On Being Watchful at Work - Final Part

It's Shrove Tuesday. Lent begins tomorrow. We've been preparing ourselves. Our method of preparation has been to hone our watchfulness - something Our Lord urged upon us many times in the Gospels. We all know it, yet how many of us take it seriously? 

In my own case, I've not done my best. Life makes its demands, work gets busy, and most days find me focused on this world, not the next. Maybe that can change. At least I can give it a shot. And it's not simply preparation for Lent. Preparation makes sense if you know that the next world matters a lot more than this one. Lent gives us an assist when we actively engage with it. And we engage best when we recognize that we are sinners who need to make reparation for our sins. Our Lenten discipline builds our resolve through prayer, fasting, and almsgiving (acts of charity). 

Our previous two posts now conclude with this third. With the help of Dom Chautard in The Soul of the Apostolate we've identified specific faults. We want to see if any apply to us. I suspect most if not all of us will find one or two - or more. And when we do, we can beg for the grace to work on these in a special way during Lent.

If you haven't found any yet, maybe one of these will ring a bell. Again, we try to particularly apply these to our work.

Start with those of us in danger of doing a great job and being recognized for your efforts. Danger? Sure. Are you too self-satisfied? Do you think you're the "cat's meow"? If so, you've got a case of...

• Vain self-complacency

Lose it.

And for those of us not quite recognized yet, but looking for that recognition, beware of...

• Always looking for admiration and praise, and doing things with these in view
• Showing off anything that is to my credit

Sure, you should be both recognized and - even better - duly compensated for your superb work. But not at the expense of spending your days focused on all this to the exclusion of all that is True, Good, and Beautiful. Keep that ego in check. Seek God first and all that He gives our souls in His Mercy and Love.

Either that, or face the danger of being self-important, self-righteous, self-focused, always believing you're right, never giving other's ideas of suggestions seriously. Get over yourself or be branded with... 

• Presumption
• Stubbornness

And when your illusions of grandiosity aren't universally recognized, when others receive the accolades you've convinced yourself ought to accrue to you alone, you become trapped in a solitary, bitter world of...

• Jealousy

Or, because of your self-importance and superiority, no one's got any right to tell you what to do, or correct you, or even suggest ways to improve. Applied to your boss, you've allowed...

• Lack of respect for superiors

...to marginalize you in the work place and mark you as  insufferable. Don't expect a promotion or a raise from the boss you don't respect.

Make the mistake of taking yourself too seriously, believing you deserve more than you've gotten from your work, etc., you'll find yourself...

• Murmuring

Saint Benedict mentions murmuring on more than one occasion in his Rule (something for a Catholic man at work to consider reading every day). It has no place with his monks. It should have no place in our minds and hearts either.

When we struggle against our faults, we know some simple aids any of us can apply to assist us to steadily rid ourselves of these. But if, like me, you're not a fan of these, you can easily forego them and find yourself one of those who practice... 

• No mortification in eating, drinking

This last item really shouldn't apply to any of us if we've been working on building our spiritual/interior life. Modest mortification is a basic fundamental practice. On the other hand, we could all use improvement here. And with Lent upon us tomorrow, it's the ideal time to take our mortification seriously.

So that wraps up our 3 posts on items that we can use to increase our watchfulness. Being aware of our failures and shortcomings may not be pleasant. But it's a simple direct way to face the reality of our less-than-saintly selves.

Any of these items that particularly apply to any individual can serve as a good focus for improving our spiritual life. And let's be sure that our watchfulness extends to our working hours.