The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1922-11-11
THE WORKER AND HIS STATE
OF LIFE.


It becomes Christians to have
each a right sense of the dignity
not only Of life but Of his state Of
life. 1t is common and natural to
respect any man who makes an
honest living" This feeling is
capable Of being elevated to the
rank of virtue. 1t enters into
the natural substratum Of super
natural charity.
Any working man is the better
for habitually looking upon his
work as something worth while,
as something which, done the best
he knows how, reflects credit upon
him and makes him worthy OF
commentator. It is of especial
advantage to the Catholic work
ingman to keep his consciousness
| alive to the fact that Christ, the
Son Of God, was a working man
and so impaired to labor and to
the laborer's state Of life an en-
nobling conservation.
| y y y
There can be no real respect for
a shirker or a deliberate bungler
of work. Contrary to much opin-
ion, it is not natural for man to
be idle and shiftless. He may like
idleness and loafing, but that only
proves the Christian teaching Of
mans fall 1t shows the present
effect of a remote cause called
original sin. A locomotive off the
rails and on it's back, or cold in a
round-house, is not fulfilling its
purpose in human affairs. A man
who does not accept his condition
to make the most Of it as "a step
ping stone to higher things wo-
| fully lacks an element in his
thinking that makes for proper
conception of the dignity Of his
being. A real thinker does not
blame fate for imposing toll upon
him, but regards his call to labor
as a token Of honor setting him
above and marking him off from
all other creatures.
| y y
| All right labor is righteous
and of God. When the Creator
made man lord Of the earth, He
at the same time set him under
the law of labor. The Lord God
| is Himself. in sense, the first and
the ever-active Worker. But He
is a pure spirit. The expression
of His action, if it is to pass into
visible, palpable form, depends on
| His word. He spoke with omnip-
otence His creative word fiat, and
| all things came into their being in
| due order and succession. In six
days or periods, He went ON from
one great order Of things to an
| other, until He came to His crown
| ing work and creation-man. And
| this itself was for mans instruc.
| ton, for man is made in the Crea.
| tors image and likeness. Man 5
| activity is to be modelled after
this Makers. lie, too, is to labor
| six days and then rest. Not with.
out prejudice to his powers car
. he overstep this measure set fol
the definition and limit Of his toll
i At this point of his reflections
the writer happened to see an ar
ticle by Albert Sidney Gregg il
a late Dearborn Independent
on sales managers advocacy Of
Sunday as Agents Day" il
American homes. The advocate
r. J. Strittmatter, described as {
very clever letter writer, is quot
, ed as follows:
There are, without doubt
many who today are taking tn,
: Fourth Ii. e. Third Catholic Yer
I sionl Commandment too literal
ly. Just few days ago the man
ager of our Cleveland Rotarex De
apartment remarked that ohe o
his retail statesmen had closed l.
| washer sales on the previous Sun
day, Too many Of us feel tina
! Sunday was made to rest. Som
e misguided disciples of the blu
Y laws would do away with wor
e of any kind on that day. But i
0 this business, evenings and Sur
t days are the most valuable POI
n tions of the week to statesmen VII
ii attain big earning power.
Ell This led Mr.. Gregg to send gu