26/08/2026
⛪August 26, 2026👷
⏰ Wednesday, 21st Week, O T, (II)
📖 Readings: 2Thessalonians 3:6–12, Psalm 127, Matthew 23:27–32🎵
🪚Work with Dignity, Live with Integrity🌴
Brothers and sisters, there is more to a person's life than what people see. A person may look responsible, successful and even religious, yet the reality of that life may be very different. What matters before God is not simply how we appear, but what is happening within us and how that inner life is expressed in our daily responsibilities. We can speak about honesty and still act dishonestly; condemn corruption and still be dishonest in the little things entrusted to us. We can speak about faith and yet neglect our duties. A life is not measured by how good it looks, but by the good it actually does. The question before us today is simple: who are we when nobody is watching?
Jesus says, “You are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead men’s bones” (Matthew 23:27). He is warning against a life in which appearance and reality no longer agree. This connects with St Paul’s message to the Thessalonians. Some had stopped working, not because they could not work, but because they would not work. They had become idle and busybodies, interfering in other people's affairs instead of attending to their own responsibilities (2 Thessalonians 3:6, 11). Their idleness was not simply about having nothing to do; it had become a way of avoiding responsibility.
Paul therefore says, “If anyone will not work, let him not eat” (2 Thessalonians 3:10). These words must be understood properly. Paul is not condemning the sick, the elderly, persons with disabilities, those displaced by circumstances, or people who sincerely want to work but cannot find employment. There is a difference between someone who cannot work and someone who will not work. There is also a difference between unemployment and laziness. The problem is the person who has the ability to contribute but deliberately refuses to do so while depending on others. Some spend their energy looking for who will help them instead of asking how they can contribute. Genuine help should restore dignity and create opportunity; it should not encourage irresponsibility.
This responsibility also concerns those who have work but do not do it faithfully. Laziness is not only refusing to have a job. Someone can collect a salary without doing the work for which the salary is paid. A civil servant who neglects the people he serves, a teacher who refuses to teach properly, a worker who avoids responsibility, a businessperson who cheats customers, a professional who takes money for work he does not properly do, or someone who uses public resources for private gain is failing in the responsibility entrusted to him. We therefore need to ask ourselves: What kind of person am I becoming through what I do every day? Work does not only produce money; it forms character. Honest work teaches discipline, patience, perseverance, responsibility and service. But we can become rich and lose our integrity, become successful and lose our humanity, or rise professionally while falling morally.
Work has dignity because human beings were created to cultivate and care for God's creation (Genesis 2:15). God himself is presented as the Creator at work, and Jesus says, “My Father is working still, and I am working” (John 5:17). The farmer cultivates the soil, the builder transforms materials into a home, the teacher forms young minds, the nurse cares for the sick, the trader serves customers honestly, the cleaner keeps an environment safe, and parents faithfully care for their families. All honest labour contributes to the good of others. There is no small work when it is honest, and there is no great position when it is used dishonestly. Not every valuable work is highly paid, and not every highly paid activity is valuable. There is dignity in honest work because there is dignity in the person who does it.
Jesus himself gives dignity to ordinary labour. He lived for many years in Nazareth and was known as the carpenter (Mark 6:3). The hands that later healed the sick, blessed children and broke bread had also worked with wood and tools. Our ordinary work can therefore become a place of service to God and neighbour when it is done honestly and responsibly. But work must not become an idol. We work, but we do not worship work. There is also a time to rest, because proper rest belongs to the rhythm of human life (Genesis 2:2–3). And our companions matter. Paul tells the Thessalonians to keep away from those who deliberately live in an undisciplined way (2 Thessalonians 3:6). If we surround ourselves with people who have no principles, we can gradually lose our own principles. Some friends encourage us to grow; others pull us towards gossip, laziness and moral compromise.
There is also spiritual idleness. We can be busy with many things and yet become inwardly idle, unwilling to examine ourselves, correct our faults, seek what is good or grow in wisdom and character. When people have too much time and too little purpose, they can become occupied with other people's lives. This was happening in Thessalonica: they were not working, but they were busybodies (2 Thessalonians 3:11). As the saying goes, an idle mind is the devil's workshop. We therefore need to get busy with what improves us: honest work, prayer, learning, service and the responsibilities entrusted to us. Paul himself gave an example worth following: he worked and did not want to become a burden to others (2 Thessalonians 3:7–9).
Brothers and sisters, today's readings call us to bring our inside and outside together. Let what we believe be seen in the way we work, treat people, use our opportunities and carry our responsibilities. If we are able to work, let us work. If we have been lazy, let us change. If we have been dishonest in our work, let us repent. If we are genuinely looking for work, let us not lose hope. If certain friendships are pulling us away from what is good, let us have the courage to choose better companions. We are not created merely to receive from others; we are created to contribute, to serve and to build. “Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labour in vain” (Psalm 127:1). May the Lord bless the work of our hands (Psalm 90:17), and may the life people see in us truly be the life that God sees within us.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
✍️Omezi Don Pedro
