“I made good money, sure. But at the end of the day, I shut my laptop and wondered if anything I did actually helped anyone. I was paid well, but I didn’t feel like I was doing anything that made life better for real people—and that’s what wore me down. And I was surrounded by people who seemed to think that being rich was all that life was really about. It was lonely, honestly. That’s why I became a Catholic. I was drawn to its social teachings on the dignity of meaningful work—work that serves others, builds community, and honors the sacredness of life.”
— Maya, former financial analyst, 34
"Work should be the setting for this rich personal growth, where many aspects of life enter into play: creativity, planning for the future, developing our talents, living out our values, relating to others, giving glory to God. It follows that, in the reality of today's global society, it is essential that 'we continue to prioritize the goal of access to steady employment for everyone,' no matter the limited interests of business and dubious economic reasoning. We were created with a vocation to work. The goal should not be that technological progress increasingly replace human work, for this would be detrimental to humanity. Work is a necessity, part of the meaning of life on this earth, a path to growth, human development and personal fulfillment. Helping the poor financially must always be a provisional solution in the face of pressing needs. The broader objective should always be to allow them a dignified life through work."
Pope Francis, On Care for Our Common Home [Laudato Si'], nos. 127-28
Maya, above, is among the privileged of the world. She doesn’t need to worry about food on the table, health care, transportation, or livable housing—she simply needs to worry about whether her use of her talents serves the good of the world. Still, her desire for meaningful work can be understood by many of us. Who seeks meaningful work? I do, and I imagine you do, too. So do people who are unemployed and underemployed. Indeed, those who are employed also seek it: store clerks, construction workers, teachers, engineers, factory workers, nurses, office administrators, plumbers, software developers, janitors, financial analysts, accountants, delivery drivers, electricians, librarians, childcare workers, mechanics, restaurant servers, baristas, security guards, agricultural workers, warehouse employees, and bus drivers. At a minimum, they seek meaningful work to make ends meet and provide for their families. If they have living wages, this provision for their families is part of their work’s meaning. But many also seek something more: a sense of purpose, dignity, connection, and the feeling that their efforts contribute to the greater good.
Catholic social teaching—as found, for example, in Pope Leo XIII’s Rerum Novarum—honors their work and encourages them, and all of us, to understand such work as serving the common good. It calls us to build societies in which all such work is respected, and none considered more important than another. It encourages us to honor “the dignity of work.”
Of course, the examples given above are remunerative. But there is much work that is not done for pay—and it is just as important: the work of parenting, caregiving, volunteering, mentoring, homemaking, tending gardens, building community, caring for the sick or the dying, offering emotional support to friends, creating art that nourishes the soul, organizing local events, cleaning up public spaces, offering hospitality, caring for animals, participating in religious and spiritual communities, and simply being present for others in times of crisis. This unpaid labor, too, serves the common good and deserves deep respect. It, too, is part of the dignity of work.
Can we build societies that maximize the possibility that people will find and enjoy meaningful work? Catholic social teaching says yes—and goes further: it teaches that it is God's will that we do so. We are called, not only by our own better angels, but by the mystery at the heart of the universe, to help shape communities and economies that support meaningful work for all. To do so is to participate in a sacred task—the building of a just and compassionate world.
We must take seriously the importance of paid work, especially for those who depend on it for survival and dignity. Economic justice includes fair wages, secure employment, and access to meaningful jobs. As Pope Francis put it: it is essential that ‘we continue to prioritize the goal of access to steady employment for everyone,’ no matter the limited interests of business and dubious economic reasoning."
But we need not confuse pay with value. Some of the most vital work in the world—raising children, tending the sick, caring for elders, cultivating community, protecting the Earth—is unpaid and often unrecognized. From a process-relational perspective, as from that of Catholic social teachings, what matters most is not whether work is compensated, but whether it contributes to life, connection, and the well-being of the world, and the glory of God. Sometimes, unpaid work is the most sacred work of all.
I offer then, a short list of ten commandments - or better, guidelines - for meaningful work that a society as a whole can adopt, based on Catholic social teaching and process-relational theology.
1. Don’t make a god of efficiency.
Efficiency is helpful when it serves life—but when it becomes the highest value, it sacrifices care, slowness, and relationship. Work becomes dehumanized, and the Earth is exploited. The true measure of work is not speed or output, but the harmony and depth it brings to life.
