A Pre-Lenten Thought to Catholics: Be Holy and High Quality Workers

Being prayerful is important and let that make you an excellent worker

Feb 26, 2025

You may be prayerful and build a good Catholic family. Does that quest for holiness transfer over to your work ethic? How seriously do you take your job? Every one of us has work we do that may make the difference in someone’s life. A sufferer from depression may have a lift in mood because the cashier treated him or her with dignity in a store.

A parent may greet a child with delight after traveling home on the subway, electricity may run through our house and keep us warm and even entertained because fuel arrived to the electric company generators on time.

When a detail falls through the cracks, however, disaster can happen. Part of being a good Catholic is also being a good worker.

Disaster in Pueblo

In October of 2023, a series of hopper cars filled with coal traveled the rails over a railroad bridge crossing Interstate 25 in Pueblo, Colorado. According to the National Transportation Safety Board, as one of the trains passed, even though all appeared fine until that moment, the weld connecting two rails failed. Hopper cars filled with coal derailed, one struck the bridge causing it to partially collapse. Six more cars fell onto the interstate below. A long-haul trucker traveling on the interstate, perpendicular to the railroad tracks, died from the falling cargo and the bridge collapse, he was the only injury but also a fatality. The incident caused 15.6 million dollars in damages. All of this happened in a matter of seconds but it was a long time coming again due to a simple broken weld.

Everyone knows that scene on a structure either towering in the air or growing along the ground of the welder soldering a joint. The sparks fly, the man wears the mask covering his face and protecting his eyes. These welds which bond two metal girders are the foundation of the industrial world surrounding us. If a weld fails, then disaster may strike.

According to the NTSB, the derailment, spilling of coal on to the interstate, collapse of the railroad bridge and the death of the driver all happened because of a weld failure due to undetected metallurgic fatigue.

Welds fail not due to instant pressure, although that can happen, but more often from what is called fatigue. A crack can begin in a weld for a number of reasons and that crack grows overtime until the whole joint fails. This means, as we can see in this incident, the weld will hold consistently for a while even with massive pressure upon it. It is only the applying of pressure, releasing it, applying it and releasing it over a long time some welds fail. It is a process similar to bending and straightening a paperclip until it breaks in two. The weld will appear strong and actually is but over time fatigue causes weakness that can become catastrophic as it was in this case. What appears to be a sudden snap is actually a long time coming. It all starts with the original weld.

Thermite welding

As is often the case of railroad tracks, the joint was a thermite weld which is different from the common process of using a material, heating it and applying it to the joint in the soldering technique used in metalwork and, on a smaller scale, electronics.

Thermite welding, involves melting a mixture of aluminum powder and iron oxide and at times other ingredients at forty-five hundred degress in a crucible that sits above a mold formed around the prospective joint between two rails. The molten metal flows into mold and over the joint. It is a process closer to the work you see in a foundry than the typical solder welding.

According to the NTSB report of the incident, the two rails joined together were of a sufficient difference in height that when welded, a weak spot formed at the base of the joint leading to the conditions for a fatigue-related failure. Over several months of withstanding pressure and then releasing it, the weld failed. Railroads have certain procedures when workers encounter this difference of height. The NTSB could not determine whether the procedure was followed definitely. The man whom records show did the weld did not remember it but was well versed and experienced in following the proper procedure according to the NTSB report.

Missed signs

Railroads also make regular inspections to check on welds which can be catastrophic if they fail. They also have regular procedures in place in the welding process to counter the causes of a fatigue-related failure of a weld.

In this case, the failure of the weld was not caught during regular inspection and the weld suddenly failed leading to the derailment, bridge collapse and death of the truck driver. Potential problems in the joint went undetected for five months until the weld broke and the train derailed.

Living as Catholics in our industrial world

Our industrial society falls on humans to interact and create with the physics around us. Human interaction can be the weak point and lead to catastrophic failure or monumental success. We also must remember how important every aspect of our job actually is and how many count on it. We can realize that being mindful of the weight of our job no matter how mundane it may seem, can be a difference between life and death, between whether a father or mother is there for the children or not and whether cargo arrives at its destination. Even something as small as a weld can make a permanent difference in the lives of so many.

A prayerful life is essential in the Catholic household, that must also transfer to a good work ethic as well.

Lent begins this year on March 5th. As you consider preparation for this holy season, maybe also reflect on your job regardless of what it is and remember to bringing your holiness into it through quality work.

Fr. Robert J Carr is pastor of St. Anthony Parish in Allston, MA

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