May 2025; For Working Conditions
- Pauline Books & Media
- May 1
- 5 min read
Pope's May 2025 intention
Lets us pray that through work, each person might find fulfilment, families might be sustained in dignity, and that society might be humanised.
The feast of St. Joseph the Worker, starts the month of May, This memorial was established by Pope Pius XII in 1955. As he instituted institute the liturgical feast of 'St. Joseph the Worker' he said, " the humble craftsman of Nazareth not only embodies the dignity of the worker with God and the Holy Church, but is also always the provident guardian of you and of your families.
It is also the day that many nations around the world celebrate the Day of Labour. These serve as the inspiration for this intention. The Church here commends and celebrates labour, that although frequently difficult, is a noble endeavor, necessary to support oneself and others.
People need to work, not just to earn money for the necessities of life, but also to fulfil their calling to share in the creative activity of God. The human satisfaction that comes from work well done shows how profoundly the Creator has inscribed the law of work in the heart of man.
St Pope John Paul II
"Work makes the human person similar to God, because with work man is a creator, capable of creating, of creating many things; also of creating a family to raise. The human person is a creator, and creates through work. This is his vocation, and it says in the Bible that “God saw all He had made, and indeed it was very good” (Gen 1:31). That is, work had goodness within itself and creates the harmony of things - beauty, goodness - and involves man in everything: in his thought, his actions, everything. Man is involved in work. It is man’s first vocation: to work. And this gives dignity to man. The dignity that makes him resemble God. The dignity of work.
May no-one be without employment, and may all be fairly paid, that they might earn both the dignity of their work and the beauty of rest.
Pope Francis
Saint Pope John Paul II
During the Second World War, Karol Wojtyla, who would become Pope John Paul II on the 16th October 1978, was employed by the Solway company, in a limestone quarry in Krakow. He smashed stones with a big hammer during the bitterly cold winter of 1940. He was soon elevated to the role of "shot fixer," which required him to pack the explosives and string up the fuses before blasting. Then a second man would arrive and light the fuse. In 1942, he was moved to the Solway factory's water purification department, which was a less strenuous position than the quarry. But the strain of studying, working, and not eating well, soon caught up with him. He said of these four years, “These were important and useful years in my life. I am grateful for having had that opportunity to reflect deeply on the meaning and dignity of human work in its relationship to the individual, the family, the nation, and the whole social order.”
St Pope John Paul II
Only man is capable of work, and only man works, at the same time by work occupying his existence on earth. Thus work bears a particular mark of man and of humanity, the mark of a person operating within a community of persons. And this mark decides its interior characteristics; in a sense it constitutes its very nature.
St Pope John Paul II
Work and Personal Dignity
"Once, a man went to Caritas, a man who had no employment and went to ask for help for his family. An employee of Caritas, who gave him something to eat, said to him, “At least you can take some food home”. “But this is not enough for me”, was the answer. “I want to earn the food I take home”. He was lacking the dignity, that dignity of “making” the bread himself, through work, and taking it home. The dignity of work, which is trampled on, unfortunately."
"But there are many slaves today too, many men and women who are not free to work; they are forced to work in order to survive, nothing more. They are slaves: it is forced labour. It is forced labour, unjust, ill-paid, and which leads men and women to live with their dignity trampled underfoot. There are many, many throughout the world. Many."
"Think of the day workers, who are made to work for minimum pay, and not for eight, but for twelve or fourteen hours a day: this happens today, here. Throughout the world, and also here. I think of the domestic worker who does not receive a fair wage, who has no social security assistance, insurance, no pension provision: this does not only happen in Asia. It happens here."
"Every injustice inflicted on a person who works tramples on human dignity; and also the dignity of the one who does this injustice."
Pope Francis
'Work is the vocation of man'
Work and Dignity of Families
“Work constitutes a foundation for the formation of family life, which is a natural right and something that man is called to…In a way, work is a condition for making it possible to found a family, since the family requires the means of subsistence which man normally gains through work."
St Pope John Paul II
We pray that the value of work is measured by the welfare of employees and the families they support, and not material cost.
Work and Society
"Man must work, both because the Creator has commanded it and because of his own humanity, which requires work in order to be maintained and developed. Man must work out of regard for others, especially his own family, but also for the society he belongs to, the country of which he is a child, and the whole human family of which he is a member, since he is the heir to the work of generations and at the same time a sharer in building the future of those who will come after him in the succession of history."
St Pope John Paul II
We offer up prayers for workers' rights, essential health and safety, and that the beauty and richness of work in society are mirrored in working relationships based on integrity, honesty and respect.
Work and Saint Teresa of Calcutta
“Never do the work carelessly because you wish to hide your gifts. Remember, that work is his. You are his co-worker. Therefore, he depends on you for that special work. Do the work with him, and the work will be done for him. The talents God has given you are not yours – they have been given to you for your use, for the glory of God. There can be no half-measures in the work.”
Let us us ask Saint Joseph...that he might help us fight for the dignity of work,
so that there may be work for everyone and that the work may be dignified.
Not slave labour.
May this be our prayer today.
Pope Francis
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