All is Labor

Homily for Labor Day
2 September 2013

          I’m sure that a few people in this church today have had the following conversation:

        “Lord, I’m worried . . .”

        “Don’t be.”

        “But, Lord, I need . . .”

        “Don’t worry.”

        “No, Lord, You don’t understand. I need . . .”

        “Don’t worry. I got it covered.”

        “But, Lord . . .”

        “Listen, DON’T WORRY! It’s all alright.”

        My brothers and sisters, we gather on this day to give praise to our God for the gift of “labor”. Yes, the gift of labor. We gather around the Table of the Word and the Table of the Eucharist to once again labor here for our salvation, yet, at the same time, coming to recognize we need not worry about our labors, for the Lord is watching over us.

        In the wake of the Industrial Revolutions, Pope Leo XIII gave to the Church his encyclical, Rerum Novarum, which talks about the relation of capital to labor. Since that fifteenth day of May in 1891, the Church has continued to strive to understand the great gift of labor, and how it ties in to the life of the Church, the society, and the individuals in that society. She continues to teach and preach that there is a dignity to work and a dignity found in the one working. This is one of the seven points of Catholic Social Teaching. We are reminded:

The economy must serve people, not the other way around. Work is more than a way to make a living; it is a form of continuing participation in God’s creation. If the dignity of work is to be protected, then the basic rights of workers must be respected – the right to productive work, to decent and fair wages, to the organization and joining of unions, to private property, and to economic initiative.

        In addition, the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church teaches us:

Work is a fundamental right and a good for mankind, a useful good, worthy of man because it is an appropriate way for him to give expression to and enhance his human dignity. The Church teaches the value of work not only because it is always something that belongs to the person but also because of its nature as something necessary. (Paragraph 287)

        Now what does all this have to do with our Gospel and the conversation at the beginning of this homily?

        Easy: Whether we’re employed, unemployed or retired, everything we do is laboring in and for the Kingdom of God; everything we do is for the glory of God. And if God is truly our ultimate “employer”, then we really have nothing to fear, for He is always looking out for what is best for us.

        We cannot get away from working. What we’re doing here, right now, is labor, for “liturgy”, loosely translated, means “work of the people”. What we do for our families and friends is what we often call a “labor of love”. No matter what stage in life we may be, we continually find some labor, we find some type of work in or for our lives, because, as we’ve just been reminded, “it is an appropriate way for [us] to give expression to and enhance [our] human dignity.”

        If we truly trust in God, whether employed, unemployed or retired, we know that He gives us the opportunity to praise Him in any situation we find ourselves in, no matter how frustrating that situation might be. We must remember that those who are employed are not always happy in their job; that those who are unemployed may be frustrated, but see this status as a temporary “bump in the road”; that those who are retired may not be living the type of relaxation they had dreamed about as the economy of our nation and world has them anxious about their finances and financial stability. These are real concerns! These are the lives of our families and friends, of you and me!

        But don’t worry . . . God’s got it covered.

        And I don’t say this because I’m an overly optimistic priest. I tell you this through my own experience. I’ve been at the end of the spectrum in having enough money to help friends and family out of dire situations. I’ve also been at the end of the spectrum where I’ve been as broke as broke can be, and have seen the charity of God shine through those moments of feeling anxious and helpless.

        Yes, I worried . . . Honestly, who wouldn’t? But it didn’t for one second stop me in glorifying God through the labors He had given me. I didn’t think less of myself because of my situation, my employment or lack-thereof. Through my frustration, through my pain, through my joy, I allowed myself to work for the glory of God. I allowed myself to enter deeper into the call of the expression of my dignity as a child of God.

        And that is what we celebrate today.

        We celebrate the very fact that God continues to call us through our labors – professional or otherwise – to deepen the dignity we have as His sons and daughters. We celebrate the opportunities that God has given us in our employment, unemployment or retirement to truly labor for Him, for His Kingdom, and for our brothers and sisters in the Kingdom. We celebrate the fact that our laboring, our working in this world only prepares us for the labor that we will be fulfilling in the eternal life – a labor that we practice in the here and now: the eternal praise and worship of our God.

        The Eucharist we now celebrate not only unites us to our God and to one another, but also unites our labors to the praise and glory of Him who has given us the opportunity to be called His children. This Eucharist unites our works so that we may lift them up as a sacrifice of praise. The work that we do here at this Eucharist puts all of our other labors into perspective, for this is the primary work of the Church – to praise our God with all that we do and all that we are.

        And so, as many today rest from their labors, and as many others continue to labor, we give thanks to God through the works, both big and small, that we do every day for the glory of Him who has given us the dignity as His children. We give thanks to God for being able to labor in and for His Kingdom. We continue to turn to Him in those moments of anxiety and frustration, knowing that He continues to take care of us.

        We labor here on Earth so that we may prepare to labor in Heaven. We do what we do so that in doing it, God’s love, will, and peace will be made manifest upon this Earth. Saint Pio of Pietrelcina reminds us to “pray, hope and don’t worry.” We don’t worry because the Lord is calling us to keep on doing the work He gives to us, knowing that all is taken care of. As the great Sister Thea Bowman reminds us, we just need to “keep on keeping on.” And we “keep on keeping on” heeding the words of the Little Flower, Saint Thérèse of Lisieux:

"Let us go forward in peace, our eyes upon heaven, the only one goal of our labors."

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Enjoy the journey . . .