John Paul II Cafe

God's view of a woman's work at home

    The Old Testament contains many references to different professions exercised by humans.  John Paul gives us a detailed list of these with biblical references in LE 26.  The doctor, the pharmacist, the craftsman or artist, the blacksmith, the potter, the farmer, the scholar, the sailor, the builder, the musician, the shepherd and the fisherman.  In the New Testament parables, Jesus who is the 'man of work' Himself, refers all the time to human work, again mentioning shepherds, farmers, doctors, sowers, householders, servants, stewards, fishermen, merchants and laborers.  John Paul is careful to note that both Old and New Testament refer also to women's work in the home.  What jumped out at me though is that in all these references, the most detailed description and indeed the most explicit praise of work is given to women's work in the home and community.  While most of the other references do not go into detail about the various professions, Proverbs 31 describes in rich detail the kind of work that a wise woman does each day.  It is as if God, who sees all, wants to encourage this hidden work, by explicitly praising it.  What a consolation to all of us hidden wives and mothers, whose work is often not even recognized as work by our society.  Let's read Proverbs 31 carefully and rejoice in the encouragement of our labors by our heavenly Father.  Here is God's view of our daily work for us to meditate on and treasure in our hearts.

"When one finds a worthy wife, her value is beyond pearls.

Her husband entrusting his heart to her, has an unfailing prized.

She brings him good and not evil, all the days of her life.

She obtains wool and flax and makes cloth with skillful hands.

Like merchant ships, she secures her provisions from afar.

She rises while it is still night, and distributes food to her household.

She picks out a field to purchase; out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.

She is girt about with strength and sturdy are her arms.

She enjoys the success of her dealings; at night her lamp is undimmed.

She puts her hands to the distaff and her fingers ply the spindle.

She reaches out her hands to the poor, and extends her arms to the needy

She fears not the snow for her household; all her charges are doubly clothed.

She makes her own coverlets; fine linen and purple are her clothing.

Her husband is prominent at the city gates as he sits with the elders of the land.

She makes garments and sells them, and stocks the merchants with belts.

She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs at the days to come.

She opens her mouth in wisdom, and on her tongue is kindly counsel.

She watches the conduct of her household and eats not her food in idleness.

Her children rise up and praise her; her husband, too, extols her;

Many are the women of proven worth, but you have excelled them all.

Charm is deceptive and beauty fleeting; the woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.

Give her a reward of her labors, and let her works praise her at the city gates.

Santo Subito !

Today is a day of rejoicing for those of us who love Pope John Paul II!  Our beloved JP2 is to be beatified on May 1, 2011.  Thank you for your prayers for this intention that have been answered. We remember the teeming crowds in Rome in April 2005, after the Pope's death, who chanted "Santo Subito!"...loosely translated, Saint Immediately!   Let's continue to pray that he be soon declared a Saint.  Most importantly let's continue to live out his legacy by fearlessly 'Opening wide the doors to Christ' every day in our own lives.  

In the eyes of God, I do

Ok, I have a confession to make.  The reason I selected this encyclical for study is far less noble than you might have imagined.  I'm just irritated by the question that I get asked so often: "Do you work?".  I'm a full-time mother of four kids. My work is to care of my kids, my husband, my family, my community.  And of course that's not work according to a lot of people.  The "Do you work?" question reveals some disturbing, underlying and yet unspoken assumptions about work.  The first assumption is that work has to be paid.  The second assumption is that raising a family isn't work. 

So how do I answer this question?  I usually say "Not outside the home" or "Yes, I work at taking care of my family".  But the answer usually makes no difference.  Most people just roll their eyes or disengage and persist in their misunderstandings about the the true nature and significance of work.

My initial interest in Laborem Exercens came from this background.  I wanted to learn what the Pope and the Church would say about this question.  How to properly understand work?  What is a definition of work that would do justice to all types of work and not just those where money is made?  Most importantly, what great answer could I formulate that would teach all these "Do you work?" people a lesson! I warned you my reasons were far from noble....

At this point in the Encyclical, as John Paul is starting to wade (in Sections III and IV) into deep, dark waters discussing Marxism, Capitalism, and various other 'isms', I'm flailing a bit and losing touch with my original quest. To keep up my motivation, I need to fast-forward to Section V which deals with a Christian spirituality of work. 

It's in the Christian spirituality of work that I think I will find the answer that I have been seeking.  I'm realizing that the best way to overcome my irritation at the question "Do you work?", is not to come up with the perfect comeback, or to prove that my work is really work according to John Paul II.  Rather the best answer is to assimilate and live out a truly Christian spirituality of work, in imitation of Christ.  My work is work because it is a most obvious and most important sharing in God's own creative activity.  This is the deepest Christian understanding of work, the spirituality that should fill my heart and give it peace as I go through each day serving my family.  

