Working conscientiously

From the Opus Dei website

"If we really want to sanctify our work, we have inescapably to fulfil the first condition: that of working, and working well, with human and supernatural seriousness."[1]

We have seen, in a previous article, that working for a supernatural reason is the "soul" of the sanctification of work.[2] Now we will look at the "body" it animates: work well done. If our reason for working is truly love for God and neighbor, this necessarily entails that the job be done as well as possible.

We should especially keep in mind that, as St. Josemaria taught, sanctifying our ordinary work requires doing the work itself well, aiming to do it as perfectly as possible, and fulfilling all our professional and social obligations. It requires working conscientiously, responsibly, lovingly and perseveringly, without negligence or sloppiness.

Holiness does not consist in doing more difficult things every day, said St. Josemaría, but in doing them every day with greater love.
To profit from this teaching of Opus Dei’s founder, we should bear in mind that when we speak about working well we are referring above all to the activity involved, and not to its outcome.

It can happen that, in spite of our best efforts, the end product is defective, either through some unintentional mistake or through factors outside our control. In these cases, which are not uncommon, we see clearly the difference between working with a Christian outlook and being successful in a merely human sense. In the first case, it is the act of working itself which is esteemed, and although the desired object hasn’t been achieved, it was done as well as possible for love of God and the desire to co-redeem with Christ, and so nothing has been wasted. Thus we don’t get upset when confronted with setbacks but try to overcome them, seeing them as an opportunity to be more united to Christ’s Cross. But if one is seeking primarily success, then when things don’t work out well everything is regarded as a failure. Clearly someone with this perspective will never understand what it means to sanctify professional work.

Working conscientiously means trying to do things as perfectly as possible humanly speaking, for supernatural reasons. It doesn’t mean working well and afterwards adding a supernatural motive. It is much deeper than that. What leads a Christian to do things perfectly is love for God, because "it is no good offering to God something that is less perfect than our poor human limitations permit. The work that we offer must be without blemish and it must be done as carefully as possible, even in its smallest details, for God will not accept shoddy workmanship. ‘You shall not offer anything that is faulty,’ Holy Scripture warns us, ‘because it would not be worthy of him’ (Lev 22:20)."[3]

Photo: Welding
When a person tries to do things well, he is usually successful and produces a good result. Moreover, striving to sanctify one’s work generally leads to professional prestige, since love for God leads one "to excel oneself gladly in duty and in sacrifice."[4] But we should never forget something that bears emphasising: that at times God allows setbacks and failures precisely so that we purify our intention and share in Christ’s Cross. And this doesn’t mean that we haven’t worked well and sanctified our work.

Human virtues in work

Work well done brings into play the human virtues informed by charity. "A complete range of virtues is called into play when we set about our work with the purpose of sanctifying it: fortitude, to persevere in our work despite the difficulties that naturally arise and to ensure that we never let ourselves be overwhelmed by anxiety; temperance, in order to spend ourselves unsparingly and to overcome our love of comfort and our selfishness; justice, so as to fulfil our duties towards God, society, our family and our fellow workers; prudence, to know in each case what course to take, and then to set about it without hesitation...And all this, I emphasise, is for the sake of Love."[5]

We need all the human virtues in our work, because they form a fabric in which the threads mutually reinforce one another. But an order exists among them: some threads have to be inserted before others, as when weaving a tapestry.

Since the first requirement is to work, and work well, one understands why our Founder highlights "two human virtues, industriousness and diligence, which merge into one, for they both help us in our efforts to make good use of the talents we have each received from God."[6]

As in the Gospel parable, our Lord has endowed us with talents to fulfil the mission of placing him at the summit of earthly activities by sanctifying our profession. We cannot behave like the wicked and slothful servant,[7] who buried the talent he had received. God wants the gifts he has given us to be productive. And so we have to work hard, diligently, exactingly, to a high standard, doing the best we can.