2. Don’t make a god of merit.
Jesus did not value people based on merit. He welcomed the outcast and lifted up the poor. A just society ensures meaningful work for all—not just the “deserving.” Labor is not about reward, but shared dignity.
3. Don’t make a god of being rich.
Wealth is not the goal. When accumulation becomes the aim, the soul shrinks and the world suffers. True richness lies in purpose, relationship, contribution, and belonging to the wider web of life.
4. Don’t devalue manual labor.
Working with one’s hands is no less noble than working with one’s mind. All labor that sustains life and serves the common good is sacred. To honor work means honoring the people who clean, cook, plant, build, and mend.
5. Don’t think that all there is to life is “meaningful work.”
Work matters—but so do rest, play, celebration, and simply being. We are more than what we produce. A good life includes beauty, friendship, music, contemplation, and love. Work should support these, not replace them.
6. Do seek the well-being of the whole.
Meaningful work contributes not just to individual success, but to family, to neighborhoods, and to the common good—of people, communities, and the more-than-human world. It is life-giving, not extractive. It heals, includes, and sustains.
7. Do honor the worker as a whole person.
Every worker is more than a skillset. They have stories, hopes, and limits. Workplaces should honor voice, agency, creativity, and rest. People are not machines—they are souls in motion.
8. Do co-create beauty and purpose.
Work can be an offering. Whether farming, caregiving, designing, or organizing, meaningful work brings more beauty, justice, and goodness into the world. It is a sacred form of co-creation.
9. Do protect the vulnerable.
A just society ensures that the poor, the excluded, and the marginalized are not left behind. Labor policies, economic systems, and communal values must reflect special concern for those most at risk.
10. Do follow the way of Jesus.
Jesus dignified all kinds of work and all kinds of workers. He called us to serve rather than dominate, to lift up the lowly, and to build a beloved community. In his spirit, meaningful work becomes a path of compassion, justice, and love.
Meaningful Work in Light of the Gospel
and Process-Relational Thinking
The Gospel of Jesus is, at heart, good news for the poor, the weary, and the overlooked. It is a call to love, to justice, to mercy, and to the healing of broken relationships—between people, and between humanity and the Earth. Jesus dignified labor not just in words but in action: he worked with his hands, honored those who toiled in the fields and kitchens, and called fishermen and day laborers to be his companions. He measured greatness not by wealth or achievement but by service. He taught that human beings are not commodities, and that the Sabbath was made for rest, not endless striving.
The Ten Commandments of Meaningful Work resonate deeply with this Gospel ethic. They resist the dehumanizing forces of wealth-worship, performance-based worth, and economic idolatry. Instead, they point toward the kingdom of God—a world where the last are first, where love is the measure of all things, and where every person is invited into meaningful participation in the flourishing of life.
This vision also harmonizes beautifully with process-relational thinking, which sees reality not as a static system of isolated things, but as a living web of interrelated experiences. In this worldview, each moment of life is a process of becoming, shaped by relationship, feeling, and creative response. No creature is an island; each act of work affects others, shaping the world in subtle and significant ways.
From a process-relational perspective:
- Work is always relational—it emerges from and contributes to a field of connections, both human and ecological.
- Dignity is inherent—not earned by merit, but flowing from the very nature of being a unique subject in a web of becoming.
- Value is aesthetic—not merely economic, but about harmony, intensity, and depth of experience.
- The Divine is present—not coercively, but as a gentle lure toward richer, more loving forms of life, including in and through our labor.
Together, the Gospel and process-relational thought affirm that true work is sacred when it is life-giving, relational, and aimed toward the common good. Both invite us to imagine economies of compassion, communities of care, and societies that honor people not for what they produce, but for who they are—and how they love.
Rerum Novarum
Rerum Novarum (1891), issued by Pope Leo XIII, is the foundational text of modern Catholic social teaching. It addresses the suffering of workers in the wake of industrial capitalism and advocates for a just social order grounded in Christian ethics. The encyclical defends the right to private property while emphasizing that it must serve the common good. It criticizes both unregulated capitalism and socialism, calling instead for fair wages, decent working conditions, and the right to form labor unions. The state has a role in safeguarding justice and protecting the vulnerable, but must also respect the family, which is the basic unit of society. At its heart, the document insists on the dignity of labor, the moral responsibilities of both employers and employees, and the Church’s duty to speak on behalf of the poor and oppressed.