Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Natitingou (Fides Service)- “Material difficulties assail us on every side. But God has given us hands with which to work and share in His creative work. Our hands are tools to build our dignity. The virtue of fortitude is necessary and so is an intense life of prayer and sacrifice if we are to be honest, hard-working labourers” Bishop Pascal N’Koué of the diocese of Natitingou, in Benin, writes in his Lenten Message for 2007 which bears the title “Work is a Blessing”.
The Bishop urges Catholics and all men and women of good will to promote the common good “after God we have to rely on man for the progress of society. A people of believers must be a people of workers. The Bible speaks continually of servants, craftsmen, labourers, fishermen, vine-dressers, soldiers…the closer we are to God, the better we work. The more we contemplate God, the more we work. This is the secret of monks who never die of hunger”.
In a country afflicted by poverty Bishop N’Koué recalls “work is a privileged means for fighting poverty, disease, ignorance. A task well done is also a prayer. Through our work we learn to serve God and to serve our brothers and sisters. The enemies of work are: negligence, sloth, fraud, wasting time in sterile criticism or gossip, all of which produce corruption and mediocrity”.
With our work “we can improve our living conditions and change the face of the earth. It is then urgent to realise our vocation to be God’s collaborators….Without methodical and consistent work, without continual effort, there will never be material, moral or spiritual progress.
“We must admit work is often hard” the Bishop continues. “The women who go out to search for firewood and then carry it on their heads to the market to sell, know this….nevertheless the world of work, however hard, is a blessing. It is a blessing for man and woman created in the image of God the Labourer. It is above all important not to consider labour a curse. Some think work is a consequence of original sin. Not at all. When God created Adam and Eve he put them in a beautiful garden that they might tend to it. (Gen 2,15). They were gardeners. It was sin which later made work arduous. Our God is a great worker. The Bible tells us that he worked for 6 days before resting on the 7th day…God asked man and woman created in his own image, to be fruitful, to fill the earth and subdue it, making it inhabitable. Land can only be transformed with work and through work”.
“Work is a blessing when accomplished as the will of God” the Bishop says but warns that “material progress can separate from God, it can destroy humanity. Unless God is present in what we are doing sooner or later it will work against us. Scientific and technological progress without God is the bearer of dangerous poison. Because first of all we must seek God’s Kingdom and His justice...
“Let us seek first of all the values of the Kingdom of God in the struggle to overcome sin, parasitism and all forms of suffering. This will promote universal brotherhood inhabited by the Spirit of God: solidarity, sharing and reciprocal aid”…
“Let us return to Christ. Let us build the future together. Let us love work well done. Monks and nuns set the example every day. Like them let us pray and work. Let us give our children and all those younger than us a desire to work for the glory of God” the Message concludes. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 5/3/2006 righe 45 parole 617)
