Labor Day Special: The Saints Speak out on the Grace of Work



"Work is a good thing for man-a good thing for his humanity-because through work man not only transforms nature, adapting it to his own needs, but he also achieves fulfilment as a human being and indeed, in a sense, becomes 'more a human being'."  ~ Pope St. John Paul II, Laborem Exercens, 9

"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' 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." ~ Pope St. John Paul II, Laborem Exercens, 27.

"True holiness does not mean a flight from the world; rather, it lies in the effort to incarnate the Gospel in everyday life, in the family, at school and at work, and in social and political involvement." ~ Pope St. John Paul II, Message to Participants in the Seventh International Meeting of the "Catholic Fraternity of Covenant Communities and Fellowships", 4, November 9, 1996

"Sanctifying one’s work is no fantastic dream, but the mission of every Christian — yours and mine."
~ St. Josemaria Escriva, Furrow, 517

"We see in work, in men’s noble creative toil, not only one of the highest human values, an indispensable means to social progress and to greater justice in the relations between men, but also a sign of God’s Love for His creatures, and of men’s love for each other and for God: we see in work a means of perfection, a way to sanctity."
~ St. Josemaria Escriva, Conversations, 10

"You must be careful: don’t let your professional success or failure — which will certainly come — make you forget, even for a moment, what the true aim of your work is: the glory of God!"
~ St. Josemaria Escriva, The Forge, 704

"Love turns work into rest." ~ St. Teresa of Avila,The Collected Works of St. Teresa of Avila: Volume 1, 448.

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