[This wraps up the series on Catholic Social Teaching. Hope you enjoyed it and learned a little. The perplexing thing for the Catholic voter is that no party fully embraces all seven pillars of Catholic Social Teaching. Nevertheless, we must form our consciences for faithful citizenship.]
I never got an allowance as a kid, but I always had a job. My father was very good at teaching us kids the dignity of work and the value of the “working man.” He began as a journeyman carpenter and later became a general contractor, finding success specializing in remote projects in the Aleutian Islands. But he never forgot his roots in the trades, and he always treated his employees well. One of the most touching things for me at his wake were not the number of dignitaries who showed up, but all of the carpenters, laborers and teamsters who came to pay their respects. I remember in particular an Irish carpenter by the name of Kevin Brennan, who said, “When I came to this country, your dad was the first to give me a job. I came to thank him one last time.”
The great thing about being in construction was that when you showed up there was a hole in the ground (usually dug by someone like me in the Laborer’s Union), but when you left, there was proof you had been there. There is great satisfaction in such work because it contributes to the common good, provides the means for folks to earn a living, and hopefully makes for a more beautiful skyline.
The dignity of work comes from creation itself when God gave stewardship of the earth to humanity. God gave us a garden, and we each have our role to play in tending our little part of it to help it become what God has intended it to be. Because of the dignity of the human person, one should never simply be valued by what they can produce, but because of who they are. Workers are not just cogs in the machinery of industry or organizations or government. Work was made for people, not people for work. Through our own work we participate in and help bring about God’s plan for creation.
To learn more about the Dignity of Work and the Rights of Workers in Catholic Social teaching, please watch this short three-minute video.
Then go to:
May our work bring dignity to others and help the world to become what God has created it to be.