Work Ethic

Seeing the gift of work in the right light

09/02/2019

Luke 4:16-30 Jesus came to Nazareth, where he had grown up, and went according to his custom into the synagogue on the sabbath day. He stood up to read and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord. Rolling up the scroll, he handed it back to the attendant and sat down, and the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently at him. He said to them, "Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing." And all spoke highly of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth.

On this Labor Day, we give God thanks for the gift of work, but we also should recognize that work is not his only gift, and certainly not his highest gift. So, today we take the day off from work in order to rest and see there’s more to life than work. Nevertheless, we can fall prey to the tendency of the Puritan work ethic, and see work as the highest good, and indeed the measure of all other goods. That is what the words “work ethic” mean. We define ethics – what is good and evil – by working (that’s good) and not working (that’s bad). Have you ever felt that impulse to look at others and judge others – or even judge yourself – according to the work ethic? To work is good; to be idle is lazy. I realize this explanation of the work ethic is prone to misunderstanding, so let me use myself as an example.

The only job I ever had was at the steak restaurant called “Bonanza,” when I was in high school. My job description was to bus tables and wash dishes. By the way, I was the best dishwasher in the world because I never got behind, even during rush hour times. I should have gotten a raise. I had a uniform, I had a boss, I had days off, I received a paycheck, and I paid taxes. All these elements comprise the world of work, and they are good and useful criteria to evaluate a good worker. Who should receive a raise, and who should be fired. In this environment the work ethic finds itself in its natural habitat.

Recently, however, the work ethic has broken free of its natural habitat and threatens to invade a supernatural habitat, namely, the priesthood and religious life of nuns and monks. Have you ever heard people use the language and terminology of the work ethic to discuss the life of priests and nuns? For instance, have you noticed how people talk about a “day off” for priests? By the way, Monday (today) is my day off, and I’m celebrating Mass. When people invite me over for supper they say, “Father, please come casually and comfortably,” which means you don’t have to wear your Roman collar. I have done that a few times, and I always feel naked. I prefer to think of my collar as a wedding ring, not a uniform like I wore at Bonanza. There is a growing trend these days for priests to have their rectory away from the church campus, so they can “get away from work.”

Can you see how the language and terminology, the concepts and the criteria of the work ethic have invaded the supernatural habitat of the priesthood and are threatening to devour it? Priests and the priesthood are measured by the work ethic rather than seen as a vocation from God. Vocation comes from the Latin word “vocare” meaning to call. In a word, priesthood is a calling not a career. That is why one cannot leave the priesthood like you make a career change, like going from Bonanza to Ballywood. Unless, of course, you see the priesthood like a career rather than a call.

Priesthood is not the only vocation under attack by the work ethic, sometimes, so too is marriage and motherhood and fatherhood. Be careful when work ethic language like “day off” and “personal time” and “fair pay” and “equal opportunity employment” and “work satisfaction” and “career advancement” etc. become the way you evaluate your life as a spouse or as a parent. When you begin to see your vocation as a career – and it can happen innocently enough – rather than a calling from God, radical consequences result. Someday, you may feel the need for a career change. That’s how the work ethic breaks out of its natural habitat and tries to take over a supernatural habitat, like priesthood or marriage.

On this Labor Day, we give God thanks for the gift of work. But we also quickly add that work is not his greatest gift. Rather, his sacraments are like Holy Orders and Holy Matrimony. Those gifts are filled with the grace of a calling, not the demands of a career. Like the old adage teaches: “When you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life.” I haven’t worked a day since I was in high school.

Praised be Jesus Christ!