This Sunday marks the two-month mark of our new parish family and my coming to the Olympic Peninsula. As I continue to get my bearings – with the help of amazing staff and dedicated volunteers across five churches and our school – it is obvious that there is plenty of work to be done. And yet, work can’t be what defines any of us in ministry or in our personal identity. Work is about accomplishing tasks and while those tasks are often important, they are in service of something greater: human dignity and the glory of God.

It is telling that the way we often introduce ourselves or invite others to introduce themselves is by laying out our work – we implicitly convey that our value is found in what we do….rather than who we are. And maybe that’s because we set ourselves up to believe that what we do as our core identity. An easy way to check if that’s true, by the way, is to consider life without work. What would we be if we were not doing the work of ministering in our parishes, serving our families, working at our jobs?

The work that we do IS important! God entrusts us with responsibilities whose fulfillment make a real difference in our lives and the lives of others. But at the end of the day, it is only our relationship with Him and our relationships with others that will endure – heaven will have no need or place for work! Within the communion of saints with the Lord, it will be all relationship, for eternity.

So let’s rest a while today – and set aside time for leisure together every day – enjoying the bonds of friendship that we have and using these opportunities to forge new ones. Happy Labor Day to you & your loved ones. May it be a welcome taste of the fellowship the Lord is preparing for us.

September 1 – Today is the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation. Taking our cue from the tradition of the Eastern Church, we take this opportunity to reflect on the goodness of what God has created and our responsibility as stewards of all creation. In giving dominion of the earth to all of mankind, the Lord also places responsibility in our hands to do so worthily and well. Read the USCCB’s statement at their website.

September 2 – One of my favorite quotes on our relationship to work comes from Pope John Paul II’s 1986 address to the workers at the Transfield factory in Syney Labor Day: “work is for man, not man for work”. It is a truth that resonates with everyone who hears it – but how many of us live this out? The answer can be found in our comfort with those moments when we are not working, those times when the Lord calls us to rest in Him and with each other. As we celebrate Labor Day, may we invite the Lord to help us to know our true vocation: living into being His beloved sons & daughters.

September 3 – Today is the memorial of Saint Gregory the Great. Though not personally attracted to monasticism myself, I find him particularly inspiring for his dedication to radical dependence on the Lord. Born into nobility, Gregory understood that the Lord was calling him to embrace poverty and prayer. His gifts were called upon by the Church, first in a localized way, helping deal with civil crisis in Rome and eventually chosen to lead the Church Herself as pope. During his time he championed holiness in clergy and beauty in the liturgy. Read about him at Word on Fire.

September 5 – As I grew up in the faith, there were two steady presences in the Church: Pope John Paul II and Mother Teresa, whose memorial we celebrate today. A woman of small physical stature, her dedication to serving the poor and powerful personality made her the face of Christian outreach. When she died in 1997, I couldn’t believe it was true – she was an icon, who could take her place? Of course, now I understand what I perhaps didn’t then: that we are not meant to stand by and praise those who serve the needy, we are meant to roll up our sleeves and join in the work! By all means, let us learn about her life & work, but let us also take our cue from her in looking at how we can minister to those who need us most, right here in our own neighborhoods and communities.

September 6 – Today is the memorial of Saint Zachary – better known as the prophet Zechariah. He was the last of the minor prophets and lived during the time of the reconstruction of the Temple. Though the rebuilding of the Temple did not bring about the renewal of the nation of Israel, Zechariah’s prophecies pointed towards future realization of the centrality of Jerusalem and God’s sovereignty – prophecies we now understand in light of Christ! Read Pope Benedict XVI’s 2006 Palm Sunday address as he reflects on Christ as the fullfillment of God’s promises through the prophet Zechariah.

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Priests celebrating their anniversaries this week