Happy Labor Day Weekend

My Dear Parishioners,

I come from a long line of union members. In our family we have had Steelworkers, Drywall Finishers, Electricians in the IBEW, and Teamsters. I myself was a member of the Machinists.

So, for my family, Labor Day was always much more than an acknowledgement that summer was winding down. In our house, Labor Day was an acknowledgement of the contributions of the labor movement to our nation. Labor Day was also an opportunity to give thanks to God for those who sacrificed so much so that we can now have a living wage and decent working conditions.

This weekend we celebrate the fact that God gave us the power to work. In the beginning God blessed them (Adam and Eve), and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth (Genesis 1: 28).”

By doing so, God actually gave us a share in this work of creation: The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it (Genesis 2:15).

Just think, in God’s plan to create the world, He included our creativity. Amazing.

In return for God giving us this great grace, we should do all work for His Glory and the good of souls. It does not matter how big or small that task is. When the task is done with the attitude that it is a contribution to the work of creation, it becomes a blessing for ourselves and for others.

When we work, we improve ourselves as we grow in skill and knowledge. When we do our work for the Glory of God and the good of souls, we grow in Grace as well as in skill and knowledge. This attitude then keeps all things in context and keeps us fixed on the world to come. Pope Leo XIII teaches: But the Church, with Jesus Christ as her Master and Guide, aims higher still. She lays down precepts yet more perfect, and tries to bind class to class in friendliness and good feeling. The things of earth cannot be understood or valued aright without taking into consideration the life to come, the life that will know no death….God has not created us for the perishable and transitory things of earth, but for things heavenly and everlasting; He has given us this world as a place of exile, and not as our abiding place. As for riches and the other things which men call good and desirable, whether we have them in abundance, or are lacking in them-so far as eternal happiness is concerned – it makes no difference; the only important thing is to use them aright. Jesus Christ, when He redeemed us with plentiful redemption, took not away the pains and sorrows which in such large proportion are woven together in the web of our mortal life. He transformed them into motives of virtue and occasions of merit; and no man can hope for eternal reward unless he follow in the blood-stained footprints of his Savior. “If we suffer with Him, we shall also reign with Him.” (Rerum Novarum: On the Rights and Duties of Capital and Labor).

Let us join St. Pius X in praying:

Glorious St. Joseph, model of all those who are devoted to labor, obtain for me the grace to work conscientiously, putting the call of duty above my many sins; to work with thankfulness and joy, considering it an honor to employ and develop, by means of labor, the gifts received from God; to work with order, peace, prudence and patience, never surrendering to weariness or difficulties; to work, above all, with purity of intention, and with detachment from self, having always death before my eyes and the account which I must render of time lost, of talents wasted, of good omitted, of vain complacency in success so fatal to the work of God. All for Jesus, all for Mary, all after thy example, O Patriarch Joseph. Such shall be my motto in life and death. Amen.

On behalf of our staff, I do wish everyone a very Happy Labor Day Weekend. On behalf of our nation, I thank the pioneers of our Labor Movement for all that they did that we now enjoy.

St. Joseph, Patron of the Church, pray for us!
Fr. Michael J Pawelko, Pastor