Labor Day the fisrt Monday of September, is primarily a civil holiday and social event, but it also has religious significance, at least in Catholic circles. The Church uses the occasion to reaffirm its teaching about the dignity and value of workers and the work they do. We recall that work is not an end in itself, but rather a sharing in God’s work of creation and redemption. On this Labor Day weekend most of us take a break from what we refer to as our "jobs" in order to rest and re-create. We are invited to honor human work and all human workers. It is a unique secular holiday with profound Christian potential. Many will gather for late summer cookouts and celebrations. We may sleep in a bit later than usual and relax from what is so often a frenzied pace in our contemporary pattern of life. For many parents, Labor Day weekend marks a transition from the hectic pace of the summer to the new hectic pace of the school year. For students and teachers, it is also a portal into the new school year when we begin the work of education, a word whose Latin root means to "draw out" of the student what is good. For Christians, Labor Day invites us to examine how we view our own labor in the light of what the Scriptures and the teaching Church proclaims about the dignity of all human work, no matter what kind, precisely because it is done by human persons who are created in the Image and Likeness of God.
The Catholic Catechism instructs us: "Human work proceeds directly from persons created in the image of God and called to prolong the work of creation by subduing the earth, both with and for one another. Hence work is a duty: "If anyone will not work, let him not eat." We are also taught that how we do our work is as important as the specific kind of work we do. Every task, however menial in human terms, has true and lasting value if done for the right reason and with proper intention. “Whatever you do, do it in the name of the Lord Jesus.” (Col 3:17) .
"Work honors the Creator's gifts and the talents received from him. It can also be redemptive. By enduring the hardship of work in union with Jesus, the carpenter of Nazareth and the one crucified on Calvary, man collaborates in a certain fashion with the Son of God in his redemptive work. He shows himself to be a disciple of Christ by carrying the cross, daily, in the work he is called to accomplish. Work can be a means of sanctification and a way of animating earthly realities with the Spirit of Christ. The social justice teaching of the Church insists that every person has a right and duty to work; that workers deserve just compensation and safe working conditions; and that our work is directed to the benefit of our families, our community, and our nation. On Labor Day we should pray for those who are unemployed and underemployed, conditions that take a toll on the quality of life for individuals and families.
To be fully human, fully alive, we need time to rest, relax, recreate and pray. Even God rested on the seventh day! And Jesus encouraged his disciples to, “Come away by yourselves to a lonely place and rest a while.” (Mk 6:31)