Labor Day Weekend – not just the end of summer

Sep 1

Letter from the Pastor
22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time
Sept. 3, 2023

Labor Day Weekend – not just the end of summer

In the early 19th Century, at the height of the Industrial Revolution, the average American worked 12 hours a day and often seven days a week simply to make ends meet. It was not uncommon for children as young as 5 or 6 to work in mills, factories, and mines. They, of course, earned even less than their adult counterparts. Raising the dignity of the worker, Labor Day was initiated by the labor movement in the late 19th century to recognize the contributions and achievements of the American worker. It became a federal holiday in 1894.

In his encyclical Laborem Excercens [Through Work], Pope John Paul II said, “Through work (humanity) must earn his daily bread and contribute to the continual advance of science and technology and, above all, to elevating unceasingly the cultural and moral level of the society within which he lives in community with those who belong to the same family.” [LE ¶ 1]

Written in 1981, it is part of the largely unknown area of Catholic Doctrine known as Catholic Social Teaching, which addresses matters of human dignity and the common good. Laborem Excercens emphasizes the foundational church teaching that the dignity of the human person always comes first.

Pope John Paul II predicted that technology would change our culture in ways similar to those changes brought on by the Industrial Revolution itself. He spoke of our need to protect the environment. He asserted that all natural resources are a gift from God and for the use of all people. He welcomed the economic movement to the developing world but noted the great employment shift it would create.

Technology is a great benefit, but as a tool, not the master. People are more important than things [LE ¶ 12], and labor always takes precedence over capital. The rights of workers include full employment and wages and benefits that support the worker and their family.

It also addresses the importance of unions, the dignity of agricultural work, the rights of disabled persons, and the challenges and benefits of emigrants seeking work outside of their native land. For Pope John Paul II, work is uniquely entwined with our spirituality in that we share in the activity of God, the creator, in our work and in our rest. [LE ¶ 25]

You can find Pope John Paul II’s Laborum Excercens at the Vatican website. It might be something good to read, or reread, over this Labor Day Weekend.

As we bid farewell to yet another summer, let us thank God for the work that we have done and ask Him to bless our work that is yet to be accomplished to make the Kingdom of God even more obvious for all people in our community, in our country, and in our world.

May God continue to bless you and your families with Peace and All Good!

Happy Labor Day!