We take a break from our normally scheduled daily mass readings to hear readings from our lectionary that honor the dignity of human labor as we celebrate Labor Day as a nation today. Some say that roots of Labor Day have a connection with our Catholic faith, with 19th century Catholic labor activist Peter McGuire as being one who advocated for a celebration of Labor Day. Indeed, our Catholic faith tradition has a positive view of work, as we see ourselves in building up and continuing God’s act of creation through the way we build up the Kingdom of God through our work and labor. Our Catholic social teaching asserts that those in management or ownership positions of a business or company have a moral responsibility to work toward justice, to recognize the dignity of their employees, seeing them as more than just a part of the production process. Workers have a responsibility as well of treating their employer with dignity and respect as we participate in the common good of society through our work. We as workers owe both God and our employer a full day’s work for a full day’s wages, to work as best we can, seeing our work as participating in God’s ongoing work of creation. As we talk about employers and employees and both of our responsibilities, we may echo what the psalmist proclaims today: “Lord, give success to the work of our hands.”
In our Gospel today from Matthew, Jesus sees people making a lot of worldly concerns their priority in life, instead of proclaiming God’s kingdom and the values of that kingdom a priority. Back in 1981, Pope John Paul II wrote an encyclical entitled On Human Work, honoring the 90th anniversary of Rerum Novarum, the encyclical issued by Pope Leo XIII in 1891 that started the modern era of Catholic Social Teaching. Pope John Paul asserted that our work "has been profaned by sin and contaminated by egoism," that work as one of principal human endeavors "needs to be redeemed." John Paul II saw Jesus as a man of work, with his work enabling him to develop his humanity. Jesus work was a part of the way he dedicated himself to the affairs of his Father. Pope John Paul II saw work as a way we witness to God the creator, of realizing our humanity and the humanity of others, of allowing our work in a positive way to form us and in a sense, to create us. Labor Day is an important secular holiday in our society, but it is more than just a day off of work. May we see it as a way to celebrate our Catholic tradition of social teaching and the dignity of work and workers.
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