The responsorial psalm today should add more purpose to all celebrations today: "Lord, give success to the work of our hands."
Since Adam and Eve were placed in charge of their famous, or infamous, garden, work has been a part of human life. Think for a moment on the words about work that are found in the Book of Proverbs (12:13): From the fruit of his words a man has his fill of good things and the work of his hands comes back to reward him. And we can give thought to another verse (11): He who tills his own land has food in plenty, but he who follows idle pursuits is a fool.
Unfortuantely most Americans have somehow, probably without knowing the second of the Proverbs verses cited above, have become a people who are identified almost solely with their work. A friend was telling me early this morning, in his homily, that retirement frightens many people. Why? Because they have identified their very existence in terms of their work, their job.
While studying at the University of Florida, I had to review a study that found that the retirement community had this general experience: those who came south without any idea about how they would live in retirement, how they would enjoy being a person not identified by their occupation or the need to have that occupation tended to die more quickly than others who came south with the intention of living a new life, a more relaxed life, a life with more time for friends and community organizations.
An interesting reality: on the seventh day, after six days of production, God rested! Yes, God worked and God rested! The Book of Exodus: "Six days you may labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord" (ch 20:9-10)
Have you ever noticed those people who work 24/7 seem to lack the fulness of humanity. Something has become missing in their lives. God certainly meant the labor is a sacred duty all of us have whether it is the labor of the mind or muscle labor. But God also wants us to partake of the goodness of his creation through relaxation.
When Pope John Paul II was able to continue his work, even in his older years, many times he and his secretary would "disappear" for a part of the Holy Father's "day off." They would go off to one of the nearby hills where the Pope would read, pray and just take in the beauty of God's creation ... allowing his body, his heart and his soul to take off the labor jacket so that the creation gift could also become a part of his life.
As we celebrate this Labor Day, let us pray that those who have lost jobs may find new employment. Let us give thanks to God for the priests and lay colleagues who have over the years struggled to make sure that all workers are treated justly especially in our country. We might tend to forget these men and women. Let us also offer a prayer of thanksgiving for all those who have worked for us when we may have needed the help of others. Let us pray as well that in the very near future there will be equal pay for both men and women who have similar positions of work.
Labor Day is a day that provides us with reason for serious thinking and prayer and relaxation. Beneath the celebrations and all the oratory on this day there is once again a message to all: human beings possess a very real and definite dignity and man or woman or child and that dignity is closely related to work and the ability to step away from that work to be a child of God, free to partake of God's creation.
