Happy Labor Day
My Dear Parishioners,
Labor Day was and still is an important observance in the Pawelko household. I say observance because for us it was much more than a “holiday” weekend. Labor Day was an acknowledgement that work matters, and so it was also an acknowledgement that workers matter. In addition, Labor Day was an acknowledgement of the contributions of the Labor Movement to our society.
In my family history, we have had, and still have, many union members. My brother is a Teamster. My father was a member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Works, Local 98. We also had members of the Steelworkers, Autoworkers, and the Drywall Finishers Unions in our family. I myself was a member of the Machinist Union while working for the US Gauge.
This Labor Day weekend, we remember that many of the benefits and the protections that we now enjoy as workers have come down to us through the Labor Movement. We owe the founders and the pioneers of the Labor Movement a great deal of gratitude for the sacrifices that they made. We also must honor their memory by cultivating a society where all work is appreciated, and all workers are valued.
In this newsletter I am including a summary of our Catholic Social Teaching on the value of work and the dignity of workers.
Most especially, let us remember this counsel from St. Teresa of Calcutta on work: whether we are working for the rich or we are working for the poor, whether we are working with high-class people or low-class people, it makes no difference, but how much love we are putting into the work we do is what matters.
On behalf of our staff, I do wish everyone a rest from their labors and a very happy Labor Day Weekend.
St. Joseph, Patron of the Church, and our Patron, pray for us!
Fr. Michael J. Pawelko, Pastor
The economy must serve people, not the other way around. Work is more than a way to make a living; it is a form of continuing participation in God’s creation. If the dignity of work is to be protected, then the basic rights of workers must be respected–the right to productive work, to decent and fair wages, to the organization and joining of unions, to private property, and to economic initiative.
The LORD God then took the man and settled him in the garden of Eden, to cultivate and care for it. Genesis 2:15
Tradition and Teaching:
“It is clear from the very first pages of the Bible that work is an essential part of human dignity; there we read that ‘the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it’ (Gen 2:15). Man is presented as a laborer who works the earth, harnesses the forces of nature and produces ‘the bread of anxious toil’ (Ps 127:2), in addition to cultivating his own gifts and talents. Labor also makes possible the development of society and provides for the sustenance, stability and fruitfulness of one’s family: ‘May you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life! May you see your children’s children!’ (Ps 128:5-6).” (Pope Francis, The Joy of Love [Amoris Laetitia], nos. 23-24)
From The Dignity and Rights (continued)
“Work should be the setting for this rich personal growth, where many aspects of life enter into play: creativity, planning for the future, developing our talents, living out our values, relating to others, giving glory to God. It follows that, in the reality of
today’s global society, it is essential that ‘we continue to prioritize the goal of access to steady employment for everyone,’ no matter the limited interests of business and dubious economic reasoning. We were created with a vocation to work. The goal should not be that technological progress increasingly replace human work, for this would be detrimental to humanity. Work is a necessity, part of the meaning of life on this earth, a path to growth, human development and personal fulfillment. Helping the poor financially must always be a provisional solution in the face of pressing needs. The broader objective should always be to allow them a dignified life through work.” (Pope Francis, On Care for Our Common Home [Laudato Si’], nos. 127-28)
“Growth in justice requires more than economic growth, while presupposing such growth: it requires decisions, programs, mechanisms and processes specifically geared to a better distribution of income, the creation of sources of employment and an integral promotion of the poor which goes beyond a simple welfare mentality. I am far from proposing an irresponsible populism, but the economy can no longer turn to remedies that are a new poison, such as attempting to increase profits by reducing the work force and thereby adding to the excluded.” (Pope Francis, The Joy of the Gospel [Evangelii Gaudium], no. 204)
“I would like to remind everyone, especially governments engaged in boosting the world’s economic and social assets, that
the primary capital to be safeguarded and valued is man, the human person in his or her integrity: ‘Man is the source, the
focus and the aim of all economic and social life’.” (Pope Benedict XVI, Charity in Truth [Caritas in Veritate], no. 25, quoting Second Vatican Council, The Church in the Modern World [Gaudium et Spes], no. 63)
“The economic sphere is neither ethically neutral, or inherently inhuman or opposed to society. It is part and parcel of human
activity and precisely because it is human, it must be structured and governed in an ethical manner.” (Pope Benedict
XVI, Charity in Truth [Caritas in Veritate], no. 36)
“In many cases, poverty results from a violation of the dignity of human work, either because work opportunities are limited (through unemployment or under-employment), or ‘because a low value is put on work and the rights that flow from it, especially the right to a just wage and to the personal security of the worker and his or her family’.” (Pope Benedict XVI, Charity in Truth [Caritas in Veritate], no. 63)
“The obligation to earn one’s bread by the sweat of one’s brow also presumes the right to do so. A society in which this right is systematically denied, in which economic policies do not allow workers to reach satisfactory levels of employment, cannot be justified from an ethical point of view, nor can that society attain social peace.” (St. John Paul II, The Hundredth Year [Centesimus Annus], no. 43)
“All people have the right to economic initiative, to productive work, to just wages and benefits, to decent working conditions, as well as to organize and join unions or other associations.” (United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, A Catholic Framework for Economic Life, no. 5)
“Work is, as has been said, an obligation, that is to say, a duty, on the part of man. . . Man must work, both because the Creator has commanded it and because of his own humanity, which requires work in order to be maintained and developed. Man must work out of regard for others, especially his own family, but also for the society he belongs to, the country of which he is a child, and the whole human family of which he is a member, since he is the heir to the work of generations and at the same time a sharer in building the future of those who will come after him in the succession of history.” (St. John Paul II, On Human Work [Laborem Exercens], no. 16)
“Work is a good thing for man-a good thing for his humanity-because through work man not only transforms nature, adapting it to his own needs, but he also achieves fulfillment as a human being and indeed, in a sense, becomes ‘more a human being’.”(St.JohnPaul II, On Human Work [Laborem Exercens], no. 9)
“All these rights, together with the need for the workers themselves to secure them, give rise to yet another right: the right of association, that is to form associations for the purpose of defending the vital interests of those employed in the various professions. These associations are called labor or trade unions.” (St. John Paul II, On Human Work [Laborem Exercens], no. 20)
“As the Church solemnly reaffirmed in the recent Council, ‘the beginning, the subject and the goal of all social institutions is and must be the human person.’ All people have the right to work, to a chance to develop their qualities and their personalities in the exercise of their professions, to equitable remuneration which will enable them and their families ‘to lead a worthy life on the material, social, cultural and spiritual level’ and to assistance in case of need arising from sickness or age.” (St. Paul VI, A Call to Action [Octogesima Adveniens], no. 14)