February 09, 2004
Being Catholic in the Modern Workplace: A Meditation on the Practicing of Virtue at Work
So it’s Monday morning again, another work week begins. As you prepare to head out the door for the office, the store, the factory, the warehouse, or school it is important to meditate on how you will live throughout the coming week, more importantly, how you will live today. As Christians it is necessary for us to live what we profess to believe. We claim to believe in Jesus Christ and be His followers. We claim to be good and caring people, and so we should be. We are ready to meet the day, full of virtuous aspirations and good intentions. Then we walk through the door of our workplace…
How often this is our story, not that we behave in ways that could be labeled “evil” or “immoral”, but rather in ways that continually fall short of the example of Christ. We become impatient, we gossip, we waste time, we are short with others, we ignore certain people, we allow ourselves to become frustrated, even angry at times, we also tend to forget the value of the human person in our highly productive workplaces, and often we find ourselves swept away by longings for more money, more power, more control, and more things. The question is why?
Of course, we all still feel the daily strain of concupiscence, those “human appetites or desires which remain disordered due to the temporal consequences of original sin, which remain even after Baptism, and which produce an inclination to sin” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, p. 871). But I believe there is more to it. I think it is also due to a failure on our part to keep the example of Christ always before us. So, how do we do that? For starters, we practice virtue.
Let us begin by reflecting on what the Church has to say about the virtue. In the Catechism of the Catholic Church we find:
1803 “Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things” – Phil 4:8
A virtue is a habitual and firm disposition to do the good. It allows the person not only to perform good acts, but to give the best of himself. The virtuous person tends toward the good with all his sensory and spiritual powers; he pursues the good and chooses it in concrete actions.
The goal of a virtuous life is to become like God. – St. Gregory of Nyssa1804 Human virtues are firm attitudes, stable dispositions, habitual perfections of intellect and will that govern our actions, order our passions, and guide our conduct according to reason and faith. They make possible ease, self-mastery, and joy in leading a morally good life. The virtuous man is he who freely practices the good.
The moral virtues are acquired by human effort. They are the fruit and seed of morally good acts; they dispose all the powers of the human being for communion with divine love.
So let us begin our day with a firm attitude and a stable disposition. Let us walk out our front doors to do the good, to practice virtue, to imitate Christ. As you drive to work say a prayer to our Lord asking Him for guidance and grace throughout the day. Make it a point to be kind to all you come in contact with today. Say hello to those you would normally avoid. Go out of your way to help someone else with a project or just by a supporting word. Ask Jesus to show you the many challenges and crosses that present themselves to you each day that are opportunities to grow in virtue and holiness. Take time throughout the day to thank Him and to praise Him. Let your day be a Christ-filled day. Allow Him to lead you through the day, for He told us:
…and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age. – Matt 27:20
May our Lord Jesus Christ bless you and be with you today and throughout the coming week. May St. Joseph the Worker be a radiant example of the virtuous worker and may he intercede for all us that we too might grow in virtue working along side Jesus. Amen.
In Christ,
Joe
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