Work with a Blessing!
“At that time…” Thus begins the Gospel, my beloved brethren. By means of these words we are called to think on that time when he to whom no one can compare – our Lord Jesus Christ – walked upon the face of the earth.
“At that time…” Some hear this and say, ‘If only I had lived in Christ’s era! If only I had seen him; if only I had heard him; if only I had partaken of the blessings he distributed!’ In the Church, however, we not only hear him, we not only see him with our spiritual eyes, but if we so desire we can even take hold of him and put him in our hearts by means of Holy Communion. On the diskos and in the chalice he is wholly present!
This same Christ loves work; he honours those who labour both on the land and at sea, and he has proven this with his whole life. When it came time to choose his disciples and apostles, he did not go to Plato’s Academy, or to the great centers of Rome, Alexandra, or Babylon where the powerful lived. Instead, he chose his ‘staff’ from the working class, from the fishermen of Galilee. The Lord is the archetypal worker. There is no one who loved workers more than our Lord Jesus Christ. He was the archetypal worker. He himself was a worker and all his disciples – Peter and Paul – were workers.
