PhilTeach Blog

One of the themes of Catholic Social Teachings is the recognition of the dignity of work and the defense of the rights of workers.  These two components of the teaching are grounded in the belief that we are all made in God’s image and likeness, and as such are invited to participate in developing and supporting life.  Labor from this perspective is not seen as a punishment, but as an opportunity to be co-creators with God.  Due to this, all social and economic structures are to be respectful of, support and not impede individuals from exercising their ability to work, to contribute to the common good, and to enjoy the fruits of their labor.  The United States Catholic Conference of Bishops summarize this teaching: “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.” Keeping with the spirit of the teaching, Roger Cardinal Mahony, along with members representing various facets of the labor community, will be celebrating Labor Day with a liturgy at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Angels in downtown Los Angeles (555 West Temple Street).  In addition to celebrating our calling to be co-creators, the liturgy will provide an opportunity for the cardinal to call upon all members of our community to seek solutions to the problems faced by workers.  These include workers’ struggles to obtain fair wages, the undermining of proper working conditions due to profit-driven incentives, and the ever-increasing obstacles faced by working families to obtain and maintain health care.  

LABOR DAY MASS will take place on MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2009 at 10 A.M.

Please post your comments on Examiner.com  by following the link below. 

A Catholic Celebration of Work: Labor Day 2009

Posted using ShareThis

LA Catholic Examiner: National Day of Prayer: Not Sufficient

Posted using ShareThis

LA Catholic Examiner: Conscience protection regulation: Bush’s last attack?

Posted using ShareThis

Take a look at this video clip.  Let us be thankful that Pres. Obama was born before Roe vrs. Wade .  

www.CatholicVote.com

Posted using ShareThis

As Barak Obama takes the oath to serve our Nation, and to uphold and defend the Constitution, I pray that the message that he so clearly and inspirationally articulated in the campaign comes to be accomplished. His words inspired many, and provided us with optimism about the future.  Hope was his rallying call, and many, including myself responded. This was against the backdrop of a campaign that also demonstrated how easily our nation can be polarized around issues dealing with life, war, economics, immigration, religion and race.  Polarization, defining reality as either black or while, is the opposite of hope. Today our nation defines reality as either right/left; Democrat/Republican; Pro-life/Pro-choice; Conservative/ Progressive; Legal/Illegal.  Such ideological categories paint the complexity of life in simplistic language which often leads us into a type of dualistic blindness. This blindness is governed by the mottos, “If you are not with us, you are against us” and “If you do not agree with me, then you hate me.”  It is this blindness which often prevents us from seeing that God’s creation is filled with possibilities, and that we have been given the power to be co-creators and care keepers of it.   It is a blindness-of-possibilities that induces the fear to move beyond ourselves, makes us deft to one another, and impedes us from seeking the truth. 

Hope is the virtue that helps us to see future possibilities. It is the habit of seeing what we can be while still being grounded in the reality and difficulties of the present. To be hopeful is to know that the truth can only be discovered when we are open to each other’s ideas, gifts, talents and energies. It is only in hope that we can seek new solutions to social, political, and moral challenges. It is this sense of possibilities that leads Obama to say that change is possible and that all of us can contribute to a new future.  Two thousand years ago, St. Paul wrote that in the end only three things will last: faith, hope and love. At the end of eight years of the Bush Administration, and at the beginning of a new era in U.S. history, we must also acknowledge that hope alone is not enough. Faith demands that we act to achieve that which we hope for. Love elicits recognition that what we hope for is only valuable when we achieve it for the sake of another. 

But hope is a beginning, a first step.  So, on this occasion, I hope that the illusion that destroying life is the way we can assure our personal liberty, achieve personal fulfillment, or maintain a good quality of life, be replaced with the vision that all human life be seen as a gift, as a moment of celebration and as an opportunity for each of us to move beyond ourselves.I hope that the practice of determining human value and integrity be not grounded on political, fashionable or economic convenience, but instead on the conviction that each person has been lovingly created with an intrinsic dignity.  I hope that instead of living by the fallacy that the human family is divisible into “us and them,” we live by the truth that all human beings belong to one family and thus share in a common life and destiny.

On the occasion of the inauguration of Barak Obama, we recall his message of hope. But as he takes the oath of office, let us chose to hope by our action.  Failure to lovingly act diminishes hope into a mere delusion.  As we move to form ‘A More Perfect Union’ may we recognize that no authentic community can exist if it is not grounded on the belief that all human life has intrinsic value.   Obama’s swearing-in ceremony is not a magic-laden ritual that will transform the nation, but a call, a challenge for each of us to actively move beyond the polarizing conversations of the past, and into an open creative exchange about who we are, how we belong to each other, and that a “perfect union”, can only be measured by the way we acknowledge the dignity of those who are vulnerable, poor and marginalized in our society.

