Work, Leisure, Worship

Work, Leisure, Worship We spe d u h of ou li es e gaged i o k – whatever that work may be for us – and yet theology is remarkably silent on the subject, particularly so when it comes to the question of incorporating work with leisure and worship. We tend to see work, leisure, and worship as three different aspects of life; the aim of this short article is to suggest that they are in fact closely interconnected. I o side o k to e e e legiti ate hu a o upatio paid o u paid [ hi h] is some di e sio of God s o o k: aki g, desig i g, doi g ho es, eautif i g, helpi g, i gi g 1 dig it , a d leadi g . Such a definition includes housework, care of children or the sick, ministry in all its forms, voluntary work, the search for work, and school/college studies, as well as paid employment: all these forms of work must be included for an effective theological approach to work. Including all these kinds of work in our definition also draws together the two ideas of work we encounter in the Ne Testa e t: o k as a se ula a ti it hi h e ea ou li i g, o o t i ute i so e a to the household e o o ; a d o k as apostoli a ti it : doi g Fathe s o k Luke XX fu the i g the Ki gdo , p ea hi g the Good Ne s, a d so fo th. Let us start with a consideration of human work and divine work. For Christians, God is the Creator: ake of hea e a d ea th, of all thi gs isi le a d i isi le , as e p o lai i the C eed. I the egi i g God eated hea e a d ea th Ge . .1). Not only does God create everything from othi g, ut he epeatedl sees that it as good . ‘eadi g Ge . -Gen.2.3 aloud reinforces these t o e t al ideas: that eatio is all God s ha di o k; a d that it is good. God s good ha di o k includes humanity, created in the divine image, to subdue, or have dominion over, the earth (Gen. 1.26-28). From this we may draw the conclusion that humanity, created in the image of God, is to work as God has worked, in and with the good creation. A third feature of the Genesis 1 creation account is the Sabbath: God works, creating, on six days, ut ests, e jo i g eatio , o the se e th. Hu a it is ot o l eated i God s i age, ut is to work in his image, too, by working for six days, and resting on the seventh, as specified in the Exodus De alogue: Si da s thou shalt la ou … ut o the se e th da is the Sa ath of the Lo d th God: thou shalt do o o k… Fo i si da s the Lo d ade hea e a d ea th… a d ested o the se e th day: therefore the Lord blessed the se e th da a d sa tified it. E od. .8-11) Note that, of the Ten Commandments, only two – this, and the prohibition on graven images – develop or explain the commandment beyond a single phrase. Human work, then, is carried out by those created in the image of God, in and with creation, and follo i g the di i e odel of o k a d est. To uote the late Pope Joh Paul II, hu a it , created in the image of God, shares by his work in the activity of the Creator .2 This, he tea hes, is the fi st gospel of o k .3 1 R. Paul Stevens, The Other Six Days. Vocation, work, and Ministry in Biblical Perspective Grand Rapids MI/Cambridge: William B. Eerdmans (1999), p.119. Although Stevens works in the Reform tradition, this efle tio egi s f o Co ga s o side ation of lay ministry in Lay People in the Church. 2 Laborem Exercens (1981), #25. 3 LE #25. Keepi g hol the Sa ath da – a day itself blessed and sanctified by the Lord – by refraining from work invites us to observe the close connection between work, leisure, and worship. Pieper argued that the soul of leisu e… lies i ele atio … But if ele atio is the o e of leisu e, the leisu e a o l e ade possi le a d justifia le o the … basis of divine worship. 4 Throughout this short work, Pieper argues that the stopping of work, or leisure, must properly lead to a celebration, in religious te s, a festi al, o di i e o ship: fo E glish speake s, the de i atio of holida f o hol da is a constant reminder of this connection. When leisure – refraining from work in order to rest – is properly ordered, it becomes worship, ideally, of course, sacramental worship in the Eucharist. But the Eucharist does not abandon work: far from it, for, at the very heart of the Eucharist we are e i ded of o k. The ead a d i e to e offe ed a e the f uit of the ea th/ i e a d work of human hands (my emphasis). This point was underscored repeatedly by the founder of the Young Christian Workers, Jozef Cardijn, who observed that ithout o k the e ould e o host, o i e, o hali e, o pate , o alta …5 In a very different Church, Cardijn was seeking to show young o ke s that the , too ould o t i ute to the Mass, the su it a d sou e of sa a e tal life. The Mass, Pope Be edi t XVI e i ds us, is the o u io of all sai ts. Yes, i a e tai se se this is the litu g of hea e , hose t ue g eat ess is that hea e is to ope he e .6 Work, leisure, and worship are thus intimately linked together. At work, we are in the image of God, participating in his ongoing creation; our leisure, refraining f o o k, i o s God s est f o o k; our leisure becomes worship; and the requirements for that worship, which itself has an eschatological component, are met, again, through work. 4 Josef Pieper, Leisure the basis of culture trans. Alexander Dru (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2009 [1952; 1963]), p.65. 5 REF 6 Joseph Ratzinger, God and World. A Conversation with Peter Seewald trans. Henry Taylor (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2002, p. 412.