The Dignity of Human Work

“It is an honor for the Congregation if a Salesian dies with his work boots on,” St. John Bosco is often quoted as saying. My fifteen years of Salesian formation in the seminaries and houses that I have been in have always placed emphasis on the importance of manual work. While I was in high school in DBTC, our older peers have told us, “a Bosconian is never afraid to get his hands dirty.” This culture that honors and values manual work has taught me the hidden gems that come with sweat and physical fatigue.

This memorial of St. Joseph the Worker, also our national Labor Day, is given to us to rest in order to ponder the value of human work. Even the readings of today’s mass contribute to this effort as the first reading from Genesis reminds us that God, in the beginning, was at work in creation. He continues to work even today. His power is seen working in nature and in human hands.

While our culture today exalts convenience and efficiency in our unrelenting quest for comfort and time, the Church invites us to see in human work that struggles and takes time, the human reflection of God’s creative power. Work gives humanity its dignity as it is the expression of his ingenuity, creativity, and fruitfulness. It is the expression of human power and sovereignty given him by God, to cultivate the earth and so enjoy its fruits. Workaholics enjoy the thrill of being productive. Retirees struggle with the prospect of being less productive. The young have to deal with the pressure and expectation of being productive. But it is not the fruits of our labor that really matters but the love with which we infuse our labor. Love empowers and directs work. Without love, all work becomes tasteless and useless labor. It was by love that God created everything.

We remember today the issues that hound our workers, especially the blue collar workers and the rank and file, who silently grind the hours away for the sake of providing for their families. While many are not living their dream jobs today, they are enlivening their dreams for family through work that not many want to undertake. It is with special concern that the Church continues to commiserate with those who suffer injustice and abuse, as she challenges governments and corporations towards social justice. Human society should not be carried by the shoulders of slaves and victims. Our society could only be human when we treat everyone, especially our workers, humanely and with dignity.

It is with hope that I call out my brother Salesians, religious, and clerics, to examine how we treat our lay mission partners, our scholars and recipients of our ministry, whether we teach them the value of human work through our example of industry and whether we give them the dignity and justice that is inherently theirs.

Jesus was fully human not just because He came from Mary’s womb but also because He was taken in by Joseph’s house and possibly learned the trade in Joseph’s workshop. If Jesus endured the rigors of working for the Kingdom, it was because Joseph handed on to him the manliness capable of building God’s house. May we follow in their footsteps and not shy away from our share of tasks and responsibilities in building the Kingdom and Family of God.

The Miracle That Is The Church

I recently blessed a newly opened office space, my first in Cebu, in the uptown area where I met the executives of the company. After the blessing, I was invited to lunch where I ate with chief officers of the company, most of them looked like veteran business people. Being man of the cloth, my presence drew conversations towards religion and the faith.

It was the Chief Operating Officer (COO) who made an interesting remark. “Jesus Christ is the best CEO,” he said. “Look, the Church still stands today even after 2,000 years.” Human institutions, no matter how powerful, have all faded in history but not the Church. “Despite the scandals and even the corruption inside the Church, it still continues,” he added. I could not help but blurt out, “that is what we call grace.”

It was interesting for me because it was a layman who made the statement, and a man deeply involved in business. When we start to think that faith has no place in business, we need to think again. There are more and more Christians who strive hard to live their faith in the business world.

But thinking about it again, Jesus did not organize the Church. He did not group the apostles into dioceses and assign them territories. What He did was form a community around Him. It was a community that became part of His Body. It was the Holy Spirit that breathed life into that Body. He gave it organization over time, showered it with many charisms and set it on fire. It became diverse but remained one. It is both the work of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.

The Church still stands because of God’s grace. Being an action of God’s grace, it is rightly a miracle.

Love Made To Be Touched

St. John Bosco in his letter from Rome writes, “ the youngsters should not only be loved, but that they themselves should know that they are loved.” This pedagogical wisdom underlines the human need to feel concrete love. Love, after all, is not an abstract concept nor is just a subjective feeling. Love is an immersive reality that seeks to embrace a human person and seeks to lift him to a higher consciousness and existence.

God knows this perfectly and so the Father, in the fullness of time (Gal 4:4), sent His Son into the world so that the Father’s love may have a face, may be touched, and may be embraced. The Feast of the Annunciation is the celebration of this mystery. Through the proclamation of the Angel Gabriel unto the Virgin Mary and her subsequent assent to God’s invitation, the Word became man in her womb. It is the beginning of humanity’s assent towards God. It was God’s condescending act towards humanity. In this event, God stooped down to not only love humanity but they themselves know that they are loved with a Love that is made incarnate.

Our human experience has always taught us that love is not only said, it must be felt, must be given time. This is where the connecting power of the internet and technology finds its limit. Nothing compares to the tactile experience of love. The human heart feels loved when it is touched. The great mystery of God’s incarnation of the womb of Mary, when He stripped Himself of His glory to don our weak humanity, is God’s own invitation for us. He invites us to feel His love in the person of Jesus. He invites us to make others feel His love through our touch.