Prayer, Work, and Leisure
1. The pattern of our lives should be a combination of
prayer, work, and leisure. There should be no room, however, for
idleness.
“Prayer.” Prayer is most essential. The life of a
Christian should be a continual prayer. As Jesus commanded, we “must
always pray and not lose heart.” (Luke 18:1)
How can we achieve
this? St. Paul has told us. “Whatever you do in word or in work,” he
says, “do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the
Father through him.” (Col. 3:17) If we follow his instructions, our
lives will really be a prayer. Before we begin our day's work we shall
turn to God and offer Him our labours and our difficulties. During our
work we shall raise our minds to God from time to time as Jesus, Mary
and Joseph must have done in the home and in the workshop at Nazareth.
Whenever we speak, we should remember that we are in the presence of
God. Then our conversation and our behaviour will be free from defect
and will edify those who are with us. The grace of God can illumine the
most ordinary conversations and actions which are in themselves quite
indifferent. It is enough to live in a spiritual atmosphere of our own
and to keep our thoughts turned towards God while we are living and
walking on this earth. If we can aspire to such a spiritual height, then
our work will become a prayer pleasing to God, whether it is mental or
manual, pleasant or burdensome. God will grant us interior peace,
moreover, for we shall be no longer working alone, but Jesus Christ will
be working with us by His grace. This is the way the Saints worked, and
this is how their lives were a prayer.
2. “Work.” Work is a duty
commanded by God, Who after the sin of Adam told him and his
descendants: “In the sweat of your brow you shall eat bread.” (Gen.
3:19) So work became an obligation and a means of expiation. We are all
obliged, therefore, to engage in some kind of work, mental or manual,
whether we are rich or poor. Idleness has been condemned by God as the
father of all the vices. “Idleness,” warns the Holy Spirit, “is an apt
teacher of mischief.” (Ecclus. 33:29) It is impossible for a man who
works and prays to commit sin, both because he lacks the time and
because he is close to God. A man who is close to God will certainly
never offend Him, whereas the mind of a man who is lazy and inactive is
open to the attractions of sin. Let us shun idleness, therefore, and
love hard work as a means of making reparation for our sins and of
gaining merit before God.
3. “Leisure.” Some of the Saints made
it one of their resolutions to take about an hour's recreation every
day. They were thinking in terms of rest, however, not of inactivity.
Rest is the reward of labour and is necessary for frail human nature.
Idleness, on the other hand, is a vice and the source of sin. We should
take our repose only after our work and in consequence of it. Even
during recreation we should continue to live in the presence of God and
to think of Him from time to time. If we enjoy our leisure in the open
air, everything speaks to us of God, for we are surrounded by the
flowers and the birds. When St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus was going for
a walk one day, she stopped to admire a tiny flower. Enraptured by its
beauty, she exclaimed aloud: "How good you are, O God !" Our recreation
can be the source of increased sanctification.
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