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Reflection for the 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time 2019

He
provides!

A bountiful rain You showered down, O God, upon Your inheritance; You restored the land when it languished; Your flock settled in it; in Your goodness, O God, You provided it for the needy.

Welcome and happy Labor Day weekend! This weekend offers us an excellent opportunity to focus on God’s provision and what we, as Christians, and as a nation, do with His provision.

Our verse of focus is taken from Psalm 68. Biblical scholars, those who slice and dice original language, verse structure, the paradigms that existed at the time something was written have often opined that Psalm 68 is one of the most difficult Psalms to understand. Yet to us, the ordinary reader, the Psalm seems pretty straightforward.

The Psalm begins with a prayer for God to arise, and recounts what happens to God’s enemies and to His favored righteous. As a result of God’s action, the righteous rejoice, they sing praises. God defends and provides, no one is lonely or a prisoner.

The Psalmist recounts God’s saving history. He praises God again saying: Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, Who daily bears our burdens.He calls on God again to save, to rescue. Confident in God’s rescue and provision, he again calls the people to praise.

We can imagine historians and scholars looking at the paradigm of our times 3,064 years from now. They would say that our times are the most difficult to understand. Yet the ordinary reader would say, it is not difficult to see what was going on. A nation of success and riches failed to provide avenues of advancement for its workers. Wages were stolen by the rich, justice was not done through a fair and equitable distribution of the wealth of a nation. The people cried out, suffered, but were not heard by their brothers and sisters. Those who traveled from afar, seeking refuge were turned away.

On this Labor Day weekend let us begin. Ask the Lord to arise again to scatter and defeat those who work to thwart justice. Let us pray that this Labor Day will mark the rising of the Christian people who have a God of power and might. May our words and work be a bountiful rain. Let us restore the landfrom its languish. Following God, we “will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.“

Christian Witness, Homilies, ,

Reflection for the 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time 2014

Jesus-Justice

We must do
justice!

Thus says the LORD: “You shall not molest or oppress an alien, for you were once aliens yourselves in the land of Egypt. You shall not wrong any widow or orphan. If ever you wrong them and they cry out to me, I will surely hear their cry. If you lend money to one of your poor neighbors among my people, you shall not act like an extortioner toward him by demanding interest from him. If you take your neighbor’s cloak as a pledge, you shall return it to him before sunset; for this cloak of his is the only covering he has for his body. What else has he to sleep in? If he cries out to me, I will hear him; for I am compassionate.”

When we think of the Old Testament, what is the first thought that comes to mind? For some it is the personalities – Adam, Even, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, Solomon, Ruth, Esther, Isaiah and the prophets. For some, it is the journeys – the exodus and journey to the Promised Land, the exiles, and the returns to Jerusalem.

For others, the Old Testament is filled with judgment, war, betrayal, and hard laws. Some point to the many slaughters that took place and even question how God could condone such things.

Regardless of perspective, what most fail to recognize is that the Old Testament is replete with God’s call to justice. He continually called His people to do justice to their own and to those who were foreigners. His prophets continually called the rulers and people to recall justice and put aside injustice. Micah spoke to the rulers and priests saying: Hear, you heads of Jacob and rulers of the house of Israel! Is it not for you to know justice?

A really quick reference review indicates 212 biblical verses about justice; another 22 refer to acting justly.

Jesus came to offer humanity the fullness of God’s promise, to complete the law of the Old Testament. He came not to act as an opponent of the law. His goal was not to prevent its fulfillment. Rather, He revered it, loved it, obeyed it, and brought it to fruition. He fulfilled God’s call to perfect obedience and in obedience He acted with perfect justice. He calls us to live the very same justice. “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind… You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”

As followers of Jesus Christ, we recognize His command as perfect. Like Him, we must know and do justice. To do justice we must first and foremost recognize the inherent human dignity of each person and do nothing to diminish it, to steal it, or hurt it. By actions and work our parish family builds human dignity. As we do here, we must do every day in our homes, work, and leisure.

Christian Witness, PNCC, Work, , , , , , ,

A Prayer for the Unemployed on Labor Day

Almighty God,

As we reflect on this Labor Day in fellowship and in hope we call ourselves a people committed to following You to serve the well-being of others. We commit to one another’s dignity and welfare. We know that our creativity is a gift from You; and we commit the work of our hearts and hands and minds to Your service and to Your glory in all that we do.

We see in one another and in those whom we serve Your divine signature, and we honor it. We know that You are present among us as we offer this prayer in one voice to You, Lord God of compassion and mercy. We ask that You remain with us and strengthen us as we endeavor to ensure that Your justice is served.

We remember particularly today those among our brothers and sisters who are without meaningful and sustaining work, those who struggle to provide for themselves and their families. We ask that You guide us and grant us the wisdom to address the problem of unemployment and underemployment in our community and in our nation.

Encourage us now, Lord, as we seek to find solutions to these challenges. Lord, in Your presence and filled with hope; guided by Your grace we are determined to preserve the well-being and dignity of working people and their families across this country. Grant that we persevere with faith and hope, and in the sure knowledge that justice will certainly triumph. Amen.

