CHRIST’S WAY OF LABORING: FILLED WITH LOVE AND CELEBRATION
A Reflection On Our Daily Work: Where a Christ-Follower’s Work Should Be Nudging Society
“Give us this day our daily bread.” Matthew 6:11
“When you hold a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you.” Luke 14:13
Earlier in Luke’s Gospel, Jesus proclaims that he, like the prophet Isaiah, has been “anointed to bring glad tidings to the poor” Luke 4:18. And we, too, have been anointed to do this!
Here are some insights on this based upon a Program for Social Reconstruction proposed one hundred years ago by the precursor of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).
“How do we bring glad tidings to the poor today?
“As Pope Francis said earlier this year, ‘today’s tendency is toward slowing down the pace of reducing extreme poverty and increasing the concentration of wealth in the hands of a few. . . . Many do not have food to eat and live adrift while a few drown in excess. This perverse current of inequity is disastrous for humanity’s future.’1”
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the Bishops’ Program for Social Reconstruction, published by the National Catholic Welfare Conference (the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops of that time).2 Recognizing that, as stated in the “program”, “the only safeguard of peace is social justice and a contented people,” the recommended a series of “practical and moderate” reforms.2
BEING A SOCIETY OF PERSONS: WHAT WE AS CATHOLICS AND CHRIST-FOLLOWERS BRING TO OUR WORK
“As the ‘Bishops’ Program’ concluded 100 years ago, ‘changes in our economic and political systems will have only partial and feeble efficiency if they be not reinforced by the Christian view of work and wealth.’ In this view, workers and owners both have rights and duties towards each other; a business enterprise must view itself as a ‘society of persons’ rather than a mere commercial instrument.3 As Pope Francis recently said, ‘The new course for sustainable economic development needs to set the person and work at the center . . .’4 To this end, no merely technocratic policy changes will bear the fruit that is so desperately needed today.”
Source: On the Hundredth Year of the United States Bishops’ Program of Social Reconstruction, Most Reverend Frank J. Dewane, Bishop of Venice Florida, Chairman of the Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, September 2, 2019
WHEN WILL I BE ABLE TO DO THIS? WHEN I LET MYSELF SEE THAT THE FIRST TREASURE OF MY LIFE IS JESUS
“Why does Jesus insist so much on detachment from goods, to the point of making it an indispensable condition for being able to follow him? Because the first treasure in life, our real wealth, is Him! …
“He wants us to be free, with our souls unburdened by any attachment or worry, so that we can truly love Him with all our heart, mind and strength …
“He asks us to renounce our possessions also because he wants us to be open to others …
“The simplest way to ‘renounce’ is to ‘give.’
“We can give to God by loving Him. We can show our love by loving our brothers and sisters, being ready to risk everything for them.
“Even if we do not realize it, we have much wealth to share:
“We have love in our hearts to give, friendship to express and joy to communicate.
“We have time to use for other people, prayers to offer, inner riches to share.
“Sometimes we have things such as books, clothes, cars, money … Let’s try to keep only what we need.
“Let’s be careful not to ‘lose’ Jesus because of a sum of money we have set aside, because of something we can do without.”
“We need to change people’s hearts, change the hearts and put in them love of neighbor, love one another, being united as Jesus wants…
“We need to have Christ in our midst so as to have unity; and then also goods will circulate.”
Chiara Lubich (1920-2008) is the founder of the Focolare Movement
LET’S THINK ABOUT THIS
What can I do to nudge us to be more of a “society of persons”?
Sister Loretta Fernandez RSM
1 Pope Francis, Greeting to the Staff of the International Fund for Agricultural Development, (Feb. 14, 2019). .
2 See, “Bishops’ Program of Social Reconstruction: A General Review of the Problems and Survey of Remedies,” National Catholic Welfare Conference, (Feb. 12, 1919).
3 See, Saint John Paul II’s Encyclical Centessimus Annus, no. 43 (May 1, 1991)
4 Pope Francis, Message to participants in the 108th Session of the International Labour Conference (June 10, 2019).