Industriousness and diligence lead one to undertake the job that has to be done, not what we feel like doing, and to do it as and when we ought. "A hardworking person makes good use of time, for time is not only money, it is glory, God’s glory! He does as he ought and concentrates on what he is doing, not out of routine nor to while away the passing hours, but as the result of attentive and pondered reflection. This is what makes a man diligent. Our everyday usage of this word ‘diligent’ already gives us some idea of its Latin origin. "Diligent" comes from the verb ‘diligo,’ which means to love, to appreciate, to choose something after careful consideration and attention. The diligent man does not rush into things. He does his work thoughtfully and lovingly."[8]

We have to fight against laziness, one of the seven deadly sins and "mother of all vices."[9] One of its forms is indolence in the fulfilment of duty:[10] putting off what we find difficult and giving priority to other things we like more or which take less effort. "Don’t put off your work until tomorrow,"[11] St. Josemaría urges us. At times, "relying on flimsy excuses, we become too easygoing and forget about the marvellous responsibility that rests upon our shoulders. We are content with doing just enough to get by. We let ourselves get carried away by false rationalisations and waste our time, whereas Satan and his allies never take a holiday."[12] We don’t serve God faithfully "if we can be called careless, unreliable, frivolous, disorganised, lazy or useless."[13]

Professional work is a field for the exercise of all the human virtues, following the example of Jesus’ years in Nazareth. Order, serenity, cheerfulness, optimism, fortitude, constancy, fidelity, humility, meekness, magnanimity, and all the other human virtues, turn professional work into a fruitful terrain that flowers under the rain of grace.

The secret of working better each day lies in little things—small aspects a child of God pays attention to in order to finish a job as perfectly as possible.
Without the daily effort to practise these virtues it is easy to commit the same mistake as those who consider themselves "practising" Catholics because they go to Mass and say some prayers, but whose professional life is not governed by Christian moral principles, and more or less openly coexists with faults against justice, truthfulness, or uprightness.

Work of this sort is not pleasing to God, and it cannot be described as well done, or sanctified, even though the end product may be humanly outstanding for its "technical" perfection in some aspects. St. Josemaría always taught the need to put one’s faith into practice, to "incarnate" it, in one’s professional work, in a unity of life. And this is done through human virtues informed by charity.

Without charity, a person is unable to sanctify his work, because charity (supernatural love for God and for souls) is the essence of holiness. A Catholic who is a conscientious worker does not sanctify his work if he is lacking in charity. In reality neither can he be said to work very well, because charity dwells within the virtues, and if it is absent they all sooner or later degenerate into injustice, hatred, anger, envy….

St. Josemaría Escrivá, with his two successors, Don Álvaro and Don Javier.
Love for God is not a mere sentiment. It is the action of the theological virtue of charity which, together with faith and hope, ought to govern the daily lives of the children of God through the exercise of the human virtues. Only thus can we identify ourselves with Christ, perfect God and perfect Man.

Little things

The Christian virtues are normally expressed and developed in professional activity through little things. Industriousness itself, which in a certain sense underlies the other virtues in a person’s work, does not consist in just working a lot, because one shouldn’t forget that "by neglecting small details you could work on and on without rest and yet live the life of a perfect idler."[14]

The virtue of industriousness can lose its true value if we are inattentive to small points of order we find difficult, or we fail to begin and finish things punctually, or we neglect family duties or apostolic tasks with the excuse that work absorbs almost all our energies. Paying attention to little things helps protect against this danger, for it safeguards one’s right intention, since many small details are noticed only by God.

Holiness does not consist in doing more difficult things every day, said St. Josemaría, but in doing them every day with greater love. The secret of working better each day lies in little things—small aspects a child of God pays attention to in order to finish a job as perfectly as possible.

Another thing altogether is being a perfectionist, the defect of seeking perfection in the external product of the work as the end in itself. This attitude represents a distortion of the human virtues, a sign that one has lost the big picture, the prudence that leads one to say at times: "the best is the enemy of the good." This striving after perfection can cause one to neglect other qualities of good work, like finishing it on time. Perfectionism is a surrogate for perfection; it is a sign of self-love and vanity, and has to be overcome with the realism of Christian humility which recognises one’s limitations and trusts in God.

