Happy Labor Day Weekend! I hope you and your family have a relaxing
and safe Holiday Weekend.
This year, as every year, the
Catholic Bishops of our country have issued a Labor Day Statement. It is pretty good, and can be found on the US
Bishops’ website at this incredibly long address: http://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/human-life-and-dignity/labor-employment/labor-day-statement-2015.cfm
It is a labor just to type it in!
Because of the synods on the
family, and Pope Francis calling much attention to the family, this year’s
labor statement reflects on labor as it affects families. The Bishops state: “This Labor Day, we have a tremendous
opportunity to reflect on how dignified work with a living wage is critical to
helping our families and our greater society thrive.”
I can affirm that statement from
my own pastoral experience. All too often I have seen families stressed and
even torn apart by the loss of a job, by chronic underemployment, by the
necessity of working several jobs, by inadequate income and lack of medical
insurance. These–and divorce–are the things that really affect families. The Bishops
address this directly:
“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 vision 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.”
Clearly
working conditions, income level, health insurance and many other aspects of
work and labor have major impacts on families. We as Catholics are called to be
pro-family. That means more than just opposing divorce or same sex marriage, it
means working concretely to better the conditions of working families so that
they have the resources and the dignity to be families worthy of the name.
For
this Labor Day Weekend, I encourage you to take a few minutes, find the US Catholic
Bishops Labor Day Statement, and spend a few minutes reading and reflecting on
it. It is only two pages long. You could hardly find a better way to spend a
small part of Labor Day.
God bless,
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