Families Need Help and Support

Archbishop Thomas G. Wenski of Miami, on behalf of the US Bishops, made this 2015 Labor Day statement:

Labor should allow the worker to develop and flourish as a person. Work also must provide the means for families to prosper. "Work is a necessity, part of the meaning of life on this earth, a path to growth, human development and personal fulfilment" (Laudato Si' no. 128). Work is meant to be for the sake of the family. We do not undertake labor for its own sake, but as a way to grow toward lasting and meaningful realities in our lives and communities. Parents are called to be providers and educators to their children, passing down essential values and creating a home environment in which all members of the family can be fully present to one another and grow. Dignity-filled work and the fruits of that labor nourish families, communities, and the common good.

Is there any question that families in America are struggling today? Too many marriages bear the crushing weight of unpredictable schedules from multiple jobs, which make impossible adequate time for nurturing children, faith, and community. Wage stagnation has increased pressures on families, as the costs of food, housing, transportation, and education continue to pile up. Couples intentionally delay marriage, as unemployment and substandard work make a vison of stable family life difficult to see.

Is there any question that too many children feel the tragic pangs of hunger and poverty commonplace in a society that seems willing to accept these things as routine, the cost of doing business? Millions of children live in or near poverty in this country. Many of them are latch key kids, returning to empty homes every day as their working parents struggle to make ends meet.

Pope Francis continues to rouse our consciences and challenge us to live more thoroughly Catholic lives. Laudato Si' is, in large part, about something called "integral ecology," an idea that our care for and relationships with one another deeply impact our care for the environment, and vice-versa. The Pope writes extensively about the importance of work in that context. "We were created with a vocation to work" (no. 128), and "the analysis of environmental problems cannot be separated from the analysis of human, family, work-related and urban contexts, nor from how individuals relate to themselves, which leads in turn to how they relate to others" (no. 141). Reminding us that "called into being by one Father, all of us are linked by unseen bonds and together form a kind of universal family, a sublime communion which fills us with a sacred, affectionate and humble respect," he calls for a "sense of fraternity [that] excludes nothing and no one" (nos. 89-92).

For the whole text, click here.

Labor Day Statement

Every year on Labor day the US Bishop release a statement. This year the statement was written by Archbishop Thomas Wenski of Miami who is the Chairman of the Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development.

This year Pope Francis canonized Saint John XXIII and Saint John Paul II. Both made immense contributions to the social teaching of the Church on the dignity of labor and its importance to human flourishing. St. John Paul II called work "probably the essential key to the whole social question" (Laborem Exercens, No. 3) and St. John XXIII stressed workers are "entitled to a wage that is determined in accordance with the precepts of justice" (Pacem in Terris, No. 20).

Pope Francis added to this tradition that work "is fundamental to the dignity of a person.... [It] 'anoints' us with dignity, fills us with dignity, makes us similar to God... gives one the ability to maintain oneself, one's family, [and] to contribute to the growth of one's own nation." Work helps us realize our humanity and is necessary for human flourishing. Work is not a punishment for sin but rather a means by which we make a gift of ourselves to each other and our communities. We simply cannot advance the common good without decent work and a strong commitment to solidarity.

Labor Day gives us the chance to see how work in America matches up to the lofty ideals of our Catholic tradition. This year, some Americans who have found stability and security are breathing a sigh of relief. Sporadic economic growth, a falling unemployment rate, and more consistent job creation suggest that the country may finally be healing economically after years of suffering and pain. For those men and women, and their children, this is good news. ...

Meaningful and decent work is vital if young adults hope to form healthy and stable families. Work and family life "must be properly united and must properly permeate each other. In a way, work is a condition for making it possible to found a family, since the family requires the means of subsistence which man normally gains through work" (Laborem Exercens, No. 10). Research is bearing out the consequences of neglecting this relationship: marriage rates have declined by close to 20 percent in the last 40 years, and the birth rate is the lowest on record. Among young adults, the decline in marriage has been steeper, at 40 percent. Although not the only reason, many young adults, because they are unable to find decent work, are delaying marriage and starting a family.

Our challenge this Labor Day is to rise to the challenge of solidarity posed by Jesus when he commanded, "[L]ove one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another" (Jn 13:34). The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches, "Socio-economic problems can be resolved only with the help of all the forms of solidarity: solidarity of the poor among themselves, between rich and poor, of workers among themselves, between employers and employees in a business, solidarity among nations and peoples" (No. 1941). Since each of us is made in the image of God and bound by His love, possessing a profound human dignity, we have an obligation to love and honor that dignity in one another, and especially in our work.
What would our communities, parishes, and country look like if we all recommitted to each other and the common good? If, instead of lamenting the dwindling hopes of our young people, we create institutions, relationships, and an economy that nurture human flourishing? If, instead of bickering about ideologies, people acknowledged the human dignity of others and worked together?

