Page 2 * Faith Today
THE
Changing Jobs
By Joe Michael Feist
NC News Service
To paraphrase an old adage,
nothing is quite so constant as
change.
No statement could be truer
when it comes to the evolving
American scene. The nation, for
example, is aging rapidly. The me-
dian age in 1983 was 30.9, the
oldest ever, and is inching higher.
More Americans are remaining
single and the fertility rate is
declining.
The Frostbelt has been forsaken
for the Sunbelt. A majority of
Americans now live in western and
southern states.
Changes in the birth rate and
population shifts cause shifting
employment patterns and job
realignment. An increase in the
number of elderly, for example,
means an increased need for
nurses and nurses' aides.
What does all this have to do
with the church? Your diocese?
Your parish? Plenty, says Loretta
Girzaitis, director of adult educa-
tion in the Archdiocese of St. Paul-
Minneapolis. An awareness of
trends and developments in socie-
ty, especially in the world of
work, is essential if the church is
to minister effectively, she said.
In many areas, Ms. Girzaitis said,
people "must be prepared for
change so it doesn't overcome us
through stress."
She also thinks that job realign-
ment is one area in which parishes
and dioceses can make a contribu-
tion, if they are knowledgeable.
"A parish can set up support pro-
grams when a large number of
people are unemployed and help
them find, or provide, resources
so that they can retrain themselves
or transfer their skills to another
area," she said.
The nature of work and the
kinds of jobs that will emerge in
the future are favorite themes for
Ms. Girzaitis, who holds a master's
degree in catechetical theology
from Manhattan College in New
York.
"(In the future), I think we'll see
that agriculture won't have the
same role," she said.
"Hydroponics is now coming into
its own. We won't need soil or
the kind of space we use now to
grow things. Younger people corn- .
ing up won't be in agriculture as
we know it now."
Another rapidly expanding
development is embodied in the
term "worksteader." A
worksteader, explained Ms. Gir-
zaitis, is one of the 5 million
Americans who labor within the
confines of their homes. The
number is expected to double by
1990.
Many worksteaders, she con-
tinued, work for a company and
communicate with their offices ...... ::
through computers. But a large
number are the new entrepreneurs,
setting up numerous kinds of
businesses in basements and spare
bedrooms. The advantages: no
commuter costs, no child-care
costs, work time is flexible. The
disadvantages: no benefits, lack of
interaction with fellow workers.
But whatever the particular job,
Ms Girzaitis said, there is a need
to see a relationship between one's
work and one's faith.
"We must see that work is an
extension of our creative ability.
When God put us here he wanted
us to create," she said. "My men-
tal attitude determines how I'll act
toward work. We should look on
work as a gift and a means of
gaining satisfaction."
How are Christian values
brought to one's work? "We do
that by giving the best we're able
to give. By not cheating on time
or quality. By not being so involv-
ed in my own work that I fail to
see the needs of others," said Ms.
Girzaitis.
She added that people "must
realize that we cannot become
slaves to our work" that we
cannot so identify with work that
we don't have an identity outside
work.
High tech or low tech, now or
in the future, it's attitudes and
values that count, noted Ms.
Girszaitis.
(Feist is associate editor of Faith
Today.)
God...What a
By Father John Castelot
NC News Service
After Jesus healed the paralytic
at the pool of Bethesda, he was
pounced on for working on the
sabbath. But he said: "My Father
is at work until now, and I am at
work as well" (John 5:17).
In the book of Genesis, God
had rested on the seventh day of
creation. Refraining from work on
the sabbath was based on this.
Even so, the rabbis conceded
that God's work was never done.
People were born on the sabbath
and died on the sabbath, and God
was intimately involved in both
processes. Only he could give life
and only he could judge those
whose life was over.
God was, and is, eternally
active.
It is significant that the first
page of the Bible shows God at
work. By creating, God expresses
not only his power, but creative
love. It is in this context that one
reads: "God created man in his
image;...ma.le and female he
created them" (Genesis 1:27).
Men and women are made in
the image of a God who works.
Through the work they do, peo-
ple carry out God's intention and
find fulfillment, happiness and
wholeness.
When people find no oppor-
tunity to Contribute through
work, through service of some
kind, they are prevented from be-
ing as fully human as they might
be, images of a creative God. The
result can be dehumanizing.
There is a well-known story
Jesus told about the owner of an
estate who was looking for
workers at harvest time. On his
last trip to tlae marketplace, It€
found jobless men standing
around, still hoping for a few
hours' work.
"To these he said, 'Why
you been standing here
day?' 'No one has hired us,'
told him. He said, 'You go
vineyard too'" (Matthew
The story is a parable
God's reign -- a reign whiCt
tails the active working out
God's plan for humanity.
This helps to explain why
that when the U.S. Catholic
bishops express concern
unemployment, they are
about something beyond
justice as such. They are
upon furthering the reign
As long as people
reduced to idleness that is
dehumanizing, the reign of
thwarted. The Creator's
