All work has a threefold moral significance.
First, it is a principle way that people exercise the distinctive human capacity for self-expression and self-realization.
Second, it is the ordinary way for human beings to fulfill their material needs.
Finally, work enables people to contribute to the well-being of the larger community.
Work is not only for one’s self. It is for one’s family, for the nation, and indeed for the benefit of the entire human family.
(Economic Justice for All #97, p. 23. A Pastoral
Letter from the United States Catholic Bishops)