The Christian Meaning and Value of Work

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The Christian Meaning and Value of Work

• In the Social Teachings of the Popes,
• especially Pope John Paul II

(Towards a Spirituality of Work)
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The social teachings of the Church draws its
origin from the encounter of the Gospel and its
ethical requirements with the problems that arise
in the life of society.
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It proposes principles for reflection, provides
criteria for judgment and guidelines for action
(CCC 2423) that help in the proper ordering of
the concerns emanating from mans life in
society.
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The Church does not offer technical
solutions Nor does she propose economic and
political systems or programs. The Churchs
social doctrine is not a third way between
capitalism and Marxist collectivism. It is not
an ideology.
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It is rather the accurate formulation of the
results of a careful reflection on the complex
realities of human life, in society and in the
international order, in the light of the faith
and the Churchs tradition.
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Papal Social Encyclicals

• Encyclicals are important and authoritative
  documents written by a pope and addressed to the
  entire people of God.
• Deals on moral and doctrinal matters.
• Social encyclicals deal on social, economic,
  polititical and cultural matters.
• The first encyclical was written by Pope Benedict
  XIV in 1745. It dealt on usury.

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Papal Social Teachings
Rerum Novarum (On the Condition of Labor, 1891)
- Pope Leo XIII
Quadragesimo Anno (The Reconstruction of the
Social Order, 1931) - Pope Pius XI
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Papal Social Teachings
Numerous Addresses Messages
Pope Pius XII
Mater et Magistra (Christianity Social
Progress, 1961) Pacem in Terris (Peace on Earth,
1963) - Pope John XXIII
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Papal Social Teachings
Gaudium et Spes (The Church in the Modern World,
1965) - Vatican II
Populorum Progressio (The Development of
Peoples, 1967) Octogesima Adveniens (A Call to
Action, 1971) - Pope Paul VI
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Papal Social Teachings
Laborem Exercens (On Human Work,
1981) Sollicitudo Rei Socialis (The Social
Concerns of the Church, 1988) Centesimus
Annus (One Hundred Years, 1991)
Pope John Paul II
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Laborem Exercens

• Document entirely devoted to the single theme of
  the dignity and value of the worker and his work
• First time that a pope has done this

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Salient Points in Papal Teachings on Work

• Briefly articulating what the popes consider as
  the spheres of value inherent in work
• These fundamental values attached to work also
  constitute the elements of what we call the
  spirituality of labor

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Work Basic Dimension of Life

• Work is a fundamental dimension of mans
  existence on earth.
• As someone created in the image and likeness of
  God, only man is capable of work, only man
  works.
• John Paul II

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Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the
earth and subdue it.
Man is the image of God through the mandate
received from his Creator to subdue, to have
dominion over, the earth.
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Personal Value of Work
Work has value because the one who carries it
out is a human person, a conscious and free
subject, someone who decides about himself.
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The value of work
...is determined not by the kind of work done,
but by the fact that the one doing it is a human
person.
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Work is for man, not man for work
The primary basis of the value of work is man
himself John Paul II
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The worker is not a merchandise to be sold and
bought
The Church has always condemned situations where
the dignity of the worker is violated.
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By working, man transforms nature adopting it to
his use and needs.
By his work, man realizes his calling to have
dominion or mastery over the earth.
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By working, man cooperates with God in
perfecting, completing and embellishing Gods
creation.
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God allows man to put, as it were, the last
touches on the things He has created -Paul VI

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Through work, man not only transforms nature but
he also achieves fulfillment as a human being
and, in a sense, becomes more a human being.
-- John Paul II
He fulfills his calling to be a person, a calling
that is his by reason of his humanity.
-- John Paul II
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By working, man perfects, creates himself.
In and through work, the human person brings
about his self-realization.
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Work is for the family, not the family for
work. John Paul II
Work makes it possible for the person to provide
for the needs of his/her family.
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Through work man is inserted into a web of social
relations. Work has an inherent social
dimension.
Work must be transformed into service, animated
by charity, to ones family, society and
country.
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Jesus, by becoming the carpenters son,
sanctified the world of work, and gave it new
meaning and value.
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By enduring the toil of work in union with
Christ crucified, man collaborates with him for
the Redemption of humanity.
The Christian finds in human work a small part
of the Cross of Christ.
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John Paul II Sweat and toil, which work
necessarily involves present the Christian with
the possibility of sharing lovingly in the work
that Christ came to do. This work of salvation
came about through suffering and death on the
Cross. By enduring the toil of work in union
with Christ crucified for us, man in a way
collaborates with the Son of God for the
redemption of humanity.
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For the Christian, this is the final word for
the dignity and value of human labor.
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We can encounter the loving presence of God,
in the work that we do. in the places where we
work.
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Pope John Paul II
Let the Christian, uniting work with prayer,
know the place that His work has, not only in
earthly progress, but also in the development of
the Kingdom of God, to which we are all called