Pickles

Pickles, Joseph Bail

 Here's a type of work that I enjoy, cooking! My daughter, Hannah, and her husband really enjoy pickling and canning. It is work, but a labor of love and deliciousness.

A Cotton Office in New Orleans

A Cotton Office in New Orleans, Edgar Degas, 1873
via Wikipedia

Delayed during a trip to New Orleans, Degas decided to paint to pass the time. Circumstances led to this being one of his first sales to a museum. I've featured this painting before but I love it, and the story, every time I come across it.

Only man is capable of work, and only man works

On Labor Day I thought I'd put some Catholic thought on the nature of humans and work. Where better to look than John Paul II's Laborem exercens (Through Work). I didn't even know this existed.

THROUGH WORK man must earn his daily bread and contribute to the continual advance of science and technology and, above all, to elevating unceasingly the cultural and moral level of the society within which he lives in community with those who belong to the same family. And work means any activity by man, whether manual or intellectual, whatever its nature or circumstances; it means any human activity that can and must be recognized as work, in the midst of all the many activities of which man is capable and to which he is predisposed by his very nature, by virtue of humanity itself. Man is made to be in the visible universe an image and likeness of God himself, and he is placed in it in order to subdue the earth. From the beginning therefore he is called to work. Work is one of the characteristics that distinguish man from the rest of creatures, whose activity for sustaining their lives cannot be called work. Only man is capable of work, and only man works, at the same time by work occupying his existence on earth. Thus work bears a particular mark of man and of humanity, the mark of a person operating within a community of persons. And this mark decides its interior characteristics; in a sense it constitutes its very nature.

I love this basic statement. It seems so simple, yet it conveys so much about who we are as children of God.

Litany To Sanctify Work

I like litanies because, if prayed thoughtfully and slowly, they open a window into self examination ... for me at least. Today I share the litany which Magnificat published years ago and which I have long appreciated.

The Catechism teaches that "daily work ... if ... accomplished in the Spirit -- indeed even the hardships of life if patiently born -- all these become spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ" (CCC 901). In a spirit of sacrifice, we consecrate our workday to the Lord and pray:

R: Lord, protect me.
From the temptation to be listless and lazy. R
From the temptation to complain. R
From the temptation to be critical of my boss. R
From the temptation to cheat or to be dishonest with others. R
From the temptation to gossip. R
From the temptation to lateness. R
From the temptation to waste time. R
From the temptation to be judgmental of my co-workers. R
From the temptation to procrastinate. R
From the temptation to be jealous or envious of others. R
From the temptation to be hypercritical. R
From the temptation to engage in idle conversation. R
From the temptation to be quick to take offense. R
From the temptation to shift my work onto others. R
From the temptation to impatience. R
From the temptation to cut corners or to be sloppy. R
From the temptation to give in to weariness. R

R: Lord, please grant it.
For the grace to be a peacemaker. R
For the grace to witness to you by word and example. R
For the grace to be energetic and committed. R
For the grace to be compassionate and forgiving. R
For the grace to offer up all tedium and drudgery. R
For the grace to be attentive to those in need. R
For the grace to be generous in sharing. R
For the grace to be prudent in dealing with others. R
For the grace to be kind. R
For the grace to be understanding. R
For the grace to fulfill my responsibilities well. R
For the grace to be patient and persevering. R
For the grace to put myself in others' shoes. R
For the grace to be dedicated and undistracted. R
For the grace to be honest and forthright. R
For the grace to be hard-working. R
For the grace to be free of stress. R
For the grace of insight to solve problems. R
For the grace of industriousness. R
For the grace to resolve conflicts and difficulties. R
For the grace to put up with hardships. R
For the grace to esteem the dignity of my co-workers. R
For the grace to be thankful for the chance to work. R
For the grace to spread the good news of the Gospel. R

Our Father ...