Spirituality of Work according to John Paul II

In Laborem Excercens (John Paul II) 25. Work as a Sharing in the Activity of the Creator As the Second Vatican Council says, "throughout the course of the centuries, men have laboured to better the circumstances of their lives through a monumental amount of individual and collective effort. To believers, this point is settled: considered in itself, such human activity accords with God's will. For man, created to God's image, received a mandate to subject to himself the earth and all that it contains, and to govern the world with justice and holiness; a mandate to relate himself and the totality of things to him who was to be acknowledged as the Lord and Creator of all. Thus, by the subjection of all things to man, the name of God would be wonderful in all the earth"27. The word of God's revelation is profoundly marked by the fundamental truth that man, created in the image of God, shares by his work in the activity of the Creator and that, within the limits of his own human capabilities, man in a sense continues to develop that activity, and perfects it as he advances further and further in the discovery of the resources and values contained in the whole of creation. We find this truth at the very beginning of Sacred Scripture, in the Book of Genesis, where the creation activity itself is presented in the form of "work" done by God during "six days"28, "resting" on the seventh day29. Besides, the last book of Sacred Scripture echoes the same respect for what God has done through his creative "work" when it proclaims: "Great and wonderful are your deeds, O Lord God the Almighty"30; this is similar to the Book of Genesis, which concludes the description of each day of creation with the statement: "And God saw that it was good"31. This description of creation, which we find in the very first chapter of the Book of Genesis, is also in a sense the first "gospel of work". For it shows what the dignity of work consists of: it teaches that man ought to imitate God, his Creator, in working, because man alone has the unique characteristic of likeness to God. Man ought to imitate God both in working and also in resting, since God himself wished to present his own creative activity under the form of work and rest. This activity by God in the world always continues, as the words of Christ attest: "My Father is working still ..."32: he works with creative power by sustaining in existence the world that he called into being from nothing, and he works with salvific power in the hearts of those whom from the beginning he has destined for "rest"33 in union with himself in his "Father's house"34. Therefore man's work too not only requires a rest every "seventh day"35), but also cannot consist in the mere exercise of human strength in external action; it must leave room for man to prepare himself, by becoming more and more what in the will of God he ought to be, for the "rest" that the Lord reserves for his servants and friends36. Awareness that man's work is a participation in God's activity ought to permeate, as the Council teaches, even "the most ordinary everyday activities. For, while providing the substance of life for themselves and their families, men and women are performing their activities in a way which appropriately benefits society. They can justly consider that by their labour they are unfolding the Creator's work, consulting the advantages of their brothers and sisters, and contributing by their personal industry to the realization in history of the divine plan"37. This Christian spirituality of work should be a heritage shared by all. Especially in the modern age, the spirituality of work should show the maturity called for by the tensions and restlessness of mind and heart. "Far from thinking that works produced by man's own talent and energy are in opposition to God's power, and that the rational creature exists as a kind of rival to the Creator, Christians are convinced that the triumphs of the human race are a sign of God's greatness and the flowering of his own mysterious design. For the greater man's power becomes, the farther his individual and community responsibility extends. ... People are not deterred by the Christian message from building up the world, or impelled to neglect the welfare of their fellows. They are, rather, more stringently bound to do these very things"38. The knowledge that by means of work man shares in the work of creation constitutes the most profound motive for undertaking it in various sectors. "The faithful, therefore", we read in the Constitution Lumen Gentium, "must learn the deepest meaning and the value of all creation, and its orientation to the praise of God. Even by their secular activity they must assist one another to live holier lives. In this way the world will be permeated by the spirit of Christ and more effectively achieve its purpose in justice, charity and peace... Therefore, by their competence in secular fields and by their personal activity, elevated from within by the grace of Christ, let them work vigorously so that by human labour, technical skill, and civil culture created goods may be perfected according to the design of the Creator and the light of his Word"39. 26. Christ , the Man of Work The truth that by means of work man participates in the activity of God himself, his Creator, was given particular prominence by Jesus Christ-the Jesus at whom many of his first listeners in Nazareth "were astonished, saying, 'Where did this man get all this? What is the wisdom given to him?.. Is not this the carpenter?'"40. For Jesus not only proclaimed but first and foremost fulfilled by his deeds the "gospel", the word of eternal Wisdom, that had been entrusted to him. Therefore this was also "the gospel of work", because he who proclaimed it was himself a man of work, a craftsman like Joseph of Nazareth41. And if we do not find in his words a special command to work-but rather on one occasion a prohibition against too much anxiety about work and life42- at the same time the eloquence of the life of Christ is unequivocal: he belongs to the "working world", he has appreciation and respect for human work. It can indeed be said that he looks with love upon human work and the different forms that it takes, seeing in each one of these forms a particular facet of man's likeness with God, the Creator and Father. Is it not he who says: "My Father is the vinedresser"43, and in various ways puts into his teaching the fundamental truth about work which is already expressed in the whole tradition of the Old Testament, beginning with the Book of Genesis? The books of the Old Testament contain many references to human work and to the individual professions exercised by man: for example, the doctor44, the pharmacist45, the craftsman or artist46, the blacksmith47-we could apply these words to today's foundry-workers-the potter48, the farmer49, the scholar50, the sailor51, the builder52, the musician53, the shepherd54, and the fisherman55. The words of praise for the work of women are well known56. In his parables on the Kingdom of God Jesus Christ constantly refers to human work: that of the shepherd57, the farmer58, the doctor59, the sower60, the householder61, the servant62, the steward63, the fisherman64, the merchant65, the labourer66. He also speaks of the various form of women's work67. He compares the apostolate to the manual work of harvesters68 or fishermen69. He refers to the work of scholars too70. This teaching of Christ on work, based on