The Humanism of Work in Blessed Josemaria Escrivá. Philosophical reflections

Abstract

In the theological and anthropological thought of Blessed Josemaría Escrivá, work is the first universal vocation of mano He rejected an abstract evaluation founded on kinds of labour presumed to be more or less perfect in accordance with their object. A definitive appraisal of work is subjective, i.e. it relies upon the way in which a human person performs his vocational task in the world. Every human enterprise has to be accomplished perfectly, notwithstanding the limited conditions of its objective dimension In Escriva, work is instrumental, not an end in itself. Its finality is contemplation and love as both an immanent and a transcedent perfection of the human person in his relationship with God and with all other men. Some philosophical underestimates of human action are avoided in this doctrine of Escrivá on labour.