The Clergy Can Put Labor Day to Good Use
It is true that we must earn our bread with labor, which is one of our Christian duties, but we don’t have to sell our soul in the procedure where we feel compelled to pile up money to the ceiling thinking that this is going to pay our way to Heaven. As one priest said from the pulpit, “You can’t bring a U-Haul into Heaven.” We will go out of this world with nothing but what we came in with – that and the spiritual merits we have gained in life, our love and prayers.
These merits will include the integrity wherewith we did our work. This indeed will apply to our reward in the next life. This is the Opus Dei idea, i.e. how honest we were in our work, how fair we were, how willing we were to overlook debts and to think always of the best interests of our clients, etc. But pushing labor and making a solemnity out of Labor Day is not the work of God.
On the flip side, priests can put their thinking caps on and make good of Labor Day. For example, they could say that we were placed on earth to work out our salvation “with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12) or that Christ said, “My reward is with me, to render to every man according to his works.” (Apoc. 22:12) They could encourage the faithful to always excel in good works by feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the imprisoned, and lending to those without asking for reimbursement. The priests could encourage the faithful to persevere in their faith as “a labor of love” but instead we have priests lauding communist instigators like Cesar Chavez who wrap labor workers around themselves for their own empowerment and gratification.
In March 2026, allegations of sexual abuse were raised against union leader Cesar Chavez who for decades had abused girls in his Farmworker movement. March 31, 2026, was designated as Cesar Chavez Day, but earlier in the month Governor Newsom covered for him by changing the name of the day to Farmworkers Day, yet priests and Catholic communities across America continue to celebrate Cesar Chavez Day as some sort of holy day.
What does that say about them?
