Letter from the Pastor
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August 31, 2025We say farewell to Fr. Vincent D’Souza. We are grateful to Father for being with us during the month of August and his spiritual guidance. Father returns to India where he continues to minister to his parishioners. Thank you for your priesthood and saying yes to God back in 1981.
Tomorrow is Labor Day, the unofficial end of the summer season, and the anticipation of another school year; the lazy hazy days of summer seem to be finished for another year. So, it is good for us to reflect on the nature of work in the world, school and church.
Most of us come from families that work hard for a living. In many of our families, both parents have to work to simply make ends meet. The idea of work for many is a necessary evil, something one must do. However, it shouldn’t be that way.
Work is a fundamental human right. All people have the natural right to work and support themselves and their families. Owners have a moral obligation to pay a just and fair wage to their workers.
What is the value of a worker? Karl Marx asked that question, as did many other great thinkers through the centuries. St. Benedict early in the fifth century saw the value of work in his rule for the monks. Monks’ work had value in light of the service it afforded the community and its glorifying God.
St. Benedict’s motto was “Work and Prayer.” There are many circumstances when our work can become our prayer to God during the day. Our greatest work as a Catholic is the Liturgy, the Greek word meaning ‘work of the people.’
In 1886, in the United States, a day was set aside to celebrate the achievement of workers. Naturally, as often happens, no one knows who really did it first, but certainly the labor unions were part of it, and since most of their workers were immigrants and the majority of the members were Catholic. A Mass was said on this day, the first Monday in September, in honor of the workers of this country. Naturally, the Labor Day picnic was immortalized as well by most unions and union companies.
Today we thank God for the standard of living in the United States and the prosperity of our country, and also we should work toward this fairness throughout the world.
No matter what we are doing we are, as St. Paul in his letter to the Colossians wrote, to "do it as unto the Lord." Our work then changes “the world”, both within us and around us. This means all work - not just the spiritual or religious has redemptive value. Remember our Lord-God Incarnate-did not just do "spiritual” things; he worked physically as well. He was a laborer. Jesus taught parables about laborers; many of His disciples were laborers, etc. Labor is a means to enhance the dignity of the person. Work gives dignity.
All human work sanctifies and changes the world, which God loves. So, this weekend, after the “work” of worshipping God on Sunday, take the rest of the weekend off!
Happy Labor Day!