INDUSTRIOUSNESS & ORDER

• The Christian meaning of work • Sanctification of work: spirit of

service and sense of justice• Industriousness• Professional competence and

fulfilling the duties of our state• The work of a student• Order: the key to working well

INDUSTRIOUSNESS & ORDER

• What is the essence of work? • How does God conceive of work?• Why does God will work?

» John Piper, Why God Wills Work, 1983» http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-libra

ry/sermons/why-god-wills-work

Christian meaning of work

Christian meaning of work

• First, God wills work because when we work in reliance on His power and according to His pattern of excellence, His glory is made known and our joy is increased.

John Piper, Why God Wills Work, 1983http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/sermons/why-god-wills-work

Christian meaning of work

• The second reason God wills work is that by working we provide for our legitimate needs.

• The third reason God wills work is that by working we provide for the needs of those who can't provide for their own.

John Piper, Why God Wills Work, 1983http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/sermons/why-god-wills-work

Christian meaning of work

• Finally, God wills work as a way of building bridges for the gospel. – There is a very close connection between the

way we do our work and the attitude that unbelievers will have toward the Gospel that makes us tick.

John Piper, Why God Wills Work, 1983http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/sermons/why-god-wills-work

Work, understood both as activity and as product, is a fundamental

part of human existence

• In producing works of our own making, we resemble our Creator, and we should do so consciously and cooperatively. "In this way, work becomes supernatural, because its end is God and because it is done, with God in mind, as an act of obedience."

» St. Josemaria Escriva,» http://www.ewtn.com/_saints/escriva/work_holiness.htm

Christian meaning of work according to St. Josemaria

• We have reminded Christians of the wonderful words of Genesis which tell us that God created man so that he might work, and we have concentrated on the example of Christ, who spent most of His life on earth working as a craftsman in a village. We love human work which He chose as His state in life, which He cultivated and sanctified.

Christian meaning of work: a means of perfection, a way of sanctity

• 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

Sanctification of work: spirit of service and sense of justice

• Sacred Scripture tells us that God placed man in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it.

• From the beginning of man’s existence, work is for him a command of nature, a feature of his condition as created being, an expression of his dignity, a means whereby he co-operates in the great overall task of divine Providence, and whereby he shares in the work of Redemption when his work is associated with the merits of Christ.

Sanctification of work: OPUS DEI

• Hence, the sole objective of Opus Dei has always been to see to it that there be men and women of all races and social conditions who endeavour to love and to serve God and the rest of mankind in and through their ordinary work, in the midst of the realities and interests of the world.

– St. Josemaria Escriva, Conversations, 10

Sanctification of work: spirit of service and sense of justice

• St Paul wrote: "Even when we were with you, we gave you this command: If anyone will not work let him not eat. For we hear that some of you are living in idleness, mere busybodies, not doing any 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" (2 Thess. 3:10-12).

Honest work is a service to God

• On innumerable occasions, in print and in person, St. Josemaria elaborated on the criteria for honest work—industriousness, sound professional training, attention to detail, care for the quality of the work accomplished—and considered it inseparable from good personal behavior.

Industriousness• Industriousness: diligence; persevering determination to

perform a task• Synonyms: diligence, hard work, industry, application,

conscientiousness, productiveness, energy

• Industriousness is busy — always devising ways to get things done.• Industriousness is energetic — putting focus on accomplishments.• Industriousness is usable — for a particular purpose or in a special

way.• Industriousness is diligence — attentiveness and commitment to a

task.• Industriousness is vigor — strength and energy coupled with intent.

– http://www.virtue.info/virtues/noble/industry/virtue.php

Industriousness

• Work well done is work done with love. To have a proper regard to the task we are engaged in is, perhaps, the first step in ennobling it and raising it to the level of the supernatural.

• We have to put our heart into the things that we do, and not just do them mechanically, automatically, ‘because we haven’t any option.’

• In the book Opus Dei by Peter Berglar, he quoted St. Josemaria Escriva as saying: “The galley slave is well aware that he rows in order to make the ship move; but for this to give meaning to his life, he needs to appreciate the meaning that suffering and punishment have for a Christian.

» From Opus Dei: Life & Work of Its Founder, Josemaria Escriva, by Peter Berglar German original ©1983 Otto Muller Verlag SalzburgEnglish edition ©1994 Scepter Publishers, Inc.

Industriousness

• That is, he has to see his situation as a means of identifying himself with Christ. If, through ignorance or rejection, he doesn’t manage to see this, he will end up hating his ‘work.’ A similar effect can be seen when the fruit of one’s labors is so alienated from its maker that it scarcely impinges on his consciousness.”

Industriousness

• Many people go to ‘work’ every morning as if they were going to the gallows, to row a ship to a destination they are neither aware of nor care about; all they look forward to is the weekend and the pay-check.

• This sort of work, evidently, can do nothing to ennoble or sanctify man, and only with difficulty can it develop his personality and be of real benefit to society.

Industriousness

• Keep our professional interests alive, plus our desire to develop our capacities to the maximum in order to set Christ on the summit of all human activities.

