Sanctification of work

There is a hiatus, a very long and inexplicable hiatus, during which this doctrine seemed (and still seems) like a novelty: that we should seek Christian perfection by sanctifying our ordinary work, each person in his or her own profession and state in life. For many centuries work was seen as something low and base, and even very learned theologians considered work a hindrance for people seeking to attain holiness.

I tell you now, my daughters and sons, that if a person rejects any honest human work, whether important or humble, and says that it cannot be sanctified and sanctifying, you can tell them with a clear conscience that God has not called them to his Work.

It will require prayer. We will need to pray and we will need to suffer in order to remove this error from the minds of good people. But the moment will come when, on the basis of human work of every kind, both intellectual and manual, the cry of Christians will be raised in one voice and say: cantate Domino canticum novum: cantate Domino omnis terra (Ps 96[95]:1), sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth!