There was a young man who never really knew what hard labor felt like. After all, he was a college student studying drama, reading the works of great poets and authors, and acting in the local community theatre, often being selected for the lead role. He even dabbled in writing his own plays and was hoping to make a career as a professional actor and playwright.
All that changed drastically for him in 1939 when Germany invaded Poland at the start of World War II. This young man’s life was suddenly turned upside down. The Nazi occupiers closed universities and demanded that Polish men between the ages of 14 to 60 years old be required to work as manual laborers or else be deported to Germany.
So now, along with other young men, this student and aspiring actor suddenly found himself in a quarry in Poland, swinging a heavy sledgehammer, breaking up rocks of limestone, and using dangerous explosives.
In addition, the working conditions there were oppressive: temperatures were extremely cold in the quarry, food was scarce, physical abuse was used by supervisors, and diseases were common. He worked there for meager wages for 4 years. Many of his colleagues died on the job.
Despite what he had to endure however, he remained resilient, faithful to his strong Catholic faith, active in an underground non-violent resistance group, and committed to maintaining his beloved Polish cultural heritage as a member of a secret acting group. All this required great courage because his involvement in these underground activities was against Nazi prohibitions, and if caught, would cost him an instant death.
The name of this intelligent student, this potential actor, this forced quarry worker by day and non-violent resistor by night, was Karol Wojtyla whom we now know as St. Pope John Paul II. The horrendous time he spent as a quarry worker, however, was something he seriously reflected on for the rest of his life. This experience brought him to the realization not only of the value of work, but also the dignity of the human person…themes he often wrote of, and spoke about, during his pontificate.
In a poem he wrote called “Material,” which he penned under a assumed name while he worked in the stone quarry and during the Nazi occupation, Karol Wojtyla reflects on the inherent strength and power of the worker, the dignity of human labor, the importance of work. He writes that while a stone’s strength is released by a blast, it is ultimately the worker who wields that power and finds meaning in the creative act of work. In the poem he writes this line: "It is he who carries that strength in his hands: the worker"
As the years pass, this young poet answers the call to the priesthood. In 1978, Karol Wojtyla becomes our Pope. Never forgetting those quarry days, he continues to reflect on the value of work, especially when modern technology is growing on the horizon of that era. In his 1981 encyclical Laborem Exercens ("Through Work"), he writes that while technology can be a powerful instrument to serve work, he warns against its potential to dehumanize individuals by reducing them to instruments of production, rather than enhancing human dignity.
As he closes this powerful encyclical on work, this wise man says so beautifully:
“Let the Christian who listens to the word of the living God, uniting work with prayer, know the place that his work has not only in earthly progress but also in the development of the Kingdom of God, to which we are all called through the power of the Holy Spirit and through the word of the Gospel.
On this Labor Day, 2025, we are taking this opportunity to follow Pope John Paul’s example of reflecting on the value and dignity of work. As Christians, do we believe, as our saintly Pope writes, that our work matters not only for earthly progress, but also for the development of the Kingdom of God? His words echo that important line in our gospel today that says:
“Seek first the Kingdom of God.”
As people of faith, how do our everyday labors mesh with God’s plan? Whether we’re a compensated employee, a homemaker, a faithful volunteer sharing one’s skills and talents for others, a manual laborer, teacher, lawyer, accountant, etc., or are retired (some say ‘rewired’), we all have been called by our baptism to work for the kingdom of God. That’s the most important job we’ll ever have and the most significant labor we’ll ever do.
What, then, are some of the works we do, as a labor of love, to bring about the kingdom, especially in this Jubilee Year as ‘pilgrims of hope’? 3 points surface: one related to God, another to others, and finally, for ourselves.
First point, for God: we are here today, gathered together for liturgy as a faith community to pray to our Creator. The word “liturgy” itself means “work of the people”. Here we actively celebrate and thank God for God’s love and mercy in our world. We also ask for the grace and strength to do God’s work in bringing about the kingdom, wherever we are, using the gifts God has given us.
Second point, for others: We not only thank God this Labor Day, but we thank our ancestors, those hard-working women, men and children who endured tough times in appalling working conditions during the Industrial Revolution of the 1880’s. Workers were poorly paid, labored in dangerously unsafe environments, and had no health or insurance benefits. They demanded change.
In 1882, 20,000 laboring men, women and children in New York actually took a day off from work, gave up their wages, something unheard of, and marched through the city streets demanding this change. Only after years of arduous efforts, did results happen. Shorter workweeks came about for workers, the minimum wage was increased, child labor was legally eliminated, safety laws were initiated, and health and insurance benefits began.
Our Church also spoke up. Pope Leo XIII wrote his 1891 prophetic encyclical “Rerum Novarum” which advocated, along with the labor unions, for social and economic justice. This and other efforts at labor reform led our Church to develop the 7 Principles of Catholic Social Teaching, one of which focuses solely on the dignity of work. The opening statement of this social teaching on work says: “The economy must serve people, not the other way around.”
To all these church and community witnesses who worked so hard to bring about these workplace changes which benefit us today, we say a humble thank you.
The work world looks different now than it did back then. Machines have replaced workers, technology and the keyboard are the new workplace for many, and finance, production, trade and labor are no longer local but global. Still, we know in our time, not all people have work benefits. Many continue to struggle for a fair living wage to support their families. Many live on the margins and are unseen in society. Many are straining daily to survive.
This Labor Day reminds us that when Jesus says, ‘seek first the kingdom’, it means doing that on behalf of others, too. Mindful of our sisters and brothers in need, we act. God is working through us to right the wrongs. When we become aware of work-related injustices, we seek justice by advocating for workers’ rights. These are our sisters and brothers who are being treated unfairly, and we are called to support them. Our baptism calls us to do so for the common good of all.
Third and last, for ourselves: This special day in this Jubilee Year encourages all of us to reflect on our own work, on the way we use our own gifts and talents to be witnesses of hope in bringing about the kingdom of God. Consider the joys of your work, the challenges and opportunities work brings, Remember, too, how often we could offer our work, big or small, for God’s glory and the good of others. Perhaps we’ve never thought about what we do as having such a noble purpose, but it does, for God, for others, and for ourselves.
As we are now sent forth from here to be those workers for the kingdom, I’d like to share with you a blessing from our Dominican Order:
May God the Father bless us, May God the Son heal us,
May the Holy Spirit enlighten us and give us eyes to see with,
Ears to hear with,
And hands to do the work of God with,
Feet to walk with,
and a mouth to preach the word of salvation with,And the angel of peace to watch over us,
And lead us at last, by our Lord's gift,
To the kingdom. Amen
