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"Anyone unwilling to work should not eat"
We read the passage from Paul's second letter to the Thessalonians (3:10) that "Anyone unwilling to work should not eat" a few days ago during morning or evening prayer, so when I saw that today we were celebrating the feast of the basilicas of Sts. Peter and Paul it immediately jumped to mind. I thought "I should write a post on this", and then, as often seems the case, ideas started filling my mind about how such a post might come together. See, yesterday, right after the usual 4 hours of classes (Pentateuch and Church History), about half of the guys in my class made our way across Rome and proceeded to watch a video for a couple hours about all sorts of different details regarding moving/immigrating/entering Italy. Most of it was totally inapplicable - we're not planning on becoming Italian citizens, or having kids, or finding family over here, etc. - but it wasn't all bad. First of all, it was rather hilarious to watch the two people - totally straight faced, and looking absolutely bored - banter back and forth about intricacies of Italian immigration law. [Laura] "John, I'm so glad you mentioned that, it's sooo interesting, could you remind us of the seventeen types of visas that one can apply for and the penalties that are incurred if you don't apply at your local post-office?"... Also, I got a bit of seminar reading done while sitting there (we're reading about Scripture, and how God inspired the human authors to record his revelation), so that was a plus!
How, does this apply to Paul? Well, while sitting there - half way through eating my lunch and part of the way through the videos - one of the guys (thanks John!) asked if the occasion would make it onto my blog. I couldn't immediately think of a way to fit it in here - yeah, they talked about marriage, maybe do something with that... - but this morning "the dawn from on high broke upon me" and I finally found a way to blog about it! And that is the topic of work. This video, again, and again, and again, spoke about the importance of work for the "unitary parliamentary republic" of current-day Italy. Work visas, guarantees for work, how the country was founded on and for work... It was one of the most-repeated topics, and one that I didn't think was very applicable to me, but - as it turned out - it definitely is. Taking Paul's words literally, if you don't work, you don't eat, it's that simple. Work is necessary because society wouldn't function without it, people would starve, and that's non va bene (not good). But, since those words are inspired by God, we can go much further than just the literal meaning!
Just last week my class had a formation conference on the topic of academic formation, and Msgr. Hanke began his talk with Our Lord's words "the harvest is ready but the laborers are few". We, as he pointed out, might not be enamored by our studies. Some classes aren't super-interesting, some even seem to be a waste of time - I could be getting so much more done doing something else - and some are just plain hard. But, just as we get excited about the next travel weekend, or going out to dinner, or playing a sport, or leading tours of St. Peter's, or going to Mass at magnificent cathedrals, or spending time in Adoration, or getting ordained and working in a parish, we also need to enthusiastically throw ourselves at our studies. Why? Because there is a much deeper meaning behind Our Lord's words, and St. Paul's words than just the literal of the necessity for work. St. Paul tells us "Anyone unwilling to work should not eat". The focus isn't so much "if you don't work, you don't get to eat" but rather "here's the food, now work!" Our Lord has already given us the food - Himself in the Eucharist, He has already given us the strength and sustenance to go out there and "fight the good fight". See, not only is our food supernatural, but so is our work, our task, our calling!
Look at any of the saints! St. John Vianney spent like 15+ hours in the confessional each day. St. Thomas Aquinas wrote so many books in his (short) life that he was at times he was dictating two different books, to two different scribes, at the same time. St. Joseph, St. Faustina, St. Catherine of Sienna - these are saints who put blood, sweat, and tears into their work for the Lord, and they made it to heaven, so they're probably pretty good examples to follow. But, sticking with St. Paul, we have another fantastic example of somebody who worked hard for God. He traveled a lot of miles (10,000ish, if you count his last journey to Rome), wrote a lot of letters, ... actually, he says exactly what he endured for the sake of Christ:
"but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, tumults, labors, watching, hunger; by purity, knowledge, forbearance, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love, truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; in honor and dishonor, in ill repute and good repute. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold we live; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything" - 2 Corinthians 6:4-10
We, of course, are called to follow in the footsteps of these saints! We, too, are called to labor for God in this world. Originally, I was going to end this post here, but there's one more important thing to say. And that is this: that we do all of this, we tackle every challenge, every difficulty, every cross, with love. The Eucharist, Jesus giving Himself to us, isn't like some sort of protein bar - giving us a boost of energy to keep working - it's so much more than that! It isn't just our sustenance, it's the bond between us and God, Divine life within us. I just read a section in Pope Emeritus Benedict's Jesus of Nazareth (for Christology) and while he's talking about the beatitude "blessed are the pure of heart for they shall see God", he speaks to this idea of "seeing God" and how it belongs properly to Jesus, as the Son, to "see God". "Purification of heart occurs as a consequence of following Christ, of becoming one with him." [page 95] This union, this "becoming one", happens most profoundly, and most amazingly in the Eucharist! And what is the very next thing that Benedict says? - "It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me" (quoting St. Paul, from Galatians 2:20). This is huge! The Eucharist doesn't just give us a spiritual boost to keep doing whatever we need to get done, it makes us intimately united with Christ, it super-naturalizes our work to become His. We aren't always writing amazing theological works, or bringing the faith to pagans, or writing letters to the Pope (St. Thomas, St. Paul, St. Catherine did those things all the time), but when we receive the Eucharist we can allow even our menial, boring, day-to-day, tasks become the work of Christ. When Christ is in us, when we allow Him to work through us and in us, not only are we availed that supernatural energy that comes from following Him, but we are also made co-workers in His vineyard. This task is tough! Christ might call us to difficult works for Him, or He might call us to do our typical works, but transformed and inspired by Him. Either way, we might not be applauded by our world these days. But regardless, Christ is with us, filling us with His love and strength, and guiding us on the path of following Him.
And you thought taking out the trash, or going to that class, or watching a "civic education" video didn't matter! Folks, if you're willing to eat - to consume Christ's Body - be ready to work, to do everything with the challenge of doing it as Christ would, and the comfort of having Him with you!
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| Notice who is behind St. Paul! (and the fact that he's carrying a sword...) |
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