Important Connections Between Our Work and Our Spiritual Life

After our reflections on St. Gabriel Possenti's Resolutions these past couple of weeks, let's spend some time with Fr. Martial Lekeux's thoughts about how our faults can be a means of sanctification.

To benefit most from Fr. Lekeux's remarks, let's give special consideration of our own faults - those specific to each of us. Of course many of us share the same faults, but no one of us is going to suffer from the exact faults of another one of us. While made in God's image and likeness, He created us as unique individuals. No one has ever been just like us; no one ever will be. 

When it comes to work and our individuality, we bring our unique personality, skills, and talents to our work each day. While many business see "slots" as interchangeable, we ourselves are not. Sure, people come and go in most businesses, especially these days, but that doesn't take away from our individuality. And it is as a unique individual that we strive to connect our work with our spiritual life.

One thing that most jobs require is that we be actively engaged with our work every time we show up. Were we not so engaged, we''d likely not hold on to our job. The same holds for our spiritual life. We must be actively engaged every day. Without active engagement, our spiritual progress would not only cease, but we would likely slip back a few (or more) steps.

These first words shared by Fr. Lekeux begin with comments about those who seem to be spiritual slackers. But we'll see that rather than such souls being actually lazy, it is discouragement that causes their idleness. 

We might say the same at work. This is especially true for those of us who run our own business. If we try and try again to build our revenue or customer base and just can't quite get things going, it can be quite discouraging. And if we allow this to continue for any length of time, we may find that discouragement leads to a kind of slacking off. While we might not consciously "give up," we likely will be in effect doing just that.

Naturally, sticking to it may be the simple answer. Not always, but it frequently is. So it is with our spiritual life. 

As for those times when repeated efforts simply don't get any sort of result, well, we revisit what we're doing and try some other approach or attack to get some traction. Father won't delve into this, but we recognize the reality of needing to know when something isn't working. On the other hand, we need to give our full attention and effort to our endeavors before concluding something's not clicking.

In any case, here are Father's initial thoughts:

“Many idlers swell the ranks of pious souls. The reason, ordinarily speaking, is not laziness, but discouragement. Doubt, skepticism, and distrust are the great enemies of perfection. Purgatory is bulging with discouraged souls. Shortly after starting out on the road to perfection, they encountered an obstacle, a recurring fault. They were not able to root it out in a week’s time. So they gave up in sheer discouragement. Whoever heard of a victory without a battle, or spring without winter? ‘An obstacle is to be conquered. That’s its only reason for existence,’ said General Foch. If God puts a difficulty in our way, He wants us to attack it. Let’s do it then. He waits with joy to see us attack an obstacle head on. ‘I shall never be able to knock mine down,’ you say. What difference does that make? Is God asking that of you? No. You are to attack it. That’s all. Here is an aphorism which you should engrave in letters of gold on your heart. ‘GOD DOES NOT ASK YOU TO CONQUER, BUT TO FIGHT.’ A comforting truth! This is the only time when the principles of General Foch no longer apply to spiritual tactics. In war, success is important; a general must conquer. In spiritual war, it suffices to have done one’s best and to have fought. God’s will is the only thing that counts. In His eyes, struggle is success, whatever be the tangible result of the effort. What a good and understanding God we have for a Master!"

Father recognizes the difference between our worldly work and our spiritual work. More important, though, is that God recognizes this. At work, we ultimately must produce results whether as employees or as owner of a business. Effort that does not lead to results won't work in the long run. 

In the spiritual life, however, God looks only to our our effort. That's what matters. And that leaves us with no reason to ever, ever, give up. As Father notes, "What a good and understanding God we have for a Master!"

We continue next time with Fr. Lekeux's comments...