THE recent statement of the Australian Catholic bishops on federal election issues (CL 6/6/04) preserves a clear separation between Church and state.
The Pastoral Constitution of the Church in the Modern World from Vatican II said that ‘earthly matters and the concerns of faith derive from the same God’.
The Australian statement encouraged a mix of tax policies, workplace reform and welfare policies. In chapter three of the pastoral constitution there is an analysis of human work as contributing in history to the realisation of the ‘divine plan’. The council spoke about the ‘profound meaning of human activity’.
This description of everyday work seems to contrast with Genesis 3 (17). God said that the earth (‘adamah’ in Hebrew) will be under a curse as a result of the disobedience of Adam (‘adam’) and Eve.
Adam would have to work hard and to sweat to produce food.
The Hebrew word for ‘earth’ means that ‘Adam’ derived his identity from the earth.
Genesis does not portray work as essentially a punishment.
Adam’s choice led to alienation, hence struggle. Prior to the fall, the working of the earth was essentially fruitful because Adam was in right relationship with the ‘adamah’.
We are too used to the equation that religion equals doctrine. ‘Employment as evangelisation’ is not a reference to a sectarian involvement of religion in the workplace nor an unnecessary concern with the world.
Rather it recognises the role of work as interactivity and interconnectedness.
The statement of the bishops is more evidence that workplace relations make us who we are as much as work being a description of what we do.
It highlights the council’s teaching that ‘work’ properly defined is an essential element of our nature and a source of happiness.
VINCE HODGE
Paddington, Qld