God created everything out of love, and his works are perfect: Dei perfecta sunt opera.[15] Our work is a participation in the work of creation,[16] and it too has to be perfect, insofar as our abilities permit, with God’s grace.

Attention to detail marks the "divine way" of working of a child of God, because it expresses the perfection of love. And it is fundamental to becoming contemplatives in our work, because just as God created the world and saw that it was good,[17] contemplating the reflection of his Love and Truth in what he had created, analogously, with the infinite distance that analogy here implies, our work will be "good" and a means of contemplation if it is not only finished down to the last detail, but carried out in a morally upright fashion.. Thus it will be prayer, contemplative prayer, because work carried out as perfectly as possible, putting love into the small things, allows us to discover "that ‘divine something’ which is hidden in small details."[18] And so, our Father concludes, "when a Christian carries out with love the most insignificant everyday action, that action overflows with the transcendence of God."[19]

Learning to work well

The marvelous panorama that the teaching of St. Josemaría opens to us has to be put into practice in daily life. "It’s not enough to want to do good; we must know how to do it."[20] To serve God and others through our work requires preparation—competence not only in the technical aspects but also in the moral, human and Christian ones.

"When a Christian carries out with love the most insignificant everyday action, that action overflows with the transcendence of God."
"To be useful, serve," are words St. Josemaría wanted to engrave on our hearts so we would never forget that, in order to be a good doctor or a good housewife, it’s not enough to have good will: we also require skill and virtues. "I cannot see the integrity of a person who does not strive to attain professional skills and to carry out properly the task entrusted to his care."[21]

Professional formation to enable us to sanctify our work does not consist only in study and knowledge. As has been said above, it takes much more than that—human virtues informed by charity. This is the principal reason why professional formation lasts all of one’s life, and is improved day by day when we strive to grow in Christian virtues. "It is not sufficient merely to want to have these virtues. We have to learn how to practise them. Discite benefacere—learn to do good (Is 1:17). We need to make a habit of exercising each virtue, by actually being sincere, truthful, balanced, calm and patient… For love is proved by deeds and we cannot love God only by word, but ‘with deeds and in truth’ (Jn 3:18)."[22]

A wonderful channel for this formation is to be found in spiritual direction. If we open our hearts wide, we will receive sound advice—at times relating to ethical or moral duties—because the Holy Spirit will grant us his light and grace. We also have to be ready to receive this formation in the workplace itself, by paying attention to our colleagues’ observations. This requires humility, a readiness to recognise our own limitations and to allow ourselves to be helped, overcoming self-sufficiency, presumption and vanity.

Professional ambition

Professional ambition is a strong incentive to learn how to work well. But it is important to understand it from a Christian point of view, and not see it simply as a natural inclination. Rightly understood, it is the desire to serve God and others through our work, to give a Christian meaning to human progress and thereby imbue society with the spirit of Christ. This is the core of a child of God’s professional ambition, which spurs our human interest in the task at hand and nourishes it with supernatural hope, leading us to strive to turn "the prose of each day into heroic verse."[23]

The most humdrum activities are no longer a monotonous chain of repetitive actions, just as they weren’t such for Jesus, Mary and Joseph in Nazareth. We discover in our tasks a new dimension, the joy of God’s presence, who accepts the offering of work that is well done.

For a child of God, professional ambition is not a selfish whim. It is the ambition to carry out the work God wants, so that we sanctify it and make it fruitful. Therefore our professional vocation is an important part of our divine vocation. But God’s will in this regard is discovered not only in our natural interests and aptitudes (though these are certainly an important factor) but also in the circumstances divine Providence places us in, and specifically through the duties we have to fulfil and the services we can offer.

The confluence of all these factors configures our professional vocation, which is called a "vocation" because it really does represent a call from God to choose, in accord with our circumstances, the professional activity best suited to our sanctification and apostolate.

"You should put your professional interests in their place: they are only means to an end; they can never be regarded—in any way—as if they were the basic thing. These attacks of ‘professionalitis’ stop you from being united with God!"

In this context we see clearly the difference between professional ambition and its pathological expression, "professionalitis" The former is love for work as a means of sanctification and apostolate; the latter is enslavement to an idol that has become an end in itself. And this can happen without our expressly intending it, if we fail to rectify our intention and work in practice for earthly goals and human success.