Christian Witness, , , , , , ,

All for a dollar

…but the price of the sin being committed is death (Romans 6:23, Deuteronomy 24:14-15). From IWJ:

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What’s a dollar worth to you?

Three candy bars, 10 text messages, a third of a venti latte? It seems a dollar can’t get you much these days. Well, it depends on whom you ask.

To families of low-wage workers underpaid a dollar for every hour he or she works, that one dollar could mean the difference between a roof over their heads or homelessness.

The illegal underpayment or non-payment of workers’ wages affects millions of workers each year. Too many unscrupulous employers are getting away with wage theft and too many families are hurting because of it. Together we can end this crime against workers!

November 19th is Interfaith Worker Justice’s National Day of Action to Stop Wage Theft. IWJ, its affiliated groups, and various communities of faith will be holding prayer vigils, rallies and press events in different parts of the country drawing attention to this egregious crime and how it disrupts the lives of working families.

If so inclined you may donate to support this day of action.

Christian Witness, ,

Going to Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, KFC, or Long John Silver’s? Support YUM Brands Workers

Please help secure justice for workers who have been fired from YUM Brands fast food restaurants throughout the Midwest.

More than 100 workers in the greater Chicago area have been fired by Pizza Hut, purportedly based on SSA no-match letters. All of these workers have been told by Pizza Hut management to re-verify their eligibility for employment, or they would be fired. Many have worked at Pizza Hut for more than a decade.

These firings could signal that thousands of YUM Brands workers across the country are in jeopardy of losing their jobs.

Deliver a message to your local YUM Brands restaurant that their employees deserve to be treated with dignity and respect and the company needs to stop the unjust firings now!

Here’s what you can do:

  • Bring a group of concerned people to deliver this flyer [pdf] or a personal message to a local YUM Brands restaurant.
  • Call Pizza Hut President Scott Bergren at (972) 338-7700 and express concern and disappointment about Pizza Hut’s campaign against Latino workers.
  • Send a letter to: Scott Bergren, President and Chief Concept Officer, Pizza Hut, Inc., 14841 N. Dallas Parkway, Dallas, TX, 75254.
  • Talk to the management at a local Pizza Hut and convey the same message of concern and disappointment with the company’s treatment of long-time, loyal employees.

For more information, contact the Workers’ Rights Center in Madison, Wisconsin (a member of IWJ’s national network of worker centers) or the Chicago Workers’ Collaborative at (773) 655-0815.

Christian Witness, Perspective, PNCC,

Home construction workers need your prayerful support

From Interfaith Worker Justice:

Every morning, thousands of residential construction workers across the Phoenix and Las Vegas areas [as well as across the nation] wake up for another day of hard, dangerous work. They work long hours in difficult conditions in order to make ends meet for themselves and their families. Unfortunately, for too many, their labor is not rewarded adequately. Thousands of home construction workers labor at sites where employers do not follow health and safety regulations, fail to pay workers all the wages they are owed, do not offer affordable health insurance, and violate workers’ rights in a variety of other ways.

Workers at a number of subcontractors that do work for Pulte Homes in Phoenix and Las Vegas [as well as across the nation] have experienced systematic disregard for workers’ rights and basic human dignity. In December and January, Interfaith Worker Justice convened fact-finding delegations of religious leaders in both cities in order to find out more about the situation. Workers reported a number of serious problems, including unsafe and illegal working conditions, long hours, wages denied for overtime worked, and lack of health insurance. Some of the workers are attempting to organize unions in order to improve these conditions but have reported obstruction, harassment and intimidation by their employers.

In order to support these workers, Interfaith Worker Justice has produced a report based on the fact-finding delegations. IWJ is also circulating a statement by religious leaders in support of the workers who build houses for Pulte.

I have joined in supporting the workers who build houses for Pulte Homes and ask you to do so as well by:

  • Praying for the workers, their families, and company executives.
  • If you are a religious leader, sign the religious leaders’ statement and fax it to 773-728-8409, or fill out the form and mail it to IWJ. The address is on the form.
  • Write to Pulte CEO Richard Dugas and urge him to ensure that Pulte’s subcontractors respect workers’ rights. Mr. Dugas can be reached at the following address: Richard Dugas, Chief Executive Officer, Pulte Homes, 100 Bloomfield Homes Parkway, Bloomfield Hills, MI 48304.

Recall that the PNCC was founded by hard working immigrants, just like those who are being victimized to this very day. As a member of the PNCC I am well aware of my responsibility to lift up all mankind because all have sacred dignity before God. Recall also that two tenants of the PNCC Confession of Faith state:

I BELIEVE that all peoples as children of one Father, God, are equal in themselves; that privileges arising from differences in rank, from possession of immense riches or from differences of faith, sex and race, are a great wrong, for they are a violation of the rights of man which he possess by his nature and the dignity of his divine origin, and are a barrier to the purposeful development of man.

I BELIEVE that all people have an equal right to life, happiness and those ways and means which lead to the preservation of existence, to advancement and salvation, but I also believe, that all people have sacred obligations toward God, themselves, their nation, state and all of humanity.

This is our faith.

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