ON HUMAN WORK

“Whatever you do, work at it

with all your heart…”
-Col 3:23
 LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1. Discuss and enunciate with firm convictions the importance of Church

teachings that human work is for the development of humanity and society
towards salvation;
2. Appreciate with love the teachings of Saint Augustine and the Church that
work transformed the person to become a more human being for the greater
glory of God;
3. Demonstrations of proactive Augustinian values for the love of God and
neighbor especially in times of uncertainties and crisis.
 SCRIPTURAL BASIS OF WORK
1. Genesis 2:15  (God settles man in the garden of Eden to cultivate and
care for it).
2. Deuteronomy  14:28-29 (The Lord blesses our work so that we may
share its fruits with others).
3. Deuteronomy 24:14-15  (Do not withhold wages from your workers,
for their livelihood depends on them).
4. Sirach 34:26-27 (To deprive an employee of wages is to commit
murder).
5. Isaiah 58:3-7  (To observe religious practices, but oppress your
workers is false worship). 
 SCRIPTURAL BASIS OF WORK
6. Jeremiah 22:13 (Woe to him who treats his workers unjustly).
7. Matthew 20:1-16  (All workers should be paid a just and living 
wage).
8. Mark 2:27  (The Sabbath was made for people, not people  for the
Sabbath).
9. Luke 12:13-21  (One’s worth is not determined by an abundance  of
possessions).
10. James 5:1-6  (Those who become rich by abusing their workers 
have sinned against God).
 THE DUTY TO CULTIVATE
AND CARE FOR THE EARTH
The Old Testament depicts God as the all-powerful Creator who creates man in
his image and asks him to till the soil, cultivate, and care for the garden of Eden
where he has set him. God entrusts the job of subduing the planet and exerting
dominion over all living creatures to the first human couple. The dominion over
all living things is to nurture and care for God's creations. These goods were
not produced by man but were given to him as a treasured gift from the Creator
and placed under his care. Cultivating the earth does not imply abandoning it to
itself; rather, exerting control over it entails caring for it, as a wise monarch
does for his people and a shepherd does for his sheep. (CSDC 255)
 JESUS, A MAN OF WORK
(CSDC 259)

⮚ In his preaching, Jesus teaches that we should appreciate work. He

Himself, having “become like us in all things, devoted most of the years
of His life on earth to manual work at the carpenter’s bench” in the
workshop of Joseph (Mt. 13:55; Mk 6:3), to whom He was obedient
(Luke 2:51).
⮚ Jesus condemns the behavior of the useless servant, who hides his talent
in the ground (Mt.25:14-30), and praises the faithful and prudent servant
whom the Master finds at work at the duties entrusted to him (Mt.24:46).
⮚ He describes his own mission as that of working: “My Father is working
still, and I am working” (Jn. 5:17), and His disciples as workers in the
harvest of the Lord, which is the evangelization of humanity (Mt.9:37-
38).
 JESUS, A MAN OF WORK
(CSDC 259)

⮚ Those who put up with the difficult rigors of work in union with Jesus
cooperate, in a certain sense, with the Son of God in his work of
redemption and show that they are disciples of Christ bearing his
cross, every day, in the activity they are called to do.
⮚ In this perspective, work can be considered a means of sanctification
and enlivening of earthly realities with the Spirit of Christ.
TEACHINGS OF THE CHURCH
ON HUMAN WORK
Work holds a special place in society since it
provides a source of wealth, or at the very least the
means to live a good life, and is, in principle, an
effective anti-poverty tool. However, one must
resist the urge to make labor an idol, because work
does not contain the ultimate and final purpose of
life. Work is necessary, but God - not work – is the
source of life and man's ultimate aim. (CSDC 257)
 TEACHINGS OF THE CHURCH
ON HUMAN WORK
According to Pope Francis, work should be the
environment for this rich personal development, where
many parts of life come into play: creativity, future
planning, developing our abilities, living out our values,
relating to others, and bringing praise to God. As a
result, in today's global society, it is critical that "we
continue to prioritize the objective of access to
sustainable work for everyone."
TEACHINGS OF THE CHURCH
ON HUMAN WORK

We were born with the desire to work. The objective

should not be for technology development to gradually
replace human labor, as this would be harmful to
mankind. Work is a need, a component of the meaning
of life on Earth, a means of progress, human
development, and personal fulfillment.
(Laudato Si', nos. 127-28; USCCB, 2021).
 TEACHINGS OF THE CHURCH
ON HUMAN WORK

