Working On Sunday

[bonoducchi]

[quote name='cmotherofpirl' post='1355050' date='Aug 10 2007, 09:51 AM']Organists have families too and are deserving of a living wage just like anyone else. Maybe thats a small detail to you, but organists have to pay their bills like everyone else, they don't get free gas and electric because they play for God. They have to be available every day of the week to play funerals and every weekend to play weddings. Most of them direct all the choirs as well.
My Church organist plays all the Masses including the funerals and weddings, first Communions, all the special programs, directs the adult, handbell and childrens choir, puts on the Christmas and Good Friday productions etc.
Kindly tell me when she would be available for steady outside income???[/quote]

Thank you for regarding us as professionals with our own set of professional concerns. I work 50 hours a week for the Church, and while God provides, he unfortunately doesn't cover my rent and utility bills.

My typical work week includes directing adult and children's choirs, preparing a wedding and a funeral (or two), organizing over 100 ministers for five weekend Masses, planning upcoming music, writing prayers of the faithful for Mass, administering my Office's budget, coordinating homebound visits and committal services, and playing for between 5 and 7 Masses a week. While what I do is ministry, it also requires a set of professional skills and competencies that not everyone possess and justice seems to require that I be compensated for those competencies.

[kateri05]

wait thats like a music job meets.... other jobs. lol, ahh the life of a catholic parish, where they try to get the least amount of people to do the most amount of work

[Noel's angel]

Exactly. You aren't just a musician (VaticaIILiturgist). What you're talking about as a musician/secretary/teacher/sacristan-like job. That's not the same as simply being a musician.

In our parish, the following people take care of all the jobs you do:
Each choir has it's own 'director'
The priests and sacristan organise funerals and weddings
The priests organise their own sick visits
The finance committe, along with the priests, decide on money issues.

The only lay people in our parish that are paid a regular salary are the sacristan, the secretary, the housekeeper and the groundsman. Everyone else provide their services voluntarily. (The main organist gets paid when he turns up).

Edited August 12, 2007 by Noel's angel

[adt6247]

I have a related question. I'm a software developer, and tend to work only on the weekdays with my primary job. I occasionally have to quickly put out a metaphorical fire on Saturdays, but not often.

I do, however, accept contract work on the side. I do work some nights and Saturdays. There have been two occasions, however, where I could not finish the work on Saturday, and in order to deliver on Monday as I was contracted to do, I had to work on Sunday as well. Is this OK, or would it have been better to be late, and not work on Sunday? This would harm my client, as he'd get the finished code later, and would have less time to modify/deploy it, and it would also harm my reputation as a guy who gets things done.

What should I do when these cases arrive?

[Resurrexi]

[quote name='adt6247' post='1361793' date='Aug 18 2007, 08:43 AM']I have a related question. I'm a software developer, and tend to work only on the weekdays with my primary job. I occasionally have to quickly put out a metaphorical fire on Saturdays, but not often.

I do, however, accept contract work on the side. I do work some nights and Saturdays. There have been two occasions, however, where I could not finish the work on Saturday, and in order to deliver on Monday as I was contracted to do, I had to work on Sunday as well. Is this OK, or would it have been better to be late, and not work on Sunday? This would harm my client, as he'd get the finished code later, and would have less time to modify/deploy it, and it would also harm my reputation as a guy who gets things done.

What should I do when these cases arrive?[/quote]

That's probably a just cause for working on a Sunday. And, moreover, computer programming isn't servile labor (i.e. it does not require a large amount of physical body exertion) and would probably fall under the category of leisure which reading, writing and studying fall under and therefore wouldn't be forbidden on a Sunday but would be commendable not to do if it would help to observe the Lord's Day better.

[Paddington]

[quote name='StThomasMore' post='1362371' date='Aug 19 2007, 01:02 AM']And, moreover, computer programming isn't servile labor (i.e. it does not require a large amount of physical body exertion) and would probably fall under the category of leisure[/quote]

Oh no! Do I know something about Catholicism that STM doesn't? I thought servile labor was when you got paid.

Moving a piano for free is not servile labor.

Sleeping at the front desk for pay is servile labor.

Maybe I'm wrong tho.

