Day 27 – Work
Within the context of service, human work assumes a different meaning. The Augustinians explain their perception of work in the following way: In harmony with Augustine’s thinking, we look upon work as important, as something that is an expression of one’s human nature and person. We do not view it as a burden or simply a means of sustenance, but as cooperation with the Creator in shaping the world and serving the human community. We strive to be competent in our particular skill or profession, and to deal fairly and kindly with both employers and employees. We are conscious of our civic duty and we try to live according to the social virtues of honesty, sense of justice, sincerity, integrity, courtesy and so on, because these things pertain to an authentic Christian life (cf. AA 4).
We want every action of our public life to be consistent with our faith. Our commitment to the human and ecclesial communities ought to be visible in our generous service to both, as we carry out our duties and pursue our efforts “with greater care and cheerfulness than if each one were working for himself…”