Labors of Necessity and Love

by Father Joe

Labors of Necessity and Love

Before writing on Labor Day, I need to ask for your help. I am very proud of how members of both St. Martha and St. Mary have supported these parishes and the wider Church over the years. This year, countless parishioners go out of their way to drop off, mail, or send online their parish support. This has been a difficult year financially for many households, church communities, charities, and businesses. For those negatively effected, your ability to support others is understandably diminished. For the rest of us, the need for our support is even greater. The Archdiocesan Catholic Appeal was hit hard, and we are much lower in our parishioner pledges to support the ministries of our Archdiocese. The Catholic Appeal is the primary source of income for these services. If you have not

made a pledge, please read the article on this year’s Catholic Appeal “This Is Our Church”. We need to wrap-up this Archdiocesan campaign soon so we can move forward.

It feels like Labor Day takes on a different meaning for 2020, a year in which we have had to learn to do new things and new ways of doing old things. Often our primary occupations have been derailed. We are especially grateful for those workers who continued to go out in the early weeks of the virus while the rest of us stayed home as much as possible.
These include our medical workers, police and fire fighters, grocery and other foodservice workers, and those priests who continued to minister the Anointing of the Sick and prayers for the dying. Parents have taken on a more active role of their children’s education, and teachers learned how to teach remotely. These labors may have been begun out of necessity, but in most cases I believe they continued as labors of love, respect, and service of others.

Especially for us as Catholic Christians, this kind of sacrificial love unites us with our Savior Jesus’ love poured out on the cross and offered in the Eucharist. May the sacramental and spiritual Communion we share unite us in the Body of Christ, heal our wounds, and strengthen us to continue to love one another. I pray that this unusual Labor Day will give us at least a little time to rest from our labors (old and new) and appreciate all those who labor for our sake.