There is a sacred link between dignified work and faith.
Good work provides insight into who we are as human beings and our work contributes to God’s work of creation and should be done for his glory.
In the United States and Canada, Labor Day honors workers and is celebrated on the first Monday in September.
Although it is a civic holiday, it is also a time for Catholics to reflect on how our work aligns with the work of God.
The goodness of work:
God is a worker and created man for work also:
In these present reflections devoted to human work we have tried to emphasize everything that seemed essential to it, since it is through man’s labour that not only “the fruits of our activity” but also “human dignity, brotherhood and freedom” must increase on Earth. Let the Christian who listens to the word of the living God, uniting work with prayer, know the place that his work has not only in earthly progress but also in the development ot the Kingdom of God, to which we are all called through the power of the Holy Spirit and through the word of the Gospel.
Pope John Paul II, Laborem Exercens, September 14, 1981
Work is a great gift:
The LORD God then took the man and settled him in the garden of Eden, to cultivate and care for it.
Genesis 2: 15
Workers and their labor have value:
Workers have rights and should be treated with respect:
Human work proceeds directly from persons created in the image of God and called to prolong the work of creation by subduing the Earth, both with and for one another. Hence work is a duty: “If any one will not work, let him not eat.” Work honors the Creator’s gifts and the talents received from Him. It can also be redemptive. By enduring the hardship of work in union with Jesus, the carpenter of Nazareth and the One crucified on Calvary, man collaborates in a certain fashion with the Son of God in his redemptive work. He shows himself to be a disciple of Christ by carrying the cross, daily, in the work he is called to accomplish. Work can be a means of sanctification and a way of animating earthly realities with the Spirit of Christ.
Catechism of the Catholic Church 2427
Work should be balanced with family and prayer:
The Truth, Goodness, and Beauty of the Catholic Church
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