In the February 28^th, issue of Newsweek there is an article on Pope John Paul’s struggle with Parkinson’s disease and how the struggle symbolizes the faith of the man.[1]  This is an excellent example of what I mean by the statement “work is embodied faith”.  The Pope believes that his work IS to suffer. His embrace of suffering symbolizes his faith that all life is precious and that there is redemptive power in the gospel of Jesus Christ. The Press are all speculating on who will succeed the Pope. They wonder why he “lingers on.”  They ask, “why does he not retire?”   They cannot grasp that the Pope in suffering is actually DOING HIS JOB!

The Pope is recommending the gospel by living it. The article quotes him as he reflects on his call to suffer. “In 1994, as age and infirmity began to incapacitate John Paul publicly, he told his followers he had heard God and was about to change the way he led the church. "I must lead her with suffering," he said. "The pope must suffer so that every family and the world should see that there is, I would say, a higher gospel: the gospel of suffering, with which one must prepare the future."

This is exactly what Jesus calls all Christians to do at work.  I am not talking about all Christians suffering, I am talking about embodying the beliefs of the gospel in the way you work, just like Pope John Paul II is doing by working and suffering at the same time.