• St. Josemaría Escrivá, Christ Is Passing By, n. 183

• All professional work demands previous training and a constant effort to improve one’s formation and to adapt it to the new circumstances that may arise. And this is very specially true for those who aspire to occupy leading positions in society, because they are called to a very important service on which the entire community’s well-being depends.

» St. Josemaria Escriva, Conversations, 90» http://www.josemariaescriva.info/article

/ sanctifying-ordinary-work

Professional competence and fulfilling the duties of our state

• ‘What use is it telling me that so and so is a good son of mine — a good Christian — but a bad shoemaker?’ If he doesn’t try to learn his trade well, or doesn’t give his full attention to it, he won’t be able to sanctify it or offer it to Our Lord. The sanctification of ordinary work is, as it were, the hinge of true spirituality for people who, like us, have decided to come close to God while being at the same time fully involved in temporal affairs.

» St. Josemaria Escriva, Friends of God, 61» http://www.josemariaescriva.info/article

/ sanctifying-ordinary-work

Professional competence and fulfilling the duties of our state

• "I don't understand how a son of mine could be twiddling his thumbs, killing time. What a pity to kill time, which is a divine treasure! If a son or daughter of mine has time on their hands, they are not doing their duty. I always have to leave things for the next day.... We have to go to sleep loaded with things to do, like little donkeys of God."

– Peter Berglar, Opus Dei: Life & Work of Its Founder, Josemaria Escriva

Professional competence and fulfilling the duties of our state

‘Professionalitis’

• You really do need to make an effort and put your shoulder to the wheel. For all that, 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 being united with God! – St. Josemaria Escrriva, Furrow, 502

• http://www.josemariaescriva.info/article/sanctifying-ordinary-work

The work of a student

• Student: form yourself in a solid and active piety, be outstanding in study, have a strong desire for the ‘professional’ apostolate. And with that vigor of your religious and professional training, I promise you rapid and far-reaching developments.

» St. Josemaria Escriva, The Way, 346» http://www.josemariaescriva.info/article/study

• You pray, you deny yourself, you work in a thousand apostolic activities, but you don’t study. You are useless then unless you change.

Study–professional training of whatever type it be–is a grave obligation for us.

» The Way, 334» http://www.josemariaescriva.info/article/study

• An hour of study, for a modern apostle, is an hour of prayer.

» The Way, 335» http://www.josemariaescriva.info/article/study

• You have a war-horse called study. You resolve a thousand times to make good use of your time, yet you are distracted by the slightest thing. Sometimes you get annoyed at yourself, because of your lack of willpower, even though you begin again every day. Have you tried offering up your study for specific apostolic intentions?

» Furrow, 523» http://www.josemariaescriva.info/article/study

• Whenever your will weakens in your ordinary work, you must recall these thoughts: “Study, work, is an essential part of my way. If I were discredited professionally as a consequence of my laziness it would make my work as a Christian useless or impossible. To attract and to help others, I need the influence of my professional reputation, and that is what God wants.” Never doubt that if you abandon your task, you are going away from God’s plans and leading others away from them.

» Furrow, 781» http://www.josemariaescriva.info/article/study

• You must study ... but that is not enough. What do those who kill themselves working to feed their self-esteem achieve? Or those who have nothing else in mind but assuring peace of mind for a few years ahead? One has to study – to gain the world and conquer it for God. Then we can raise the level of our efforts: we can try to turn the work we do into an encounter with the Lord and the foundation to support those who will follow our way in the future. In this way, study will become prayer.

» Furrow, 526» http://www.josemariaescriva.info/article/study

• Be convinced of this: your apostolate consists in spreading goodness, light, enthusiasm, generosity, a spirit of sacrifice, constancy in work, deep study, complete self-surrender, being up-to-date, cheerful and complete obedience to the Church, and perfect charity. Nobody can give what he does not have.

» Furrow, 927» http://www.josemariaescriva.info/article/study

Order: the key to working well

• St. Augustine defined order as “a disposition of equal and unequal things, which gives each of them its proper place.” As such, to have order means not only keeping in their proper places those things that we use or are around us, but principally and fundamentally keeping our thoughts and desires ordered so that we can properly order our actions.

• St Thomas tells us that if we want to order various things, we need to see them in relation to their end or purpose, “for the order of various things among themselves is dependent on the order that they have towards their end.”

– Joseph L. Soria , Order, 1993» http://www.scepterpublishers.org/product/samples/478.pdf

• To have order in one’s ideas—to order one’s mind—one must begin by establishing a hierarchy. That is to say, we need to know which truths are properly subordinated to others, and which need always to prevail in determining our decisions.

• St. Josemaria has written: “Order will bring harmony to your life, and lead you to perseverance. Order will give peace to your heart and weight to your behavior.”

• This is why we have to have order in our mind: to understand the relationships among things and the relation of everything to God. We need ideas which form a hierarchy of both necessity and certainty, and we cannot allow the subjective to prevail over the objective.

• Let’s look at four questions that business efficiency experts have used as a rule of thumb for determining orderliness:– Have I ever had to interrupt my dictating or writing of

a letter to search for essential texts or documents connected with the matter?

– Do I spend more time gathering together the needed documents for a project than actually working on it?

