[Message from our Executive Director, Daniel Wasserman-Soler]
Dear friends,
On September 14, 1981, Pope John Paul II released his third encyclical: Laborem exercens. He devoted this document “to human work and, even more, to man in the vast context of the reality of work.” Section six of the encyclical explains how Christianity fundamentally changed the relationship between human beings and work:
The ancient world introduced its own typical differentiation of people into classes according to the type of work done. Work which demanded from the worker the exercise of physical strength, the work of muscles and hands, was considered unworthy of free men, and was therefore given to slaves. By broadening certain aspects that already belonged to the Old Testament, Christianity brought about a fundamental change of ideas in this field, taking the whole content of the Gospel message as its point of departure, especially the fact that the one who, while being God, became like us in all things devoted most of the years of his life on earth to manual work at the carpenter’s bench. This circumstance constitutes in itself the most eloquent “Gospel of work”, showing that the basis for determining the value of human work is not primarily the kind of work being done but the fact that the one who is doing it is a person.
Christ brought dignity to manual work, in contrast to others who considered it “unworthy of free men” and appropriate for slaves. Since ancient times, human beings have classified each other by the kind of work they perform. But God calls us to a different point of view: work is valuable because “the one who is doing it is a person.” By working – whether with our hands or otherwise – we realize our humanity. Work gives us dignity because we act in the image of God, who created the earth and called us to subdue it.
If you would like to read more of the encyclical, you can find it here. Happy Labor Day.
Yours in Christ,
Daniel Wasserman-Soler
Executive Director
Lumen Christi Institute