Dear Councilman Huizar,

I am a professor of Philosophy at East Los Angeles College and a member of the Office of Justice and Peace Commission of the Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles.  As such, I am an individual who works in your district and serves citizens who also belong to your district.  Today however, I write as a person who has been moved to seek higher education and service by the animals who inhabit the Greater Los Angeles Zoo.

When I arrived as a refugee from Cuba at the age of seven, it was my encounter with the animals at the L.A. Zoo that provided a bridge to becoming an engaged participant of our community.  My parents, who only had a 3rd and 6th grade education, took low-income custodial jobs at a local hospital.  Due to both its proximity and affordable entrance price they often took me to the zoo.  Though I lacked mastery of the English language, often receiving failing grades in school, my encounters with the animals, including the elephants, moved me to go to my school and local library to seek out more information on the animals I got to see and interact with.  I remember reading about how there were two different species of elephants and could not wait to return to the zoo and see if I could distinguish the African elephants from the Asian.  Even though I could not quite fit in this new land or could not do well in school, I was still able to learn and know the world of animals.  The more I visited, the more I read.  My encounter with animals opened my mind to the world of books, to a world not defined by a new language or customs, and in turn set my mind on the road toward new possibilities, new confidence, and new learning.

Over the years I have brought youth groups, students, and now, my own sons, to the zoo to share with them the sense of awe and wonder that the animals inspired in me when I was young.

I hope that you will consider how important motivation is to the learning process.  For many low income and immigrant children such as me, it is often difficult to connect with a new land and its customs.   It is with this hope that I encourage you to support the work of the Los Angeles Zoo and the citizens who support it.    In providing a safe and healthy place where we can be moved to come to know, love and respect our fellow creatures, the LA Zoo provides a place where education and animal advocacy can blossom.    It is with this hope that I request that you specifically support the present work the staff of the zoo is doing in regard to the elephant habitat they have undertaken and the future elephant conservation program they are planning.

In supporting these endeavors you will be providing future opportunities to both our human citizens and our brother elephants.

For an article on the elephant issue go to:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/brenda-scott-royce/zoo-is-not-a-dirty-word_b_146226.html

A few months ago my family and I were struggling with the continued increase of gasoline prices. The increase took a great chunk out of our monthly budget. The increases noticeably began when we invaded Iraq. The hikes were reasonably expected but we were informed that it would be temporary event. I recall many of our political leaders saying that as soon as we got control of the gas production in Iraq, prices would eventually come down. They did not.

Then Hurricane Katrina made havoc of our offshore Gulf production, and prices went up again. Even after production resumed, prices continued to rise. This wave was then followed by the sectional closing of the Alaskan pipeline. And you guessed it, prices continued their upward pattern.

All through these price increases, many individuals wondered why the White House or Congress had not done anything about the situation. The best response we could get was that nothing could be done–the increases were due to unforeseen events. In addition, the administration did not control the market forces. Due to the public demand, Congress called the leaders of the major oil companies to Capitol Hill. Each leader gave their own account on how the increases were a natural phenomenon of the petroleum market, and how the increases were outside of their control. No one, we were told could do anything about it. That is, until now.

As we approach the November elections, I find it peculiar that gasoline prices have been steadily going down, and may continue doing so even into Election Day. President Bush, and members of the Republican-led Congress, made this recent phenomenon a campaign slogan. They tell us that due to their leadership, gas prices are dropping.

There are two unusual points about this claim. First is the reality that gasoline prices rapidly increased while both the White House and the Congress were under Republican control. Do they really think that we suffer from short-term memory problems? The reductions now only closely bring us back to where we used to be before, and thus do not indicate any genuine improvement for the American consumer.

The second point is that either they had an influence on the increases, or they did not have such an influence. They can’t have it both ways. These same leaders, when earlier approached to do something, held that nothing could be done. If they could do nothing then, how can they now claim that prices are lowering due to their leadership?

If they did have an influence, then they were not completely forward with the American people, and quietly sat by while American families suffered. Prices for food, goods and travel increased steadily. Many families and businesses had to adjust to the increases, all while the petroleum companies saw the greatest profits in their history. Such profits permitted some CEOs to have very comfortable salaries and unimaginable retirement benefits.

So which is it? Did our leaders have an influence or did they not? If they did, why was it not used when the American public requested it? Why is it that prices are going down now before an election, and not then? Is it possible that the American citizen is presently being placated by the present price of gas? Are we being tempted to forget how much American families have suffered in the last few years? Are we being lured to believe that everything is fine under the control of one political party, specifically the Republican Party?

I cannot help but remember the story about Queen Marie Antoinette. The story goes that while the citizens of Paris were begging for bread outside the gates of the royal palace, she was asked by one of her attendants what to do about the hungry crowd. She responded, “Let them eat cake.” Instead of cake, is the American citizen now being placated with gasoline? Are we, by getting a reduction in gas prices now supposed to forget what has occurred in recent years in Washington? I, for my part am not placated.