HOMILY FOR THIRTY-THIRD SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME (C)

Fr Billy Swan

Dear friends. Today I would like to share a few thoughts on the importance and dignity of human work. By work, I don’t only mean the work of those in factories, offices and fields but everyone who tries to do an honest days’ work including those who work at home, who care for others and those who are retired. It is work in the broad sense of trying to be active in doing something useful, meaningful and merciful every day in proportion to our abilities.

The reason for this focus on work is today’s second reading where St Paul insists to the Thessalonians that his missionary work among them did not happen from an ivory tower or from a cold distance. Paul reminded the people that in order to win them over to faith in Christ, he drew close to them by earning a living as a tent maker and working side by side with them as fellow labourers.

The first thing Paul does in that second reading is warn us against the danger of idleness. These words reminded me of something my mother used to say to us during long summer holidays, that ‘the devil finds work for idle hands’. And so, we were always put to work at something to occupy our minds and hands. But those words also contain a deeper truth of how sad it is when people are doing jobs they hate or work for something they don’t believe in or find their jobs boring and unsatisfying. That’s why work is so important as something that is part of who we are and something that engages all the gifts and talents God has given us. We are not just ‘doers’ or ‘units of productivity’ but children of God.

In these days when the Leaving Cert students are wondering which College course to choose and what to pursue, a good question might be: ‘What am I good at and what do I enjoy? What are my gifts and talents and how best can I use them? What am I passionate about and what gives me life?’ When we manage to engage all our gifts and skills, then we come alive with a sense of purpose and energy.

For the Christian, there is an essential spirituality of work. The work that everyone does in good faith is an expression of our dignity as human beings and our self-worth. The motto of the Benedictine monks is ‘Ora et labora…to pray and to work’. This means that the daily life of the monks flows between a rhythm of prayer and work where both are equally important. The work is permeated by a spirit of prayer and their work is taken into their life of prayer. Their work is a means of holiness.

Therefore, when we return to work having celebrated Mass, whatever it is we do, let us not see it as something disconnected to our life of prayer but something that is an overflow of prayer where we become co-creators in the creative work of God and give glory to him through what we do. This was the ‘Little Way’ of St Therese of Lisieux, her path to holiness and the experience of St John Paul II who worked in a quarry and in a chemical factory before he entered seminary. Both saints teach us that by the work we do, we imitate Jesus the worker who laboured as a carpenter for 30 years of his life.

A final word of encouragement for all those who find their work difficult, who battle with long commutes, who earn low pay and who cannot find work. The Church acknowledges your struggle and sees you doing your best for yourself and your families. But let you define your work rather than your work define you. God created you intentionally and has blessed you with a unique set of gifts and talents that he wants you to use for some service or good. So never think that you are less talented than others or devoid of any gifts.

You are needed and willed, and have a combination of gifts that the world requires. This intentional creating of us is closely linked to love. God has created us in love, and because of love he calls us to do him some definitive service, some kind of work.

We pray that together as a supportive family of faith, we may encourage each other to see the value and meaning in human work.