FAITH MATTERS
Labour Day: Work is a gift allowing humanity to become co-creators with God
Annual summer rite of passage more than just a football game, it's rooted in human dignity, writes Bishop Gerard Bergie.
By Gerard Bergie
Contributing Columnist
Saturday, September 7, 2024
Another Labour Day has come and gone. Does this day hold any significance other than unofficially marking the end of summer? What do we celebrate on this day?
Growing up in Hamilton, Labour Day was always associated with a classic football game between the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and the Toronto Argonauts. This has been a tradition since 1949, pitting the two cities against one another in a spirit of healthy sports rivalry.
Hamilton is also a city known for its industries, especially steel. It has often been called “the lunch bucket city” for a good reason. It is a city where the labour movement is strong and this, not football, is the true essence of Labour Day.
It celebrates the gift of human work.
From a faith perspective, work is a gift from God. It is important to note God did not create the human person for work. Rather, work was created for the human person. Life is not supposed to be drudgery.
In the Book of Genesis, we see God the worker who creates. God made the universe, the world around us and everything in it. We are told man and woman are the crowning glory of creation.
St. Irenaeus stated many centuries ago that “the glory of God is man and woman fully alive.” We give God the greatest glory when we live life fully. A significant part of that is using our gifts and talents in a creative way.
Human labour allows man and woman to become co-creators with God. Our work helps us to express our identity and is rooted in human dignity.
Pope Francis offers the following insight: “We were created with a vocation to work. The goal should not be that technological progress increasingly replace human work, for this would be detrimental to humanity. Work is a necessity, part of the meaning of life on this earth, a path to growth, human development and personal fulfilment.” (Pope Francis. (2015). Laudato Si’ §128)
In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus offers a parable addressing the importance of work and its link to human dignity.
He describes a landowner who went to the town square early in the morning, looking for labourers for his fields. He hires some and then returned throughout the day at 9 a.m., noon, 3 p.m. and 5 p.m.
Each time he would ask the men why they were standing idle. Their response was “because nobody has hired us.” He then takes them to his fields and gives then a chance to work.
At the end of the day, the manager paid the workers starting with those who had been hired last. They received a full day’s wages even though they had only worked a few hours.
The labourers who had worked a full day were outraged. They complained to the landowner because those who worked a few hours were given the same wage.
The landowner replied with these words: “Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?” (Matthew 20:13-15).
Here, we find an employer who was both wise and generous. He understood it was not good for those men to be idle. He provided them with work and a just wage that helped restore their dignity.
Labour Day helps us focus on the gift of human labour and the importance of a right relationship between employees and management.