexts. Each time we do, I come away from the discussion energized, but also a bit puzzled, even daunted. How can I, lowly worm that I am, ever hope to really imitate the life of Jesus Christ? Knowing my faults, it's a bit of a stretch, to put it mildly. If you think the same about yourself, keep reading.
First, we mustn't think of imitating Christ as a kind of slavish copying of what we read in the Gospels. Never mind that none of us will ever multiply a few loaves and fishes to feed thousands; even His words will likely be beyond our mental and verbal capacity, no matter how good a communicator we might be.
If you spend any time reading the Gospels (and you should consider doing this daily), you've seen how there's never a wasted word. Every word the Evangelists recorded has been parsed, interpreted, memorized, over and over again throughout history. Somehow each time we read Christ's words with an open mind and heart, they remain fresh. One quick example: "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life." How can that ever get old? My hair stands on end every time I read or hear it.
So what are we to make of imitating Christ's life? Let's read carefully this passage from Rev. George Zimpfer to gain some initial inisight:
“'Imitation of Christ’ does not mean that we must seek an exact parallel of incidents in our lives and that of Jesus. It means that we must strive to think and act according to His spirit, as we should judge He would speak and act or think in any given circumstances. The hundreds of expressions of our spirituality are our own, just as the events of our Lord’s life were peculiarly His own. His day was not as our day; His circumstances of life were not as ours. Yet he lived, and he asks us to live in like manner. It is an ideal, of course, and we strive to approximate it. We must look beneath the outward circumstances, the mere activities of Christ’s life, and try to discover the deep moral truths and principles which guided them. Most of our Lord’s life was unexceptional, if viewed only in these circumstances. He was not always working miracles, but he lived among men and women graciously. What made Him a Light among men, a Light that shone with ever increasing brilliance until today His figure stands as the greatest in human history, was His inner life, His spirit. He came not only as the Son of God; He came to us also as the Son of Man. He not only died for us, but He lived for us as well, to show us how to live.”
The first thing we realize: Christ's public life encompassed only a fraction of His days spent with us on earth. He lived a basically "normal" life growing up in Nazareth. As part of the Holy Family, He was obedient to His parents, who raised Him to be a good Jew. He learned from them as children did in those days. He helped out around the house -as all children should - eventually assisting His Dad in the family business.
What's important here, though, is to recognize the importance of "His inner life, His spirit." Can we hope to cultivate an interior life as pure and perfect as His? That's not a fair question. We should rather ask ourselves if we have an interior life. Do we pray throughout the day? Is God in our hearts and on our minds in some ongoing, consistent fashion? Do our thoughts, words, and deeds flow from a soul in the state of grace, solidly grounded in virtue?
None of this is beyond our capability. In fact, it should be a fundamental focus of our daily lives. That's why we continue to return to this theme throughout the year. It's important to remind and reinforce this.
We feed our interior life with our pious practices like daily prayer, study of Scripture and our Catholic religion and reading of good spiritual works. We strengthen it with the Sacraments, particularly Confession and Holy Communion. During our work day, little shots of recollection of God's Presence, brief, simple aspirations (e.g., "I love you, Jesus") keep our souls engaged with the practical details of our daily activity.
Next time we'll discuss more specifically the key areas we can focus on throughout the day that will help us in our efforts to imitate Christ at work.
We've discussed this in the past in a number of different contexts. Each time we do, I come away from the discussion energized, but also a bit puzzled, even daunted. How can I, lowly worm that I am, ever hope to really imitate the life of Jesus Christ? Knowing my faults, it's a bit of a stretch, to put it mildly. If you think the same about yourself, keep reading.
First, we mustn't think of imitating Christ as a kind of slavish copying of what we read in the Gospels. Never mind that none of us will ever multiply a few loaves and fishes to feed thousands; even His words will likely be beyond our mental and verbal capacity, no matter how good a communicator we might be.
If you spend any time reading the Gospels (and you should consider doing this daily), you've seen how there's never a wasted word. Every word the Evangelists recorded has been parsed, interpreted, memorized, over and over again throughout history. Somehow each time we read Christ's words with an open mind and heart, they remain fresh. One quick example: "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life." How can that ever get old? My hair stands on end every time I read or hear it.
So what are we to make of imitating Christ's life? Let's read carefully this passage from Rev. George Zimpfer to gain some initial inisight:
“'Imitation of Christ’ does not mean that we must seek an exact parallel of incidents in our lives and that of Jesus. It means that we must strive to think and act according to His spirit, as we should judge He would speak and act or think in any given circumstances. The hundreds of expressions of our spirituality are our own, just as the events of our Lord’s life were peculiarly His own. His day was not as our day; His circumstances of life were not as ours. Yet he lived, and he asks us to live in like manner. It is an ideal, of course, and we strive to approximate it. We must look beneath the outward circumstances, the mere activities of Christ’s life, and try to discover the deep moral truths and principles which guided them. Most of our Lord’s life was unexceptional, if viewed only in these circumstances. He was not always working miracles, but he lived among men and women graciously. What made Him a Light among men, a Light that shone with ever increasing brilliance until today His figure stands as the greatest in human history, was His inner life, His spirit. He came not only as the Son of God; He came to us also as the Son of Man. He not only died for us, but He lived for us as well, to show us how to live.”
The first thing we realize: Christ's public life encompassed only a fraction of His days spent with us on earth. He lived a basically "normal" life growing up in Nazareth. As part of the Holy Family, He was obedient to His parents, who raised Him to be a good Jew. He learned from them as children did in those days. He helped out around the house -as all children should - eventually assisting His Dad in the family business.
What's important here, though, is to recognize the importance of "His inner life, His spirit." Can we hope to cultivate an interior life as pure and perfect as His? That's not a fair question. We should rather ask ourselves if we have an interior life. Do we pray throughout the day? Is God in our hearts and on our minds in some ongoing, consistent fashion? Do our thoughts, words, and deeds flow from a soul in the state of grace, solidly grounded in virtue?
None of this is beyond our capability. In fact, it should be a fundamental focus of our daily lives. That's why we continue to return to this theme throughout the year. It's important to remind and reinforce this.
We feed our interior life with our pious practices like daily prayer, study of Scripture and our Catholic religion and reading of good spiritual works. We strengthen it with the Sacraments, particularly Confession and Holy Communion. During our work day, little shots of recollection of God's Presence, brief, simple aspirations (e.g., "I love you, Jesus") keep our souls engaged with the practical details of our daily activity.
Next time we'll discuss more specifically the key areas we can focus on throughout the day that will help us in our efforts to imitate Christ at work.
Happy Easter!
Comments