The dignity of work

For some, the idea of the dignity of work might seem strange indeed. Those exploited by unjust or unsafe working conditions might justifiably consider work to be drudgery, a burden or even a prison of sorts. Those with unsatisfying or unfulfilling work may view work simply as a necessary evil or, at best, a means to an end such as survival, profit or even power.

In contrast, the Catholic Church teaches that work is a gift from God. Made in the image of God, we express our dignity through work. Work enables us to demonstrate our love for God and neighbor, participate in the creative action of God and sanctify the everyday activities of life. Further, the Catechism of the Catholic Church (2428) points out that it is also dignified because we can exercise and fulfill the potential inscribed in our nature, at least in part, through work.

What about toil and struggle?

One may counter that work, though a divine gift in the beginning, changed because of the Fall. In Genesis 3:17-19, God declares that humanity must toil and live by the sweat of the brow due to its disobedience. In this account, work is presented as a punishment and source of suffering.

Yet, even after the Fall, work retains its dignity. Enduring the hardship associated with work can be a way for each of us to participate in the redemptive work of Christ, who suffered death for our salvation. Thus even toilsome work can serve as an invitation to inward self-development and an occasion to receive God’s grace.

Work and the worker

In the Gospel of Mark (2:27), Jesus famously says that the Sabbath was made for people, not people for the Sabbath. The reason is that the Sabbath is another divine gift to humanity. Even though we have a duty to honor the Sabbath, the Sabbath was given to benefit us.

Consequently, it should not be surprising that Catholicism views the relationship between work and the worker in exactly the same way. The Catechism (2428) states it plainly and directly: work is for people, not people for work. This is the just, or properly ordered, relationship between work and the worker, and it is critical to Catholic Social Teaching’s stance on the rights of workers.

The rights of workers

To review, work is a divine gift that provides us with a way of demonstrating our love of God, participating in God’s creative action and Christ’s redemptive work, providing for our lives and families, serving our neighbors and developing our potential. Consequently, justice demands everyone should be able to derive from work the means to achieve these things. This means that workers have the right, for example, to productive work, a just and fair wage, safe working conditions, time for rest, health and retirement benefits, unionization and private property.

Of course, properly ordered relationships mean these rights carry corresponding responsibilities. For example, workers are to provide a fair day’s work and to be good stewards of the resources entrusted to them. Further, according to the Catechism (2431-32), a justly ordered society requires that the state guarantees security and ensures human rights are honored in the economic sector. Likewise, those responsible for business enterprises are to consider the “good of persons and not only the increase of profits” and consider the economic and ecological effects of their operation.

For further reading

If you are interested in learning more about the Church’s teaching on the dignity of work and the rights of workers, you might consider two foundational papal documents. Pope Leo XIII’s Rerum Novarum in 1891 was the first papal document to consider these themes. Ninety years later in 1981, Pope John Paul II built on Pope Leo XIII’s teaching in Laborem Exercens. Both can be found at www.vatican.va.

Who said that?

“Work, which is the immediate expression of a human personality, must always be rated higher than the possession of external goods which of their very nature are merely instrumental.”

A. Pope Leo XIII

B. Pope John XXIII

C. Pope John Paul II

D. Pope Pius VI

Answer: B – Pope John XXIII in his 1961 encyclical Mater et Magistra (107)