God’s Word and work

The latest news I heard is that there will soon be cell phones equipped with airbags. This is to ensure the safety of people who send text messages even while walking, and also to provide a pillow for those who doze off from too much texting!

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In today’s Gospel (Mt 20, 1-16a), Jesus tells us, thus: “The last will be first, and the first will be last.” God is like an airbag that gives us safety, comfort, and assurance. How consoling to know that God’s standard is not that of man. It gives us hope to know that there is a God that sees the big picture in a world that is full of selfishness, competition and deceit.

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The airbag provides safety and comfort, but it does so with pain, suddenness, and even violence when it is engaged. The Word of God can also make us uncomfortable, and uneasy, and restless, for God’s Word can convict us and shatter our comfort zones. As someone once said, the Word of God comforts those who are disturbed and disturbs those who are comfortable.

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Today, we take cognizance of and honor those who do hard work and honest work. The majority of our people live from day to day and manage just to get by, just to make a living. And yet there are those who make a killing in stealing from the poor and from government funds. Shame on them.

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Today, let us ask ourselves how we treat our workers, as well as those who serve us. Are we giving them just wages and benefits and acknowledging their rights? Are we treating them with respect and dignity? Do we see or handle them as mere commodities? Remember, whatever we do to the least of our brothers and sisters, we do to the Lord.

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I have heard some people say, and with pride even, that they have never needed to work a day in their life. I shake my head in disbelief, with a tinge of envy maybe but more with disgust, when I hear these people born with a silver spoon in their mouth talk this way. But what these “greater gods” among us miss out on is the real value of working for meaning and fulfillment in life. As someone once said, “An empty pocket teaches you a million things in life, but a full pocket spoils you in a million ways.”

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In our mission center in San Jose, Batangas, we do manual work in the morning and in the afternoon. It is very fulfilling and rewarding to get one’s hands dirty, to sweat it out, and to till the soil and take part in transforming God’s creation. It can be a humbling experience, and also a prayerful one. Hard, good, and honest work is itself its own reward. Yes, there is no substitute for hard work.

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“Why do you stand here idle all day?” These words of the Lord should jolt those who don’t have much to do in this life. We should all make good use of our time while we are alive. Furthermore, we should make good use of our talent and put to good use our treasures while we still can. When we face God in the end, may we have little or no regret that we have not done or given our very best. Lord, spare us from empty, vain and shallow lives. Amen.

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Sept. 23 is the feast day of St. Padre Pio of Pietrelcina, a powerful modern-day saint. His life was full of hard work, sacrifices, and prayer. He also endured many persecutions in his lifetime. He was maligned, condemned and misjudged by people who thought they were all doing it for God. Padre Pio reminds us today that if we persevere in prayer, humility, and sacrifice, we, too, will live meaningful lives.

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Sept. 28 is the feast day of San Lorenzo Ruiz and his martyr-companions. They lived and died for something or someone greater than themselves, braving deprivations, persecutions, and even death. Successful people tell the world: “Hey, it’s all about me!” Significant people tell the world: “Hey, it’s all about God!”

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Think about it: “The Word of God is the voice when you don’t know what to say; the strength when you are tired; the hope when you are discouraged; the joy when you are sad; the guide when you are lost.”

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Bantay Matanda invites you to a lay forum on stress management at the Janssen Hall of Christ the King Seminary, 1101 E. Rodriguez Sr. Boulevard, Quezon City, on Sept. 21, 9 a.m.-12 noon. For inquiries, please call 373-2662, 998-2548, or 0917-4167849.

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Let us pray that the Lord spare our people from more natural and political calamities in the days to come. Let us continue to be one with our suffering people in prayers, thoughts, words, and work.

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A moment with the Lord:

Lord, help me to be one with You and Your people in word and in work. Amen.