St. Josemaría warns us of this danger: "you should put your professional interests in their place: they are only means to an end; they can never be regarded—in any way—as if they were the basic thing. These attacks of ‘professionalitis’ stop you from being united with God!"[24] Learning to work well also means learning to keep work in its place, a place which is so important that it is the hinge of sanctification in ordinary life, but always only a means.


Good professionals are recognised by the quality of their work. Everybody knew St. Joseph as the carpenter;[25] and Jesus was the carpenter’s son, ‘fabri filius,’ a carpenter himself.[26] They haven’t left us any of the products of their work, the articles they made—and well made they were, within the limitations of the tools at their disposal, working with effort, order and cheerfulness, while Mary looked after the household chores with the same spirit. What they have left us, though, is Jesus’ redemptive love in his daily work, and that of Mary and Joseph united to him with one heart. This is the core of the sanctification of work.





1. The Forge, 698

2. Cf. The Way, 359

3. Friends of God, 55

4. Furrow, 527

5. Friends of God, 72

6. Ibid. 81

7. Mt 25:26

8. Friends of God, 81

9. Furrow 505. Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1866

10. Cf. St Thomas Aquinas, Summa theologiae, II-II, q.54, a.2, ad 1

11. The Way, 15

12. Friends of God, 62

13. Ibid.

14. Furrow, 494

15. Deut 32:4 (Vg)

16. Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2427

17. Gen 1:10 ff

18. Conversations, 116

19. Ibid.

20. Christ is Passing By, 50

21. Ibid.

22. Friends of God, 91

23. Christ is Passing By, 50

24. Furrow, 502

25. Mt 13:55

26. Cf. Mk 6:3

Benedict XVI: Truth, which is a Person, seeks us out

Benedict XVI

Truth is stronger than any obstacle and seeks out man. This is the great hope that remains at the end: we alone cannot seek out Truth, but Truth, which is a Person, seeks us out.

Blair: What most attracted me to the Catholic Church is her universal nature

ROME, SEPT. 15, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Religion has a central and unique role in society and its development, according to the former prime minister of England.

Tony Blair, a convert to Catholicism, spoke with L'Osservatore Romano about his faith in an interview published in today's Italian edition.

"My spiritual journey began when I started to go to Mass with my wife," Blair said. "Then we decided to baptize our children in the Catholic faith. It was a journey that lasted 25 years, or perhaps more. In time, emotionally, intellectually and rationally it seemed to me that the Catholic home was the right one for me. When I left political office, and I no longer had all the context connected with being prime minister, it was something I really wanted to do."

Blair added that religion has brought him closer to his wife.

"We did not meet because of religion, but it was very interesting to discover that my future wife was very active in the Catholic student organization and in other youth organizations," he recalled. "For young people 23 or 24 years old, when we met, it was rather unusual to discover a shared interest in religion."

Blair affirmed that in addition to his wife's influence, an experience with Pope John Paul II helped him move toward Catholicism. He attended a Mass celebrated by the Holy Father in his private chapel.

"It is still a very vivid memory, an episode that impressed me very much," Blair recounted. "Certainly, it is quite probable that, in any event, I would have come to [my] conversion but, undoubtedly, it was an important stage that ultimately reinforced my decision.

"One of the things that has most attracted me to the Catholic Church is her universal nature. If you are a Catholic, you can go anywhere in the world and attend Mass. I was at Mass in Kigali, Beijing, Singapore ... The fact that wherever you are, you are in communion with others is really formidable. The universal Church herself is an important model of a global institution."

Dialogue

The British politician is now dedicated to promoting the Tony Blair Faith Foundation for interreligious dialogue, which is especially active in Africa and the Middle East.

As to whether being a Catholic is an advantage in his activity in the Middle East, Blair responded: "Honestly, I've never considered it a problem. Never. On the contrary, I often think that, in the modern world, the fact of being a person of faith enhances one's capacity to relate to persons of other creeds. It's true, sometimes the opposite happens -- one meets with strong opposition. However, given that today, factors of secularization subject faith to a harsh and aggressive attack, in the end what happens is that people of different creeds sometimes become allies."

