Catholic Dictionary

Find accurate definitions of over 5,000 Catholic terms and phrases (including abbreviations). Based on Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

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WAGE

Just payment for services rendered. It implies at least an implicit contract beforehand between the employer and the one employed. Wages are often treated in the Bible. The first recorded biblical reference is in the bargaining between Laban and his nephew Jacob (Genesis 29:30). Christ used the notion of wages in his teaching, e.g., the vineyard laborers (Matthew 20:1-16). The idea of wages is spiritualized in St. Paul, e.g., "the wage of sin is death"; compared with the reward of virtue, "the present given by God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:23).