Honoring Labor Day

Norman Rockwell - Anvil workers

In honor of Labor Day, today I share with you two posters that Norman Rockwell painted for the Saturday Evening Post, both of which relate to work and labor. The first one shows two men hammering on an anvil, with a variety of people looking at them and admiring their strength. The second one shows a woman posing as a riveter, a job that was popular during World War II, when women were employed to bang in hundreds of rivets on planes and other equipment. Many of them became deaf in the process, and I remember one parishioner who died recently, who was a riveter, and of course, hard of hearing. 

Norman Rockwell - Rosie the Riveter

We pray today for all those who are searching for jobs to support their families. May God provide work for everyone, and may we appreciate the opportunity to work and earn a living. And may we all give a full day's worth of work which complements our salary and pay-checks we receive. Many people may look at work as a punishment we received as a result of Adam and Eve's sin. But consider also how boring it would be if we did not have to do any work, how unproductive our lives would be, and how lazy everyone would be. By working we have the opportunity to continue God's creation, as throughout the centuries, many inventions were created, just because men and women did not remain lazy or unproductive, but used their minds and hands to work and be creative.