[Paddington]

BTW, I'm not suggesting that meeting a deadline for your client's well-being isn't a darn good reason to do some work on Sunday.

[Norseman82]

My rule of thumb is "Does this have to be done today or can this be done on another day?".

[quote name='StThomasMore' post='1362371' date='Aug 18 2007, 10:32 PM']And, moreover, computer programming isn't servile labor (i.e. it does not require a large amount of physical body exertion) and would probably fall under the category of leisure which reading, writing and studying fall under[/quote]

My friend, I am a computer programmer who right now is about to spend at least an hour filing my unfiled work emails. Although it would fall under the scope of "mental work", please be aware that people in IT - and other desk jobs - are subject to ergonomic strains, whether it be repetitive motion, carpal tunnel, and neck and eye strain, which is why even we get reminders on workplace safety, so it is not as leisurely as it may seem (especially when you are juggling several projects while trying to meet deadlines with the added weight of HIPAA and Sarbannes-Oxley compliance). These days, mental work can be just as stressful - if not more stressful - as physical work. In fact, I brought this subject up in confession once and was told that if you are sitting around a desk all week, physical work in the yard might just be what the doctor orders....

Edited August 19, 2007 by Norseman82

[adt6247]

[quote name='Norseman82' post='1362856' date='Aug 19 2007, 01:26 PM']My friend, I am a computer programmer who right now is about to spend at least an hour filing my unfiled work emails. Although it would fall under the scope of "mental work", please be aware that people in IT - and other desk jobs - are subject to ergonomic strains, whether it be repetitive motion, carpal tunnel, and neck and eye strain, which is why even we get reminders on workplace safety, so it is not as leisurely as it may seem (especially when you are juggling several projects while trying to meet deadlines with the added weight of HIPAA and Sarbannes-Oxley compliance). These days, mental work can be just as stressful - if not more stressful - as physical work. In fact, I brought this subject up in confession once and was told that if you are sitting around a desk all week, physical work in the yard might just be what the doctor orders....[/quote]
Agreed -- I'm more exhausted from a day of hard programming than a day of hard physical labor. If it's physical, my mind still functions at the end. At the end of a grueling stressful mentally taxing workday, my mind is mush, and as my body follows my mind, it acts accordingly.

BTW: SOX = evil! I don't do the compliance myself, but there's SO many times I want to implement a feature, and it's turned down by the accursed accountants because it would cause complications with SOX compliance. I never even understand why. I really want to go back to working for a small company...

[Resurrexi]

[quote name='Paddington' post='1362846' date='Aug 19 2007, 12:12 PM']Oh no! Do I know something about Catholicism that STM doesn't? I thought servile labor was when you got paid.

Moving a piano for free is not servile labor.

Sleeping at the front desk for pay is servile labor.

Maybe I'm wrong tho.[/quote]

Well here's what the Baltimore Catechism No. 4 says:

[quote name='Baltimore Catechism No. 4']358. Q. What is forbidden by the Third Commandment?

A. The Third Commandment forbids all unnecessary servile work and whatever else may hinder the due observance of the Lord's day.
359. Q. What are servile works?

A. Servile works are those which require labor rather of body than of mind.

"Servile" -- that is, work which was formerly done by the slaves. Therefore writing, reading, studying, etc., are not servile, because they were not the works of slaves.
360. Q. Are servile works on Sunday ever lawful?

A. Servile works are lawful on Sunday when the honor of God, the good of our neighbor, or necessity requires them.

"Honor of God"; for example, erecting an altar that could not be erected at another time, so that the people may hear Mass on that day.

"Good of our neighbor" -- such as reconstructing a broken bridge that must be used every day; or clearing away obstacles after a railroad accident, that trains may not be delayed. "Necessity" -- firemen endeavoring to extinguish a fire, sailors working on a ship at sea, etc.
[url="http://www.cin.org/users/james/ebooks/master/baltimore/bcomm03.htm"]http://www.cin.org/users/james/ebooks/mast...ore/bcomm03.htm[/url][/quote]

[adt6247]

[quote name='StThomasMore' post='1364424' date='Aug 20 2007, 04:02 PM']Well here's what the Baltimore Catechism No. 4 says:[/quote]
I stand corrected.