– Do documents frequently go astray and turn up days later in very unexpected places?

– Do I ever have to push things aside to make space on my desk for a paper I want to work on?

A “yes” to any of those questions suggests something to be desired in terms of order.

Order in our activities

• It’s important to have a basic daily schedule to organize our activities and help us avoid laziness, hectic improvisation, or senseless idleness.

• This is a matter of planning, but we need to be prudent and avoid rigidness.

• We need to live with a sense of measured urgency.

• The Romans used to say “ festina lente” (“make haste slowly”), a reference to the fact that things done hurriedly often have to be repeated.

• In other words, we shouldn’t be turtles, exasperating others with our slowness, but neither should we be human rockets, so explosive that we make everyone around us nervous.

• Let’s look at two rather frequent attitudes toward the availability and use of time:– thinking we don’t have enough time to do all

that we have to do, and– thinking we have more than enough time.

“I don’t have enough time”• Many if not most cases of lacking time are really

cases of lacking order: either we don’t know how to organize ourselves well, or we are trying to do more things than we can and should do, which is also a disorder.

• If we don’t have enough time, it may be that we are not attacking our jobs in the order of their importance, or that the same kind of disorder is leading us to use more time than is necessary.

• In the words of St.Josemaria, “It would be bad if you were to waste your time, which is not yours, but God’s and is meant for his glory. But if on top of that you make others waste it, you both diminish your own standing and defraud God of more of the glory you owe him.”

• Arriving late for an appointment, distracting others who are working, interrupting them unnecessarily – these things cause disorder and mean that others will have to take additional time to make up for the time we cost them.

• This is unjust, and we have to make a sincere examination of conscience to improve and to make reparation.

• “If you say that you want to imitate Christ . . . and yet have time on your hands, then you are on the road to lukewarmness.” – St. Josemaria Escriva, The Forge, 701

• We have time to waste when there is a lack of love, when we don’t realize or don’t want to consider the immense task facing those who have been called to work as co-redeemers with Christ.

• We should be mindful: “It is no use wasting your time with ‘your own silly little concerns’ when there are so many souls awaiting you.”

• We may heed the encouragement of St.Josemaria to examine ourselves: “Let’s take a good honest look at our own lives.

• How is it that sometimes we just can’t find those few minutes it would take to finish lovingly the work we have to do, which is the very means of our sanctification?

• Why do we neglect our family duties? • How are we so lacking in calm and serenity when it

comes to fulfilling the duties of our state, and yet so unhurried as we indulge in our own whims?”

• St. Josemaria Escriva, Friends of God, 41• http://www.escrivaworks.org/book/friends_o

f_god-point-41.htm

• “Do I live the virtue of order, so that I tackle jobs according to their relative importance and not according to my own whims or fancies?

• Am I unnecessarily slow in finishing off my work because of lack of interest or punctuality?

• Do I break off the work I am engaged in on any excuse, perhaps causing others to be delayed?”

• Do I habitually let myself be carried away by impulse? • Am I careless about where or how I leave the material items

that I use? • Do I get as much sleep as I should? • Do I know how to delegate work to those I am working with?”

» http://www.scepterpublishers.org/product/samples/478.pdf

• The Christian meaning of work • Sanctification of work: spirit of service and

sense of justice• Industriousness• Professional competence and fulfilling the

duties of our state• The work of a student• Order: the key to working well

SUMMARY:Industriousness and Order

• “You must realize now, more clearly than ever, that God is calling you to serve him in and from the ordinary, secular and civil activities of human life.

• He waits for us everyday, in the laboratory, in the operating theatre, in the army barracks, in the university chair, in the factory, in the workshop, in the fields, in the home and in all the immense panorama of work. Understand this well: there is something holy, something divine hidden in the most ordinary situations, and it is up to each one of you to discover it. - St. Josemaria Escriva, Passionately loving the world

» http://www.escrivaworks.org/book/in_love_with_the_church-chapter-4.htm

• I assure you, my children, that when a Christian carries out with love the most insignificant everyday action, that action overflows with the transcendence of God.

• That is why I have told you so often, and hammered away at it, that the Christian vocation consists in making heroic verse out of the prose of each day. Heaven and earth seem to merge, my children, on the horizon. But where they really meet is in your hearts, when you sanctify your everyday lives...”– St. Josemaria Escriva, Passionately loving the world

– http://www.escrivaworks.org/book/in_love_with_the_church-chapter-4.htm

About St. Josemaria Escriva• Msgr. Josemaria Escriva was born in Spain on January 9, 1902

and died in Rome on June 26, 1975. On October 2, 1928, God gave him to see and found Opus Dei (“Work of God”).

• Opus Dei, a Personal Prelature of the Catholic Church, helps people of every race and walk of life to love and serve God and other people through their ordinary work.

• Msgr. Josemaria Escriva’s books are addressed to ordinary Christians, to invite them to begin and maintain a personal friendship with God.

• On October 6, 2002, Pope John Paul II canonized the founder of Opus Dei in St Peter’s Square, Rome.

• For more information, visit: http://www.josemariaescriva.info/section/saint_josemaria