work done

For there to be virtue, Saint Thomas Aquinas teaches, it is necessary to attend to two things: to what is being done and to the way it is being done (cf St Thomas, Quodlibet, IV, 19). As far as the way it is being done is concerned, the final touches with the chisel or the brush turn that work into a masterpiece. On the other hand, shoddy workmanship, work which is done clumsily or carelessly, is a sign of spiritual languor and of lukewarmness in a Christian who should be sanctifying himself through his daily work.