Editorial: World Day of Prayer for Creation and Labor Day

The month of September began not only with Labor Day but, the day before, with the World Day of Prayer for Creation. This connection on consecutive days is a coincidence, with two different calendars (the American civil calendar and the church calendar) happening to come together that way this year. But there are rich veins of thought in Catholic social doctrine about both subjects, and there is something instructive about their coming so close together. 

The dignity of work is rooted in the gift of creation. Even in the Garden of Eden, work was part of the original goodness of God’s plan for humanity and the means through which we are to develop the gifts given to us in creation. Adam tending the garden is a beautiful metaphor for this relationship. 

Through original sin, work became toilsome, and, as Pope Francis emphasized in his message for World Day of Prayer for Creation, quoting St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans, even creation was affected, “groaning” and “subjected to futility” as it awaits the full restoration of fallen man. 

Remembering this connection helps our understanding both of work and of the care we owe to creation. Creation was given for the good of the human race, to be developed and tended with respectful care (and our share of toil) in order to meet our bodily needs. At the same time, creation is not just like some unlimited bank account we can draw on carelessly and with little thought to amass riches. It is God’s creation, deserving of respect and reverence. Its goods are meant for all the people living here now and for every future generation. And as our technology — including our ability to manipulate and extract the resources of creation — has grown, so has our capacity to damage and degrade and disrespect creation. 

In northeastern Minnesota, the beautiful fall leaves are already turning, geese are flying overhead, and some days there is a chill in the air. Many will soon be preserving the products of their summer gardens to make them last for the winter ahead. Creation is beautiful, it’s fruitful. And if we treat it with the respect and care befitting a creature of God, it will grow even more so and be handed down to generations to come.