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lined a contextual family therapy recognizing human perfection include the call to “refine and
that marriage and family relationships are lived develop the riches of the material world” (John
“between give and take” and involve relational Paul II, 1993, n. 51). Talents are not meant to be
ethics. Wojtyła (1960/1981) has provided the hidden out of fear (Matthew 25:25, RSV). Ta-
ethic of the personalist principle: lents are not meant to be hoarded for oneself:
The person is the kind of good which does not “More than ever, work is work with others and
admit of use and cannot be treated as an object work for others: it is a matter of doing something
of use and as such the means to an end….The for someone else” (John Paul II, 1991, n. 31). A
person is a good towards which the only proper homebuilder needs householders. An inventor
and adequate attitude is love. (p. 41) needs investors. An actor needs an audience. A
The Christian therapist seeks to provide educa- teacher needs students. A merchant needs cu-
tion in personalist relational ethics, to facilitate stomers. And, yes, a counselor needs clients!
freedom in self-sacrificial love for the true good We pray for God’s blessing for a prosperous li-
of the other, to encourage forgiveness, and to velihood: “Let the favor of the Lord our God be
contribute to restoration of healthy marital and upon us, and establish the work of our hands
family relationships. upon us, yes, establish the work of our hands”
(Psalm 90:17, RSVSCE). The Christian thera-
Work pist seeks to help the client to understand their
career as a vocation of service for others, to earn
Develop talents. Psychology recognizes the hu- a livelihood, to persist through challenge, and
man need to create. We have a need for achie- to share their talents generously.
vement (Murray, 1938). In the words of John
Paul II (1991):“Work thus belongs to the vo- Flourishing
cation of every person; indeed, man expresses
and fulfils himself by working” (n. 6). One of Endure suffering. Any story worth telling or li-
the ways that we discover meaning in life is by ving involves adventure, and the story of each
“creating a work or doing a deed,” that is, by “the person’s life is, to some extent, an adventure
way of achievement or accomplishment” (Fran- story. We have a need for adventure (Tournier,
kl, 1946/2006, p. 111). As in the Parable of the 1963/1965), and the epic of each one’s personal
Talents, we have been personally entrusted with Odyssey necessarily entails challenge, contest,
gifts and talents, “each according to his ability” and suffering. Suffering is thus an inevitable
(Matthew 25:15, RSV). We are called to develop part of the adventure of life. Avoidance of ne-
our intellectual inheritance and to pursue our cessary suffering is cowardice, and pursuit of
life interests. Along with individual differences unnecessary suffering is masochism. According
and varieties of intelligence noted previously, to Frankl (1946/2006), one of the ways that we
we may also discern a range of personal inte- discover meaning in life is by “the attitude we
rests that may serve as a beneficial basis for oc- take toward unavoidable suffering” (p. 111).
cupational pursuits (e.g., Holland, 1997). The Unavoidable suffering provides the opportunity
Christian therapist thus seeks to help the client “to bear witness to the uniquely human poten-
to recognize abilities and interests consistent tial at its best, which is to transform a personal
with personal identity and character in the pur- tragedy into a triumph, to turn one’s predica-
suit of one’s life work. ment into a human achievement” (p. 112). Suf-
fering embraced for a purpose may no longer
Share talents. The human person is created to seem like suffering: “In some way, suffering
serve others. This calling to serve typically takes ceases to be suffering at the moment it finds a
place within “the unique role which God calls meaning, such as the meaning of a sacrifice” (p.
each baptized person to fill in the divine plan 113). In response to suffering, Mother Teresa of
– one’s personal vocation. Professional career Calcutta (1988) encouraged us to “accept it with
is an important part of one’s personal vocation” a smile,” indicating that the greatest gift that
(Nordling & Scrofani, 2009, p. 77). Criteria for God gives us is “to smile at God. To have the

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