With the power to split the atom, humanity was ushered into a new age.

In that new age, in the words of Time Magazine journalist James Agee, “Each man is eternally, and above all else, responsible for his own soul.” Those words were shared by the pastor of the Holy Trinity Catholic Church of Washington, D.C. Monday night.

Rev. William Byron, speaking to an audience of about 80 in the Sun Room of the Memorial Union, said the modern workplace is one of anger and anxiety. In recent times, people whose perception of work resembles a Dilbert cartoon, are “being nudged to begin an exploration into God,” Byron said.

It is this negative work environment that needs to be transformed by people of faith back to what work should be: a call from God, he said.

“It’s a gift, work is, a gift from God to us,” Byron said.

Byron said he could define ‘religion’ with one word: gratitude. He said too many people perceive work as a necessary evil — something to be tolerated rather than a way to give praise to God. Byron said work should be viewed as a week-long offertory session starting Monday and ending Sunday. He said this is accomplished by living by the spirit.

Byron said the apostle Paul describes what living by “the fruit of the spirit” looks like in the New Testament book of Galatians. Love, joy, peace and patience are four of the nine “fruits of the spirit” Byron encouraged people to live by.

“If spirituality is going to mean anything to you in the world of work, this is the infrastructure you should carry with you there,” Byron said.

Byron said popular culture’s idea of “fruits of the spirit” like love is very different from the biblical notions.

“The idea of love as sacrifice is something you’ll wait a long time to see on MTV,” he said

He also said the fruit of gentleness is often equated with timidity by our culture.

“The gentle person is neither insecure or arrogant,” but adheres to the virtuous mean, he said.

Byron said he has reduced the entirety of Catholic Social Teaching to ten principles that are based on the “bedrock” of the acknowledgment and preservation of human dignity.

He said the modern workplace is one that excises that which is human, even using dehumanizing terms such as “downsizing” when referring to people.

“We regard people not as human beings, but as human doings,” he said.

Byron said people of faith should pray and reflect on the “fruits of the spirit” discussed in Galatians.

By reflecting on these attributes of the spirit-filled person, the ideas will sink in and begin to prompt decisions and affect behavior, he said.

“Spirituality is prayer elevated to a lifestyle,” he said.

Byron, quoting the Jewish thinker Abraham Joshua Heschel, summarized the challenge of business ethics.

“Our challenge is not to learn how to worship in the catacombs, our challenge is to remain human in the skyscrapers,” he said.