the example of his life during his years in Nazareth, finds a particularly lively echo in the teaching of the Apostle Paul. Paul boasts of working at his trade (he was probably a tent-maker)71, and thanks to that work he was able even as an Apostle to earn his own bread72. "With toil and labour we worked night and day, that we might not burden any of you"73. Hence his instructions, in the form of exhortation and command, on the subject of work: "Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work in quietness and to earn their own living", he writes to the Thessalonians74. In fact, noting that some "are living in idleness ... not doing any work"75, the Apostle does not hesitate to say in the same context: "If any one will not work, let him not eat"76. In another passage he encourages his readers: "Whatever your task, work heartly, as serving the Lord and not men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward"77. The teachings of the Apostle of the Gentiles obviously have key importance for the morality and spirituality of human work. They are an important complement to the great though discreet gospel of work that we find in the life and parables of Christ, in what Jesus "did and taught"78. On the basis of these illuminations emanating from the Source himself, the Church has always proclaimed what we find expressed in modern terms in the teaching of the Second Vatican Council: "Just as human activity proceeds from man, so it is ordered towards man. For when a man works he not only alters things and society, he develops himself as well. He learns much, he cultivates his resources, he goes outside of himself and beyond himself. Rightly understood, this kind of growth is of greater value than any external riches which can be garnered ... Hence, the norm of human activity is this: that in accord with the divine plan and will, it should harmonize with the genuine good of the human race, and allow people as individuals and as members of society to pursue their total vocation and fulfil it"79. Such a vision of the values of human work, or in other words such a spirituality of work, fully explains what we read in the same section of the Council's Pastoral Constitution with regard to the right meaning of progress: "A person is more precious for what he is than for what he has. Similarly, all that people do to obtain greater justice, wider brotherhood, and a more humane ordering of social relationships has greater worth than technical advances. For these advances can supply the material for human progress, but of themselves alone they can never actually bring it about"80. This teaching on the question of progress and development-a subject that dominates presentday thought-can be understood only as the fruit of a tested spirituality of human work; and it is only on the basis of such a spirituality that it can be realized and put into practice. This is the teaching, and also the programme, that has its roots in "the gospel of work". 27. Human Work in the Light of the Cross and the Resurrection of Christ There is yet another aspect of human work, an essential dimension of it, that is profoundly imbued with the spirituality based on the Gospel. All work, whether manual or intellectual, is inevitably linked with toil. The Book of Genesis expresses it in a truly penetrating manner: the original blessing of work contained in the very mystery of creation and connected with man's elevation as the image of God is contrasted with the curse that sin brought with it: "Cursed is the ground because of you; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life"81. This toil connected with work marks the way of human life on earth and constitutes an announcement of death: "In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken"82. Almost as an echo of these words, the author of one of the Wisdom books says: "Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had spent in doing it"83. There is no one on earth who could not apply these words to himself. In a sense, the final word of the Gospel on this matter as on others is found in the Paschal Mystery of Jesus Christ. It is here that we must seek an answer to these problems so important for the spirituality of human work. The Paschal Mystery contains the Cross of Christ and his obedience unto death, which the Apostle contrasts with the disobedience which from the beginning has burdened man's history on earth84. It also contains the elevation of Christ, who by means of death on a Cross returns to his disciples in the Resurrection with the power of the Holy Spirit. Sweat and toil, which work necessarily involves the present condition of the human race, present the Christian and everyone who is called to follow Christ with the possibility of sharing lovingly in the work that Christ came to do85. This work of salvation came about through suffering and death on a Cross. By enduring the toil of work in union with Christ crucified for us, man in a way collaborates with the Son of God for the redemption of humanity. He shows himself a true disciple of Christ by carrying the cross in his turn every day86 in the activity that he is called upon to perform. Christ, "undergoing death itself for all of us sinners, taught us by example that we too must shoulder that cross which the world and the flesh inflict upon those who pursue peace and justice"; but also, at the same time, "appointed Lord by his Resurrection and given all authority in heaven and on earth, Christ is nòw at work in people's hearts through the power of his Spirit... He animates, purifies, and strengthens those noble longings too, by which the human family strives to make its life more human and to render the whole earth submissive to this goal"87. The Christian finds in human work a small part of the Cross of Christ and accepts it in the same spirit of redemption in which Christ accepted his Cross for us. In work, thanks to the light that penetrates us from the Resurrection of Christ, we always find a glimmer of new life, of the new good, as if it were an announcement of "the new heavens and the new earth"88 in which man and the world participate precisely through the toil that goes with work. Through toil-and never without it. On the one hand this confirms the indispensability of the Cross in the spirituality of human work; on the other hand the Cross which this toil constitutes reveals a new good springing from work itself, from work understood in depth and in all its aspects and never apart from work. Is this new good-the fruit of human work-already a small part of that "new earth" where justice dwells89? If it is true that the many forms of toil that go with man's work are a small part of the Cross of Christ, what is the relationship of this new good to the Resurrection of Christ? The Council seeks to reply to this question also, drawing light from the very sources of the revealed word: "Therefore, while we are warned that it profits a man nothing if he gains the whole world and loses himself (cf. Lk 9: 25), the expectation of a new earth must not weaken but rather stimulate our concern for cultivating this one. For here grows the body of a new human family, a body which even now is able to give some kind of foreshadowing of the new age. Earthly progress must be carefully distinguished from the growth of Christ's kingdom. Nevertheless, to the extent that the former can contribute to the better ordering of human society, it is of vital concern to the Kingdom of God"90.

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