Work, Love, Romance, Joy - Opus Dei

Finding time to read has not been easy as for me lately as it has been in the past. I still find time here and there to pick up a book, however, new books are not coming in as much as they used to. With our new house, and our first child on the way :), when it comes to buying books I now have a budget, a very small budget. This actually works out for me because it allows me to go back and reread some of my favorite titles that I haven’t read in over a year or two. One of which is, “Ordinary Work, Extraordinary Grace: My Spiritual Journey in Opus Dei” by Dr. Scott Hahn. (I know this is one of David’s favorites as well). Throughout his book Hahn underlines how much joy should enlighten our hearts when we are working for the love of God. Here, Hahn gives us a biblical illustration of that type of love we should all strive for among our daily lives.

". . . Consider the story of Jacob, in the Book of Genesis (Genesis 29). One day while traveling, the young man met a woman “beautiful and lovely” named Rachel. He was so smitten that he wept aloud. Soon he approached Rachel’s father, Laban, and asked for the privilege of marrying her. So much did he love her that he promised to work in Laban’s lands for seven years in order to merit such a wife. “So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed to him but a few days because of the love he had for her”. Jacob would, in fact, labor another seven years that way, because of the trickery of Laban.
Notice, however, that Jacob did not toil in bitterness. Nor did he grimly ponder all the places he’d rather be than pushing sheep through the pastures of an untrustworthy man. He worked with joy because his heart was set on the goal: the love of Rachel. He kept a spirit of service because he was serving the only man who could lead him to that goal. In fact, when all was said and done and Jacob had married Rachel, he served Laban for another seven years, out of gratitude!"

We can learn a lot from Jacob, especially when it comes to reaching our ultimate goal, Heaven. As Dr. Hahn asks, “for that goal, how much should we be willing to work? Seven years? Fourteen? Twenty one? Seventy? The longest lifetime would not be enough.” Lets all strive to work with love and joy at every moment in our everyday lives, and especially in our homes.

[1] Ordinary Work, Extraordinary Grace: My Spiritual Journey in Opus Dei” by Dr. Scott Hahn. Pg. 121-122.