| JPIC Corner May 2010 |
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| Saturday, 15 May 2010 00:00 |
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THE DIGNITY OF HUMAN WORK
On May 1, we celebrated the Feast of St. Joseph, the Worker. During this month, we will focus on the dignity of human work. The dignity of work and the rights of workers is one of the seven major principles of Catholic Social Teaching. Work is a human good. It is a basic human right that reflects men’s and women’s dignity and worth.1 Pope Benedict XVI reminds us that in labor issues, “the primary capital to be safeguarded and valued is man [woman], the human person in his or her integrity.”2 From Genesis, we see that the dignity of work consists of teaching that man and woman “ought to imitate God his [her] creator, in working, because man [woman] alone has the unique characteristics of likeness to God.”3 Work, whether manual or intellectual involves the whole person.4 It is “central to the freedom and well-being of people.”5 Jesus’ vocation was to do the will of His Father: “My food is to do the will of the one who sent meant to finish his work.”6 Before his public ministry, Jesus was most likely engaged in manual labor with his father, Joseph the Carpenter.7 In His public ministry, Jesus used the day-to-day-human work of men and women in his parables to describe the reign of God: householder, merchant, shepherd, farmer, fisherman, steward, servant and laborer.8 Indeed, work gives us the opportunity to express and to develop one’s talents for one’s own good and for the good of others. From a Christian perspective, we can say that work is a vocation in the service of discipleship. It is not only a basic human right, but also a duty from our baptismal call and commitment to work with Christ. Many people view labor as something bad and burdensome because of Original Sin. They might think that God is punishing us from the sin of Adam and Eve. This does not seem, however, to be the case. If we look closely at the Fall in Genesis, we see that God cursed more the earth than he did Adam and Eve. Adam and Eve were already working in the Garden of Eden as God’s stewards before the Fall. God “blessed them, saying ‘Be fertile and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and all the living things that move on the earth.”9 After the Fall, “God’s curse fall directly not on man nor on his work, but on the earth, which brings forth thorns and thistles. It is only indirectly that the curse affects human work, insofar as being exercised over a hostile earth; it is made difficult and harsh.”10 Original sin damages our relationship with God; however, human work is not a result of that damaged relationship. The Catholic Church has long been a promoter of the rights of workers. These include a right to fair wages and social benefits; to have safe working conditions; to organize and to form unions; to rest and vacation; and to have proper training for employment. Unemployment Today our society and world faces the reality of unemployment. Unemployment can bring about physical and psychological damage to the well-being of a person, family and community. It creates economic burdens to obtain proper food, clothing and shelter. It can separate and displace individuals from families and communities. Often people must migrate to other countries in search of employment. It leaves people with a sense of unworthiness, powerlessness, and in extreme cases, unemployment may push persons to suicide. Unemployment “almost always wounds its victim’s dignity and threatens the equilibrium of [a person’s] life.”11
Br. Warren Perrotto, MSC
JPIC Coordinator
Notes: 1. Pope John Paul, II, Laborem Excercens (LE), 9.
2. Pope Benedict XVI, Caritas In Veritate (CV), 25 3. Cf. LE, 25 4. Cf. Le, 24
5. United States Catholic Bishops, Economic Justice for All, (CJA), 141
6. John 4:34 7. Cf. Pope John Paul II, Redemptoris Custos, 22. 8. Cf. LE, 26 9. Genesis 1:28 10. Judith Dwyer (Edt.), The New Dictionary of Catholic Social Thought. Collegeville, MN, Liturgical Press, 1994, p. 992. (Cf. also Genesis 1:14-19) 11. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2436.
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JPIC Corner May 2010
Did You Know?
In 2008, 5,214 workers in the United States died from work-related injuries.
Among full-time wage and salary workers, union members had median usual weekly earnings of $908, while those who were not represented by unions had median weekly earnings of $710 (2009 statistics).
Just over a quarter of adults working full-time in the U.S. (27.5%) have flexible schedules.
There are over 4 million nonfatal work-related injuries and illnesses each year.
Women make up 46.5% of the total workforce in the US, but 59% of the part-time work force.
What Do We Mean by “Decent Work”?
Decent work “means work that expresses the essential dignity of every man and woman in the context of their particular society: work that is freely chosen, effectively associating workers, both men and women, with the development of their community; work that enables the worker to be respected and free from any form of discrimination; work that makes it possible for families to meet their needs and provide schooling for children, without the children themselves being forced into labor; work that permits the workers to organize themselves freely, and to make their voices heard; work that leaves enough room for re-discovering one’s roots at a personal, familial and spiritual level;work that guarantees those who have retired a decent standard of living”
Caritas en Veritatae, #63