Sep 15 Mon
Is it possible to turn one’s work into prayer?
The Second Vatican Council reminds us that all the faithful, whatever their condition or state, are called by the Lord, each in his own way, to that perfect holiness whereby the Father himself is perfect. Furthermore, we are taught that: The laity, by their very vocation, seek the kingdom of God by engaging in temporal affairs and by ordering them according to the plan of God.
We live in the world and have professional jobs; it is there that God has called us, and where He wishes us to remain, to seek sanctity and find Him by doing our work with love and a supernatural outlook.
It involves integrating prayer and work: our jobs become the very place for growing in holiness.
God calls all to a loving life of contemplation and dialogue with Him. During our earthly life, however, this contemplation can be ours only imperfectly, "in a mirror, dimly". But it gives us a certain foretaste of happiness here to be continued in the life to come.
The beginning of eternal happiness, which is dialogue with God, should be reflected in our entire lives. “The spirit of the Work, St. Josemaría said, requires us to be contemplatives at work and at rest, on the street, and in family life."
“In every occupation, whatever the task, we can raise our hearts to God. We keep up a loving conversation with our heavenly Father and with the Blessed Virgin, our Mother."
Thus, when we approach our work as a way to love God and fulfill His will, our labor itself becomes an exercise in prayer and love.
“You'll let yourself become absorbed in activity only to divinize it, St. Josemaría said, since with this attitude, the earthly becomes divine, the temporal eternal. Although the earth, which has come forth from God's hands, is beautiful and we love it, our gaze is fixed on heaven. We are not worldly, but we have to love the world; we want to remain in it.
Nor do we separate prayer from action. This way, interior life infuses fresh enthusiasm into our task, perfecting it, ennobling it, making it more worthy and more lovable. It doesn't distance us from our temporal occupations, but rather leads us to be more attentive to them.
Still, we have to put off our former selves and convert our entire being to God. Otherwise, we will hinder the action of God's light and love in our souls.
We come to forget about ourselves and serve others by working seriously to fulfill God's will. Work, therefore, becomes a wonderful means for interior purification and for overcoming our pride and sensuality. Work is also a rich source of mortification, of growth, and perseverance in all the virtues.
We want to come to the end of our lives squeezed out like a lemon, unable to give any more, because we have spent ourselves entirely in a complete holocaust, filled with redemptive force.