John Paul refers in the beginning paragraph of Section V, to the Gospel of work, or the 'evangelical message of salvation, in which we find many points which concern human work and throw particular light on it' (LE 24).  This 'Gospel of work' is what I need to meditate on and to 'assimilate'.  To really assimilate this, requires an  "inner effort...guided by faith, hope and charity", so that my work, "may be given the meaning which it has in the eyes of God" (LE, 24).  I do know that though often belittled or misunderstood, the work of a mother has great value in the "eyes of God".  The more I can be convinced of this and the more I can remind myself of it, the less I will be annoyed by that pesky little "Do you work?" question.  Perhaps one day, I'll even be able to smile and answer in all charity "Yes.  In the eyes of God, I do."  

Work and society

After speaking about the personal and familial dimensions of work, John Paul II moves to the 'third sphere of values' which is linked to work.  This is that of the 'great society' as he calls it in LE 10.  I must say the expression 'great society' makes me think of a communist regime, but that is certainly not the way JP2 intended this!  He speaks of society as the indirect 'educator' of each man, as well as the 'historical and social incarnation of the work of all generations' (LE 10).  This latter expression is one worth pondering.  It is the work of all past generations which is incarnated by the society that we live in today.  It's not difficult to understand this, but it's something we may not think of often.  What's fascinating to me here is the trans-temporal dimension of work that JP2 is calling our attention to.  Our work is intimately tied, not only to the here and now that we live in, but to the future and the past.  The work that we undertake in our lives has a decisive impact on future generations, just as the work done by past generations has had a decisive impact on our lives.  I think of monks laboriously working to copy and preserve manuscripts in the middle ages....I think of scientists like Louis Pasteur or Alexander Fleming or Isaac Newton making discoveries that changed the world....I think of countless generations of mothers who have toiled in their homes tending to and educating their children...I think of countless generations of fathers in farms or factories or mines who have earned a living to feed their families...all these and each person who walks the face of the earth influences the future by his work.  Our work thus 'increases the common good'  and serves to 'add to the heritage of the whole human family'...around the world, and across time.  

Work and the family

First off, I apologize to all readers for an extremely lengthy silence and hope to restart posting weekly beginning with this post.  

To pick up where we left off, John Paul II is tracing out three 'spheres' of values that are intimately linked up with work. The first which we have been talking about, has been work and the personal dignity of man.  To recap this, work is for man and not man for work.  Work is a God-given gift for man to become more human.  Work must always therefore uplift personal and human dignity versus debasing it by 'using' man as just a tool.  The second sphere of values, which we will talk about  in this post, deals with family.  The third sphere which will come in the next post deals with the greater society.  We can picture these as three concentric circles.  The ripples, created by each of us in all our incredible and immense activity called work, go out into ever-widening circles touching first the individual, then the family, and then all of society.

John Paul II give us two angles to view the interaction between work and the family.  First work is essential for the foundation of a family.  Through work, men and women are able to earn the sustenance that is required to feed, clothe and shelter a family.  Second, work undertaken by the family, is critical to the "process of education" which is the primary task of the family.  The main subjects of education are of course the children, but we must not forget that living as a family is an incredible educational process for all its members.  The work of each member and the collective approach of the family to work is critical in this educational process by which each member of the family grows and blossoms into all their human potentiality.

Family life does indeed revolve around work.  Indeed all of our time is organized around the work that needs to be accomplished by each family member.  Days flow into weeks, weeks into months and months into years, all to the rhythm dictated by work.  Work outside the home to earn money, work inside the home to keep the meals coming and the house clean, work at school to increase knowledge, work at home to build character and teach values...without work, the family could simply not exist!  And John Paul II is telling us that this is normal and great.  Hard is it might be, toilsome as it might appear, all of this work is helping us to become more human.  In fact, here JP2 goes even further using the phrase "become a human being" !  What?? I thought I already was a human being.  Well, don't forget our whole discussion about how our lives should be constantly geared at becoming more and more a human being.  A key insight for us in all of JP2's writings is that it is possible for us to go through life looking quite human, but not really being very human at all!  Becoming human means living up to our God-given potentiality as human beings, it means being all that we can be.  It means becoming more and more ready and willing to govern our lives by reason.  It means becoming more and more able to choose the good, and the true and the beautiful.  So there we have it, all us family people.  Let's get back to work, let's thank God for all the work that makes our families possible, let's be assured that it is all helping each one of us to become more human.  And let's remember:  "The family is simultaneously a community made possible by work, and the first school of work, within the home, for every person." (LE 10).