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Why should Christians celebrate Labour Day? Doesn't the Bible tell us that work is a curse?

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To help understand the Christian concept of work, a word about its history. In the Bible, "work" conveys multiple meanings encompassing the activity of God and of humans, right down to the labour of slaves. The same word is used for toil, effort, service and worship.

Creation is the work of God's hands. God is depicted as really working: building, making, forming and planting so that a day of rest needs to follow. Throughout the Old Testament, God is depicted as continuing to work.

Before the fall, God gave humans the responsibility of caring for the earth. Therefore, work was not a curse. After the fall, work became a struggle (Genesis 3 and 4) and a burden. Even so, God continues to bless human work, making it yield abundant fruit.

The Gospels say little about work but Jesus says "My Father works even until now and I work" (John 5:7). He speaks of the work he was sent to do: revelation of the Father, redemption of the world and victory over sin.

St. Paul works especially not to burden others. He rebukes those who don't. He wants us to work as imitators and slaves of Christ. He believes patience and indifference are appropriate since the fruits of our labour will disappear with Christ's imminent Second Coming.

Work need not be seen as a curse.

Early on, the Church began to reflect on the meaning of work. The Greek fathers believed that the curse and redemption affected all of creation. Humans, as the image of God, were to participate in God's creation to restore the universe.

The Latin fathers believed that only humans experienced the fall and needed redemption. Therefore, they stressed flight from the world. The value of work lay only in the intention and as a source of self-discipline and penance, help to the needy and imitation of Christ.

The common good

In the Middle Ages, work was for the common good with trust in God and resignation in suffering. Later, Luther brought the idea of vocation from the monastery to the world while Calvin inspired work's value as asceticism.

Wesley preached that rewards were a sign of God's favour which influenced acquisition for its own sake. With the Industrial Revolution, workers became cogs in the machine with no greater value than other parts.

The popes began to address the situation. Pope Leo XIII's 1891 encyclical Rerum Novarum looked at human work as a partnership for the common good, to meet basic needs and as expiation for sin. Pius XI's 1931 Quadregisimo Anno recognized the social and individual nature of work.

Pope John XXIII's 1961 Mater et Magistra spoke of work as an expression of humanity and a means of self-perfection in freedom and responsibility.

The Second Vatican Council's Gaudium et Spes gave work its dignity by emphasizing that humans are partners in God's unfolding creation and associates in the redemptive work of Christ. Work allows self-development and unites workers in service and charity.

Pope Paul VI's 1967 Populorum Progressio spoke of self-fulfillment through work willed and blessed by God as humans share in completing God's creative work. Pope John Paul II's 1981 Laborem Exercens stressed self-realization and the intrinsic value of work. Through work, humanity participates in God's creative actions and Christ's redemption.

Transform the world

God has placed humans in a material world to consecrate it through their faith-filled transformation of it. The products and service produced by work reveal God's richness and generosity. Our self-realization through work is part of God's plan. Through work and caring for the welfare of others, humans weave the social fabric of society in which all can realize their full human potential.

Sadly, for many, work is dull, painfully exhausting and done only out of necessity with little possibility of developing personal growth, initiative and imagination. This can be considered participation in the suffering of Christ while working for social justice for all.

Labour Day, coming as it does at the beginning of our school and work year, can be a time to reflect on the meaning of work for us, especially today when work seems to consume us more and more.

John Paul II encouraged Christians to "know the place that work has not only in earthly progress but also in the development of the kingdom of God." Gratitude to God for the privilege of working needs to be our primary attitude.

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