12th-century mosaic of St. Demetrius of Salonica
formerly in the Golden-Roofed Monastery of Kyiv, now in the Tretyakov Gallery of Moscow.
Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam (To the Greater Glory of God)
From: Ephesians 6:1-9
Advice to Children and Parent
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[1] Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. [2] "Honor your father and mother" (this is the first commandment with a promise), [3] "that it may be well with you and that you may live long on the earth." [4] Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
Advice to Servants and Masters
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[5] Slaves, be obedient to those who are your earthly masters, with fear and trembling, in singleness of heart, as to Christ; [6] not in the way of eye-service, as men-pleasers, but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, [7] rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to men, [8] knowing that whatever good anyone does, he will receive the same again from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free. [9] Masters, do the same to them, and forbear threatening, knowing that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and that there is no partiality with him.
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Commentary:
1-4. St Paul now goes on to deal with parent-children relationships. He recalls the fourth commandment (the first of the commandments to do with our neighbor) to which a promise of blessing is attached for those who keep it (cf. Ex 20:12; Deut 5:16). Honoring one's parents means loving and obeying them, as is right, and caring for them spiritually and materially when their age or circumstances so require. To those who keep this commandment, the Lord promises happiness and a long life on earth.
"In the Lord": although these words are missing from some early codexes, there is no doubt about their authenticity. They locate parent-children relationships on a supernatural plane. In the last analysis, obedience of children to parents is a divine commandment, which justice demands be kept. Parents, for their part, are called to be understanding with their children, and to educate them in a truly Christian way: discipline and instruction should always be motivated by a desire for their good.
"As it is the parents who have given life to their children, on them lies the gravest obligation of educating their family. They must therefore be recognized as being primarily and principally responsible for their education. The role of parents in education is of such importance that it is almost impossible to provide an adequate substitute. It is therefore the duty of parents to create a family atmosphere inspired by love and devotion to God and their fellow-men which will promote an integrated, personal and social education of their children [...] which are necessary to every society. It is therefore above all in the Christian family, enriched by the grace and the responsibility of the sacrament of matrimony, that children should be taught to know and worship God and to love their neighbor, in accordance with the faith which they have received in earliest infancy in the sacrament of Baptism [...]. Finally it is through the family that they are gradually initiated into association with their fellow-men in civil life and as members of the people of God" (Vatican II, "Gravissimum Educationis", 3).
"Therefore the responsibility and consequently also the right of educating children comes to the family direct from the Creator. It is a right which cannot be surrendered, because it is combined with a very serious responsibility; it is therefore prior to any right of the civil society or the State and for that reason may not be infringed by any power on earth.
"The sacred character of this right is thus shown by St Thomas Aquinas: 'The son is by nature something of the father ...: and so the law of nature requires that until it reaches the use of reason the child shall be under the father's care. It would therefore be against natural justice if before reaching the use of reason the child were removed from the parents' charge or if any disposition were made concerning it against the parents' will' ("Summa Theologiae", II-II, q. 10, a. 12). And since the parents' obligation to exercise this care persists until the offspring is capable of looking after itself, it is evident that their inviolable right to educate their offspring continues until that time. 'For nature', says St Thomas, 'intends not only the generation of offspring but also its development and progress to the state of man as man, that is, to the state of virtue' ("ibid.", "Supplement", q. 41, a. 1)" (Pius XI, "Divini Illius Magistri").
Parents must not abuse their authority nor should their children obey them if asked to do anything that is against the moral law. Therefore, parents may not make unreasonable demands. The Apostle warns about this when he says, "do not provoke your children to anger" (v. 4). Christian education, therefore, must be based on charity, on affection and on parents' sensitive respect of their children's freedom. 'The parents are the main persons responsible for the education of their children, in human as well as in spiritual matters. They should be conscious of the extent of their responsibility. To fulfill it, they need prudence, understanding, a capacity for teaching and loving and a concern for giving good example. Imposing things by force, in an authoritarian manner, is not the right way to teach. The ideal attitude of parents lies more in becoming their children's friends--friends who will be willing to share their anxieties, who will listen to their problems, who will help them in an effective and agreeable way" (St J. Escriva, "Christ Is Passing By", 27). See the note on Col 3:20-21.
5-9. In St Paul's time labor relations were largely based on slavery. He does not directly denounce slavery, but he uses this letter to establish the correct basis for the master-servant relationship. By emphasizing the dignity of the human person, the Apostle is clearly teaching that human relationships are to be raised to a supernatural level, that is, made to involve Christ. Hence masters must be just towards servants, not coercing them by threats, for all--masters as well as servants--have one and the same Lord on high, "with whom there is no partiality" (v. 9). On the other hand, slaves should work not merely because they expect a human reward or, as it were, are resigned to their fate: they should render "service with a good will as to the Lord and not to men" (v. 7). This teaching established conditions which, centuries later, would lead to the abolition of slavery when the spirit of Christianity imbued the whole gamut of human relationships, including those to do with work.
The Church's social teaching has projected the light of faith and charity onto the world of work, thereby fulfilling an essential role in the building of a more human and more Christian society. Thus, for example, the Magisterium teaches that "even though a state of things be pictured in which everyone will receive at last all that is his due, a wide field will always remain open for charity. For justice alone, however faithfully observed, though it can indeed remove the cause of social strife, can never bring about a union of hearts and minds [...]. Only when all sectors of society have the intimate conviction that they are members of one great family, and children of the same heavenly Father [...] will it be possible to unite all in harmonious striving for the common good [...]. Then the rich and others in power will change their former neglect of their poorer brethren into solicitous and effective love, will listen readily to their just demands, and will willingly forgive them the faults and mistakes they may possibly make. The workers too will lay aside all feelings of hatred or envy which the instigators of social strife exploit so skillfully. Not only will they cease to feel discontent at the position assigned them by divine providence in human society; they will become proud of it, well aware that they are working usefully and honorably for the common good, each according to his office and function and following more closely in the footsteps of him who, being God, chose to become a tradesman among men, and to be known as 'the son of the tradesman"' (Pius XI, "Quadragesimo Anno", 56).
More recently, John Paul II has reminded us that "work is a key, probably "the essential key", to the whole social question, if we try to see that question really from the point of view of man's good" ("Laborem Exercens", 3). In this connection he makes it clear that "work is a good thing for man--a good thing for his humanity—because through work man not only transforms nature, adapting it to his own needs, but he also achieves fulfillment as a human being and indeed, in a sense, becomes 'more a human being'" ("ibid.", 9).
"It is time for us Christians to shout from the rooftops that work is a gift from God and that it makes no sense to classify people differently, according to their occupation, as if some jobs were nobler than others. Work, all work, bears witness to the dignity of man, to his dominion over creation. It is an opportunity to develop one's personality. It is a bond of solidarity with others..." (St J. Escriva, "Christ Is Passing By", 47).