There are three things in this picture--a potato field, a country
lad and a country girl standing in the middle of it, and on the
far horizon the spire of a village church. That is all there is to
it--no great scenery and no picturesque people. In Roman Catholic
countries at the evening hour the church bell rings out to remind
the people to pray. Some go into the church, while those that are
in the fields bow their heads for a few moments in silent prayer.
That picture contains the three great elements which go to make up
a perfectly rounded Christian life. It is not enough to have the
"root of the matter" in us, but that we must be whole and entire,
lacking nothing. The Angelus may bring to us suggestions as to
what constitutes a complete life.
I.
The first element in a symmetrical life is WORK.
Three-fourths of our time is probably spent in work. Of course
the meaning of it is that our work should be just as religious as
our worship, and unless we can work for the glory of God three-fourths
of life remains unsanctified.
The proof that work is religious is that most of Christ's life was
spent in work. During a large part of the first thirty years of
His life He worked with the hammer and the plane, making ploughs and
yokes and household furniture. Christ's public ministry occupied
only about two and a half years of His earthly life; the great
bulk of His time was simply spent in doing common everyday tasks,
and ever since then work has had a new meaning.
When Christ came into the world He was revealed to three deputations
who went to meet and worship Him. First came the shepherds, or
working class; second, the wise men, or student class; and third,
the two old people in the temple, Simeon and Anna; that is to say,
Christ is revealed to men at their work, He is revealed to men at
their books, and He is revealed to men at their worship. It was
the old people who found Christ at their worship, and as we grow
older we will spend more time exclusively in worship than we are
able to do now. In the mean time we must combine our worship with
our work, and we may expect to find Christ at our books and in our
common task.
Why should God have provided that so many hours of every day should
be occupied with work? It is because
Work makes men.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account