Dear Parishioners,
This weekend we celebrate Labor Day. For many it is about boating one last time before fall turns the water cold, or perhaps a 3 day weekend to get away, picnics and fun. Labor day is to honor and celebrate all the different workers who have made and make our country strong. Immigrants both legally and illegally have come to our country to find work, to find shelter to find safety and to find freedom to find a better life for themselves and their children. As the waves of immigrants have come to our country they brought their skills and a willingness to work.
Most people do not know the role of the Catholic Church in the labor movements here in our country. The Church has a long standing tradition of advocating for labor rights and social justice here in the United States. This tradition is rooted in the teachings of Pope Leo XIII’s encyclical Rerum Novarum. It emphasizes the rights of workers to organize and the im-portance of just labor conditions. The Catholic Church has played a major role in shaping the labor movement in the U.S., influencing the formation of unions and advocating for workers’ rights. The Church’s teachings have been influential in the development of labor protections, fair labor standards and collective bargaining rights. The Catholic Church continues to support workers’ rights and the dignity of work.
Pope Francis stated: “Work is fundamental to the dignity of a person. It gives one the ability to maintain oneself, one’s family, and to contribute to the growth of one’s own nation.” Unfortunately, millions of workers today are denied this hon-or and respect as a result of unemployment, underemployment, unjust wages, wage theft, abuse, and exploitation throughout the world, as well as here in our own country.
To all those who are retired, I thank each of you for your many years of hard work. For all who are working today, I thank you also. In one way or another you are making my world/our world, a better place in which to live. We also want to thank all the members of our armed forces who are stationed all over the world fighting, or on some type of border patrol to keep our nation free and safe.