Pope Benedict XVI reminded everyone, especially

governments working to improve the world's economic and
social assets, that the fundamental capital to be protected and
appreciated is man, the human person in his or her entirety:
"Man is the source, the center, and the goal of all economic
and social activity."
(Caritas in Veritate, no. 25; citing the Second Vatican
Council, Gaudium et Spes, no. 63)
TEACHINGS OF THE CHURCH
ON HUMAN WORK
“…poverty is often caused by a violation of the
dignity of human work, either because work
opportunities are limited (due to
unemployment or underemployment) or
‘because a low value is placed on work and the
rights that flow from it, particularly the right to
a just wage and to the personal security of the
worker and his or her family.’ (Caritas in
Veritate, no. 63).
TEACHINGS OF THE CHURCH
ON HUMAN WORK
Saint John Paul II stated that the responsibility to
earn one's living by the sweat of one's brow
presupposes the right to do so as well. A society in
which this right is consistently denied, in which
economic policies prevent people from achieving
adequate levels of employment, cannot be justified
ethically, nor can it achieve social harmony.
(Centesimus Annus, no. 43)
TEACHINGS OF THE CHURCH
ON HUMAN WORK
Man needs labor, both because the Creator has
commanded it and because his humanity requires effort
to be preserved and developed. Man must work out of
concern for others, especially his own family, but also
for the society to which he belongs, the country of which
he is a child, and the entire human family of which he is
a member, because he is the heir to the work of
generations and a participant in building the future of
those who will come after him in the. succession of
history (Laborem Exercens, no. 16)
 TEACHINGS OF THE CHURCH
ON HUMAN WORK
Labor is beneficial for man because through work, man not
only alters nature, adapting it to his own requirements, but
he also finds fulfillment as a human being and, in a way,
becomes "more a human person." (Laborem Exercens, no.
9). All of these rights, combined with the necessity for
workers to protect them, give rise to a new right: the right
of association, which is the right to join groups in order to
defend the essential interests of individuals engaged in
diverse professions. These organizations are known as labor
or trade unions. (Laborem Exercens, no. 20)
TEACHINGS OF THE CHURCH
ON HUMAN WORK
As the Church solemnly declared in the last Council, "the
beginning, the subject and the goal of all social institutions
is and must be the human person." All people have the right
to work, to the opportunity to develop their qualities and
personalities through the exercise of their professions, to
equitable remuneration that will enable them and their
families "to lead a worthy life on the material, social,
cultural, and spiritual levels," and to assistance in the event
of need due to sickness or old age.
(Paul VI, Octogesima Adveniens, no. 14)
 THE TEACHING OF SAINT
AUGUSTINE ON HUMAN WORK
Man was formed in God's "image and likeness" (Gen 1:26), not
only because he has the same memory, understanding, and loving
capacity as God, but also because he is invited to participate in
God's continuous creation. According to Sir 18:1, Saint Augustine
believes that the six days stated in the biblical narrative of creation
cannot be successive. God, on the other hand, created all things at
once according to their causal reasons (cf. Stoic notion of “seminal
reasons”) – that is, potentially (cf. De div. quaest. 46; TeSelle: 32-
33; Knuuttila: 107), which were then destined to unfold or be
actualized visibly over time (cf. De Gen. ad litt. 4.35.56; 5.7.20;
MacCormack: 22f). Man's assistance is required for the full growth
of creation (cf. De Gen. ad litt. 8.8.15).
 THE TEACHING OF SAINT
AUGUSTINE ON HUMAN WORK
Saint Augustine distinguishes between two ways in which he sees how divine providence
works in creation – naturally and voluntarily: “Through natural activity, indeed, is working
the hidden management of God by which he also gives growth to trees and herbs, while
voluntary activity comes through the works of angels and human beings. As regards the first
mode, celestial things are arrayed up above …, day and night are moved around in turn, the
earth with its foundations in waters has them washing round it and in amongst it, the air is
poured over it at a higher level ….; while in this other mode, signs are given, taught and
learned, field cultivated, communities administered, arts and skills practiced ...” (De Gen ad
litt. 8.9.17). Thus, man can contribute to the development of creation or cooperate with God
in his act of creation. Education, training, acquisition of knowledge, arts and skills are
necessary. Therefore, creation continues to unfold and man has a role to play in this regard.
Through his work, he renders visible what God has already potentially created at the
beginning of time. T. van Bavel elaborates: “Human effort helps God in developing creation,
because through our labor God’s gifts come forth from the earth in a more abundant and
productive way” ( The Creator and the Integrity of Creation,16).
 THE TEACHING OF SAINT
AUGUSTINE ON HUMAN WORK

Created to God’s “likeness” (similitudo), only man is created

according to God’s “image and likeness.” An “image” (imago)
possesses an immediate tendency toward that which created it
(cf. Teske: 272; TeSelle: 34). Thus, compared with other
creatures, man as “imago Dei” naturally tends towards God
who created him (cf. De Trin. 7.6.12). This gives man a far
higher dignity compared to the rest of creation (cf. Ps 8:5). In
fact, God has given him dominion over other creatures (cf.
Gen 1:26).
 THE TEACHING OF SAINT
AUGUSTINE ON HUMAN WORK

Having dominion over the rest of creation does not mean that
man can do with it whatever he pleases. It is not an absolute
power given to man. Thus, even in the way man exercises his
dominion on the rest of creation, there must be some
limitation to it. He is expected to take care of it and use it only
according to God’s plan (Van Bavel, “The Creator and the
Integrity of Creation ….”: 14; 16). He is to use it in view of
eternity and not enjoy it in itself (cf. De doctr. chr. 1.4.4).
 THE TEACHING OF SAINT
AUGUSTINE ON HUMAN WORK
Relative to man’s attitude towards work, the ultimate purpose
why a person should work is to provide for one’s self or
satisfy one’s temporal needs, not to unnecessarily amass
material possessions and exploit the material world and
everything it contains. He is likewise expected not to use the
material fruits of his labor to dominate other people and
commit injustice. Saint Augustine warns us against
inappropriate use of the world’s resources, in this case, and
the temptation of avarice, describing it as “what goads people
to go for anything more greedily than is right because of their
superiority” (De Gen. ad litt. 11.15.19).