[Message from our Executive Director, Daniel Wasserman-Soler]
Dear friends,
In 2000 Pope John Paul II officially opened the cause for canonization of Dorothy Day. Born in 1897, Servant of God Dorothy Day is known as the co-founder of the Catholic Worker Movement together with Peter Maurin. She is less well known as a great lover of the Eucharist. In the passage below, Day describes the sacramental quality of labor and its fruits:
Man gains his bread by his work. It is his bread and wine. It is his life. We cannot emphasize the importance of it enough. We must emphasize the holiness of work, and we must emphasize the sacramental quality of property too. That means the property of the poor. They have very little of it. We know that it is dangerous, it corrupts, it is almost a testing ground in this life of attachment and detachment. We must love it as a sample of God’s providence and goodness and we must be ready always to give it up.
While our work — and the property that comes from our labor — is not a sacrament, it is holy. Not only does it offer sustenance; it is also a “testing ground,” as Day says. Through our work, God gives us life and also challenges us to remain detached from material goods.
You can read more about Dorothy Day’s reflections on work here.
Servant of God Dorothy Day, pray for us! A blessed Labor Day to you all.
Yours in Christ,
Daniel Wasserman-Soler
Executive Director
Lumen Christi Institute