Human work has two main effects in the world.
The first is to generate something, whether a product or a service.
In this domain, we have emphasized the importance of attention, care, and excellence.
The second effect is to change something inside the worker.
In this domain, we have discussed the formation of virtue, including fortitude, perseverance, and industriousness.
It is in this realm, also, that we place the interior changes that St. Thomas More underwent that prepared him for the ultimate display of heroic virtue and love for God in martyrdom.
Although the excellence of the work itself is related to the product or service generated, the nobility of work stems primarily from the interior changes it brings about in the worker.
It bears saying straight away that although an interior change follows the work necessarily, this change need not necessarily be for the good: shoddy work brings about not only a poor product but also poor character in the worker.
But good work brings about not only a good product, which tends to fetch a good price, but also something immensely more valuable: the priceless spiritual good of character, virtue.
And in the soul of the Christian, infused with divine grace, good work yields something divine: an increase in grace, in the theological virtues of faith, hope, and love.
Of course, this goes beyond what we are capable of producing on our own, but we do bring it about with God’s help.
In this way, not only do we cooperate with God in the work of bringing creation to its perfection, but we also cooperate with God in the work of bringing about the fruits of redemption in our souls.
Note that the nobility of work does not depend on the type of work.
It is not the case that “white-collar” work is nobler than “blue-collar” work, nor is it the case that better paid work is nobler than lesser paid work.
Here, we find a great universality and equality in the world of work: whatever the job and whatever the remuneration, the nobility of work can still be realized by working with excellence and thereby cultivating the virtues.
This point ought not be taken to justify low wages; on the contrary, it suggests that wages ought to be just because whatever the work performed, it is performed by a human being who, in addition to having certain needs, also brings a certain nobility to the task.
These wages, a fruit of work, support the worker and often his family as well.
Here, too, we find a particular nobility: what a good it is to support and provide for human life.
But, again, at the heart of work, we find the noble good of forming the interior of the worker to be more virtuous, more human, and, through grace, more divine.
Beg the Lord to strengthen your conviction regarding the greatness of human work and its ability to shape us for the good, and then thank him for the many opportunities you have to grow closer to him in your work.
