Dear Friends,
Thank you, several of you, who have given us encouraging feedback on last week’s Reflection particularly on ‘Queer Freedom’ – it seems to have ‘hit the spot’ for many of you.
With holidays on many of our horizons it seems strange to have ‘work’ as a theme today. But we all have tasks – maybe not paid work but things that we need to do like, for instance, our garden, our shopping – our daily round. These attachments maybe suggest ways to go about quite mundane things positively. As Joan Chittister says it is about ‘the way we see our role in the on-going creation of the world’. Hoping that you find something encouraging here – something that helps you to feel part of God’s work of Creation. If you are already on holiday: enjoy it!
The blessing this week is ‘May the Mind of Jesus’ from In Tune with Heaven. Let’s pray it not just for ourselves but also for all those whose work is repetitive, whose conditions of work are unjust, who do not receive recompense for their work.
With love
Reflection on Work – Joan Chittister
One of the most demanding, but often overlooked, dimensions of the creation story is that when creation was finished, it wasn’t really finished at all. Instead, God committed the rest of the process to us. What humans do on this earth either continues creation or obstructs it. It all depends on the way we look at life, the way we see our role in the on-going creation of the world.
Work is our contribution to creation. It relates us to the world. It fulfills our responsibility to the future. God left us a world in tact, a world with enough for everyone. What kind of world are we leaving to those who come after us? Our task is to work towards shaping our world in the image of God – the little piece of the planet for which we are responsible.
From Laudato Si – Pope Francis
We were created with a vocation to work. The goal should not be that technological progress increasingly replacing work – this would be detrimental to humanity. Work is a necessity, part of the meaning of life on this earth, a path to growth, human development and personal fulfillment.
Helping the poor financially must always be a provisional solution in the face of pressing needs. The broader objective should always be to allow them a dignified life through work.
A Prayer around the theme of Work
May we be aware of the variety of our giftedness and how each gift is part of the whole.
May we and all who work together have a sense of unity & dependence on each other – as fingers of the same hand.
May all grow in love and respect for one another in our diversity of gifts.
We pray for all who work – for dignity, respect, justice & fair recompense. And for all who are unable to work – for fulfillment, peace and a sense of worth.
May the light of Christ be seen in all gifts – all endeavour – all relationships & all creation.
1 Chronicles 28.20
Don’t be frightened by the size of the task:
Be strong & courageous,
get to work;
for the Lord my God is with you.
God will not forsake you.
God will see to it
that everything is finished correctly.