Blair praised Benedict XVI's encyclical "Caritas in Veritate," saying it should be "read and re-read."

He particularly highlighted the Pope's affirmation that "the Christian religion and other religions can make their contribution to development only if God finds a place in the public sphere, with specific reference to the cultural, social, economic and especially the political dimension."

"Personally, I share completely what the Pope writes in the encyclical," Blair added.

Acknowledging that many people want to keep religion out of the public square, the former prime minister affirmed, "To hold, as I hold, that religion has an important role, does not mean that debates and confrontations will end. On the contrary, it will continue on many subjects in regard to which, probably, the Church will be on one side and political leaders on the other.

"However, I don't think this is the main point: The point is that faith has every right to enter in this space and to speak. It must not be silent.

"The voice of faith must not be absent from the public debate."

Truth-seeking

Blair went on to refer to Benedict XVI's efforts to promote following God's truth.

"Of course," he said, "at times this can come into conflict with the political world, and I experienced this as a political leader. Nevertheless, it is very important that the religious aspect be there: It is no accident that the Pope writes that a humanism without God is inhuman. And I believe that by this he understands that human action and human reason are always limited if they are not imbued by faith. At times, they can even be dangerous."

To the affirmation that it will be very difficult to implement the policy delineated in the Pope's encyclical, Blair responded: "People often misunderstand politics. Politics is the interaction between idealism and realism: In general, it isn't the triumph of one over the other."

"When in 2005, we decided to put Africa's poverty at the center of the G-8 in Gleneagles, this had been strongly supported by the Catholic Church and by John Paul II. And it was crucial. Difficult political knots are created when one must decide how much money will be given, if more should be done and if it can be done -- knots that can also lead to strong confrontations.

"However, the fact that there is talk of it, and that the position is strongly supported by the Church, can in fact help the politician to make the right choice. It's true, it doesn't eliminate the problem, but it helps.

"When I told the [British] that we had to substantially increase our aid to Africa, I was much helped by the fact that the Church said publicly that it was the right decision, that it was something morally good."

Fatherhood

Finally, L'Osservatore Romano spoke with Blair about his personal experience as a father. He said it is a role that has to be taken "with responsibility and without arrogance."

"No matter how good or intelligent I thought I was, I always found that to be a father was something very difficult. And I still think so," he reflected.

Blair affirmed that fathers are "crucial" figures in the family, "essential" for children's growth and formation.

And he contended that "in certain aspects, the idea of family is being recovered."

"Also in this area I believe that religious communities and the Church have a role to play," Blair said. "It's true, families have their problems, they disintegrate -- something that I fear will continue to happen. However, I have always thought that the Church's indications in the matter of the family were useful.

"Lets be clear: to make a marriage work calls for effort and, I believe, paternity also calls for it. But I really think that, among the great changes that are taking place, also in the social realm, it is necessary to rediscover that paternity is a responsibility and a necessity."

Prayer for Purity: based on groundbreaking Theology of the Body

I have feedback that this prayer helps people live chastity and get rid of a nasty sexual addiction, turning around their lives towards a life of purity. 

Lord Jesus, I beg you for the grace and joy of purity, for without you I can do nothing.

Grant me the gift to reverence my body and the bodies of my sisters and brothers in Christ. Help me to recognize the truth of each human body: a sacred incarnate spirit, a sublime image of God, a temple of the Holy Spirit, a person worth all your blood, and a child of God created by you, the first human and the only model of all human bodies. 

Teach me, Jesus, to see you in each human body. May I protect each one from evil, and serve each one with your benevolent, saving love.

Deliver me, Lord, from the disgusting and addicting evil of lust—the sin of seeing and using my body and the bodies of your beloved daughters and sons as mere things and objects for my own selfish ends. 

May I reverence human sexuality as a sacred image of your divine self-giving to form your family, your design to create immortal souls for your bride, the Church. I am deeply sorry for my sins of selfishness which offend you, make you suffer the greatest pains, and destroy my very self.

