Sanctification: The Work Of A Lifetime

By Daniel Tay in Oxygen, 5 November 2008

Today’s quotes, some of them humorous, are on the theme of work:

“I like work, it fascinates me. I can sit and look at it for hours.” - Jerome K. Jerome

“Work is the greatest thing in the world, so we should always save some of it for tomorrow.” - Don Herold

“Light is the task where many share the toil.” - Homer

“Some are bent with toil, and some get crooked trying to avoid it.” - Anon

“God gives every bird its food, but he does not throw it into the nest.” - J. G. Holland

“He who labours as he prays lifts his heart to God with his hands.” - St. Bernard

“The great scandal of the nineteenth century is that the Church lost the working class.” - Pope Pius XI

“Be thankful if you have a job a little harder than you like. A razor cannot be sharpened on a piece of velvet.” - Anon

“The best worship, however, is stout working.” - Thomas Carlyle

“Nothing is really work unless you would rather be doing something else.” - James M. Barrie

- Taken from “Quotes and Anecdotes - An Anthology for Preachers & Teachers” by Anthony P. Castle
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Work for your salvation.

Have you ever heard of Opus Dei? The name literally means ‘work of God’. I first heard of Opus Dei when a movie was being made from the book ‘The Da Vinci Code’ written by Dan Brown. The story portrays Opus Dei as an insidious cult. One of its characters is an Opus Dei monk who commits murder to protect the secrets of Opus Dei. I still remember an Opus Dei priest giving a talk in Singapore to clarify this. His opening line was, “We have no monks.”

Indeed Opus Dei is an international lay organization in which most of its members are people who live in the world and hold normal jobs. Only a minority of its members are priests. They have no monks. What the members look for in Opus Dei is the spiritual help that they need to sanctify (or make holy) their ordinary work. Thus their work becomes a means to sanctify themselves and help others to do the same thing. The organization asks its members to make an effort to practise human and Christian virtues, as children of God, despite the limitations and errors that are inevitable in human life.

In today’s first reading, we see St. Paul encouraging the Philippians to persevere and “work” for their salvation. There is a saying in Opus Dei that sums it up nicely. It goes: “Conversion is the matter of a moment. Sanctification is the work of a lifetime.” The Philippians were converts, just as many of us were.

All of us must have had a conversion experience at some point in our lives, otherwise we wouldn’t be here reflecting on the scriptures to try to deepen our faith. This conversion experience is the start of our journey and it happens in a moment. How many people do we know who have had conversion experiences but have since fallen away from the faith? This tells us that salvation must be worked for and this is done by leading a holy life.

The beauty of the spirituality of Opus Dei is that it tells us that lay people are called to holiness just as priests and religious are. What sanctifies us is our everyday work and the way we do it. Everyone works, even those who do not have a job. And it is through this work that we become cooperators with God who also works. This is what makes us holy. This is how we work for our salvation.

(Today’s OXYGEN by Daniel Tay)
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Prayer: Dear God, we offer to you the work that we are going to do today. Bless us in our interactions with our colleagues, our superiors, and our clients. Help us to treat them with love, and may this work that we do serve to sanctify us. Amen.

Thanksgiving: We give thanks to the Lord for giving us work, by which we have the opportunity to be made holy.