For the full statement, click here

Happy Labor Day!

While the flooring was replaced in the church this summer, one of the people able to observe the process was Deacon David who stopped by at least once a day to take pictures. He said:

"I was really impress by the way the tile was laid. Because the floor wasn't completely level about 40 bags of cement were added to give a level foundation. Then there was a complete dedication to getting every tile perfectly in place which I didn't think I was ever able to capture with the camera. Whether this was spurred by the fact that they were working in a church or by their normal, everyday dedication to laboring in their trade to the best of their ability, it was prayerful to watch. It gives me a sense of what Labor Day celebrates."

Human Costs and Moral Challenges of a Broken Economy

Each Labor Day the US Bishops release a reflection. This year it was written by Bishop Stephen E. Blaire who is the Bishop of Stockton, California:

Human Costs and Moral Challenges of a Broken Economy

Each year Americans celebrate Labor Day as a national holiday to honor working people. This year, however, is less a time for celebration and more a time for reflection and action on current economic turmoil and hardships experienced by workers and their families. For Catholics, it is also an opportunity to recall the traditional teaching of the Church on dignity of work and the rights of workers. This Labor Day, the economic facts are stark and the human costs are real: millions of our sisters and brothers are without work, raising children in poverty and haunted by fears about their economic security. These are not just economic problems, but also human tragedies, moral challenges, and tests of our faith.

To read the rest, click here

Labor Day Statement

Most Reverend William Murphy - Bishop of Rockville Centre

Bishop William Murphy, Chairman of the USCCB Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, compared the challenges faced by today’s workers to the changing society of the Industrial Revolution addressed by Pope Leo XIII in the 1891 encyclical, Rerum Novarum (Of New Things).


“America is undergoing a rare economic transformation, shedding jobs and testing safety nets as the nation searches for new ways to govern and grow our economy,” said Bishop Murphy. “Workers need a new ‘social contract.’” Bishop Murphy said that creating new jobs would require new investments, initiative and creativity in the economy. He also drew on the teachings of Pope Benedict XVI, which call for placing the human person at the center of economic life and emphasize the role of civil society and mediating institutions such as unions in pursing the common good.

“Workers need to have a real voice and effective protections in economic life,” said Bishop Murphy. “The market, the state, and civil society, unions and employers all have roles to play and they must be exercised in creative and fruitful interrelationships. Private action and public policies that strengthen families and reduce poverty are needed. New jobs with just wages and benefits must be created so that all workers can express their dignity through the dignity of work and are able to fulfill God’s call to us all to be co-creators. A new social contract, which begins by honoring work and workers, must be forged that ultimately focuses on the common good of the entire human family.”

Click here for the full statement.

Labor Day

“This Labor Day, we should take a moment to pray for all workers and all those without work” said Bishop William F. Murphy of Rockville Centre, N.Y., in “The Value of Work; the Dignity of the Human Person,” the annual Labor Day statement of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). He added, “We should also ask God’s help in living out the Church’s call to defend human life and dignity, to protect workers and their rights and to stand with the poor and vulnerable in difficult economic times.”

Bishop Murphy, Chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Domestic Social Development, said this Labor Day comes at a challenging economic time. He highlighted Pope Benedict XVI’s assertion in his new encyclical “Caritas in Veritate” (Charity in Truth) that the dignity of the worker should be the top concern of any economy. According to Pope Benedict, “the primary capital to be safeguarded and valued is…the human person in his or her integrity: Man is the source, the form and the aim of all economic and social life.” (#25)

Bishop Murphy also drew on the recent agreement between leaders in Catholic health care, the labor movement and the Catholic bishops to develop practical guidelines on how leaders of hospitals, unions and others might apply Catholic principles in reaching agreements in their own situations.

“This project achieved a significant accomplishment: a consensus among all the parties on a set of principles, processes, and guidelines for a respectful and harmonious approach to let workers in Catholic health care facilities make free choices about unionization,” said Bishop Murphy of the dialogue, which resulted in a consensus document, Respecting the Just Rights of Workers: Guidance and Options for Catholic Health Care and Unions.

The annual Labor Day Statement also touched on the continuing principles of the Church’s social teaching, and isues of health care and immigration. The full text of the Labor Day statement can be found online at: http://www.usccb.org/sdwp/national/labor_day_2009.pdf