Help me, my only Savior, to remember that you love me with infinite love at every moment, and to often recall the center of my life: your supreme love for me in your fierce suffering and death on the cross that you make present in the Eucharist. 

My merciful Mother, through your all-powerful prayer, help us your children to live with the dignity of children of God, masters of our feelings, urges, and desires. Help us to quickly flee from any temptation and turn at once to my Crucified and Risen Savior, who is Infinite Love and Infinite Beauty, the only source of the greatest possible happiness. Amen. 

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John Paul II’s theology of the body has been called “a kind of theological time bomb set to go off with dramatic consequences ...perhaps in the twenty-first century.” This prayer is a way of helping set off that time bomb.

This prayer is based on insights found in a little book, Achieving Chastity in a Pornographic World, written by Fr. T.G. Morrow who based his insights on John Paul II’s theology of the body. The prayer is intended to facilitate the practice of a method that Fr. Morrow suggested to uproot sexual addiction and to build a sturdy habit of chastity.

In a nutshell, the method means repeating the values and reasons of chastity (several times a day) so as to convince the sexual appetite, permeating it with reason, until it is converted and is at peace.

I thought of integrating the reasons into a prayer which can be said regularly, especially during days when one is most tempted. Or if one has a deeper problem, perhaps pray it three times a day (morning, noon, nighttime). This is the reason for this given by St. Mother Teresa: "purity is a fruit of prayer." The Catechism also states: "chastity is a gift from God, a grace, a fruit of spiritual effort."

Benedict XVI quoted St. Benedict of Nursia's Mens nostra concordet voci nostras, our mind must be in accord with our voice. "The word, the voice, goes ahead of us," explained Pope Benedict, "and our mind must adapt to it. For on our own we human beings do not know how to pray as we ought." This prayer has that intention: to help the mind to be shaped by truth that we say in prayer. And so the convinced mind will be able to regulate the sexual appetite through reason and so our desires will embrace chastity from within, freely,  consciously and peacefully. And at the same time we acknowledge our powerlessness in achieving the virtue of chastity and need of God. 

On this St. Augustine has personal experience and clear doctrine: "I thought that continence arose from one's own powers, which I did not recognize in myself. I was foolish enough not to know . . . that no one can be continent unless you grant it. For you would surely have granted it if my inner groaning had reached your ears and I with firm faith had cast my cares on you."

St. Josemaria said it succintly: "It is not possible to lead a clean life without God's assistance. He wants us to be humble and to ask for his aid."

This prayer is a sample of what people can personally compose, as a way of doing what Fr. Morrow suggested, i.e. to make a list of reasons which one reads and reflects on several times a day. You can also give me feedback so this particular prayer can be of more help in bringing back purity to this pornographic world.

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Fr. Morrow's book has been praised by eminent theologians and spiritual writers:

Dr. William May calls this book “eminently practical,” one that gives “great hope” to people struggling with sexual temptations and addictions.

Fr. Benedict Groeschel, CFR said, the book “effectively brings spirituality and morality together with the best contemporary psychological thinking.”

Father John F. Harvey, OSFS, the Founder of Courage said: “Father Morrow concentrates on presenting a spiritual strategy which will help the person on the long road back to inner freedom. That strategy includes not only deep honesty with one’s self but also a life of reflective prayer, known as prayer of the heart.”

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According to Fr. Morrow, these are the basic values or the goodness of chastity, which we can remind ourselves of frequently "so as to alleviate any interior resentment and find peace in the chaste decision":

1. Sex is holy, not a plaything. It should never be trivialized.

2. Created in the image of God, I can live by reason, not just by urges (as the animals do).

3. Persons are to be loved, not merely used as objects of enjoyment.

4. I must not treat persons as objects, even in the mind, lest I become a user of persons in practice.

5. Unchaste activity destroys my most precious friendship, that with God, the source of all happiness.

6. Unchaste activity brings pleasure but not happiness.

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A key must-read article: Purity and the Best Remedy For Lust 

Further reading:

http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/sexuality/se0109.html

http://www.cfalive.org/ChastPornW506.pdf