Work was in no way a punishment but, on the contrary, "dignity of life and a duty imposed by the Creator, since man was created ut operaretur. Work is a means by which man becomes a participant in creation and, therefore, not only is it worthy, whatever it may be, but it is also an instrument for achieving human perfection - earthly - and supernatural perfection ".
This divine mandate existed even before our first parents sinned. Original sin added fatigue and weariness to work, but work in itself remains noble, worthy, because it is a participation in the creative power of God, even though "it is now accompanied by hardship and suffering, infertility and weariness. It is still a divine gift and a task to be performed under painful conditions, just as the world is still God's world, but a world in which the divine voice is no longer clearly perceived .
Work is a blessing, a good that corresponds to the dignity of man and increases it. "The Church finds in the first pages of the book of Genesis the source of her conviction that work constitutes a fundamental dimension of human existence on earth "
Work acquired with Christ, in his years of hidden life in Nazareth and in the three years of public ministry, a redemptive value.
With the Redemption, the painful aspects of work took on a sanctifying value for those who work and for all humanity. Sweat and fatigue, offered with love, become treasures of holiness, because work done out of love for God is human participation, not only in the work of Creation, but also in that of the Redemption. All labor entails a part of fatigue and burden that we can offer to the Lord as atonement for human faults. Accepting with humility this part of effort, which even the best work organization cannot eliminate, means collaborating in the purification of our intelligence, our will and our feelings7. Let us examine today in prayer whether we often complain at work: in the office, in the workshop, in housework, in study; let us see together with the Lord if we offer fatigue and weariness for nobly ambitious ends; let us find out if in these less pleasant aspects of all work we find the Christian mortification that purifies us and that we can offer for others.