November 11, 2007

Veterans Days 2007

We are celebrating Veterans Day, remembering, as well we should all those men and women who serve our country by placing themselves in harm's way. Whereas Memorial Day is designed to remember those who have died, today is designed to remember those Veterans who are alive.

Not only should we remember them in our prayers, we should remember them in our deeds. I believe that the American people are not fully aware of all the difficulties that our wounded soldiers face when they return. The much publicized difficulties at Walter Reed Hospital were not an isolated incident, but a symptom of a more pervasive probelm. The Washington Post,m wchih broke the story on Waklter reed, has continued to cover the story of the care of wounded veterans and they have an ongoing webpage that details the story which I am encouraging you to visit: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/nation/walter-reed/index.html

You can read the webpage and draw your own conclusions about how well we are caring for those who have made such significant sacrifices for us..

August 22, 2007

Labor Day 2008

Crossing the Mackinac Island Bridge is the most famous Michigan Labor Day tradition, signifying a return to work from a summer of rest and play. There are other traditions, everyone has picnics, some last minute trips to the beach, one more golf game perhaps. Colleges, high schools and elementary schools reopen, a new sports season falls upon us, it is in many ways, the true start to the American New Year. \

Labor Day is a good name for this holiday, a time to acknowledge the importance of labor in our lives, it after all, one of the most precious gifts we give, our work, our labor. As such it deserevd to be honored as a gift, not a commodity to be bought and sold, discarded as needs be. each year the US Catholic bishops issues a labor day statement, and I want to use an excerpt from the statement from Bishop Skylstad the Bishop of Spokane, which highlights the importance of both employers and labor in American life.

"On Labor Day, families gather to mark the end of summer and the beginning of a new school year. Many families use the long Labor Day weekend to squeeze in the last picnic of summer. Backyard grills sizzle with barbequed chicken as we serve up the last fruits of the growing season. ..

This year, after the Labor Day picnic, take time to say a prayer for the low-wage workers who provide our food. Many of them work long hours, in horrible working conditions, for meager wages. Pray for the workers who still don't have a forty-hour work week, safe and sanitary shops, or the chance to make a decent living for their families; remember the workers confronting firing, intimidation, delays, replacement, and bad faith when they try to organize to defend their rights. But recognize the contributions of those employers whose initiative and investment create decent jobs at decent wages, who treat their workers as partners and who help build the economic health and vitality of the community.

Over ten years ago, the U.S. Bishops' pastoral letter on the economy, Economic Justice For All, called for a new American experiment: "new forms of cooperation and partnership among those whose daily work is the source of the prosperity and justice of the nation." This Labor Day, I call on workers and employers, unions and corporations to work together more creatively to increase productivity, to enhance job security, to share economic rewards, to compete in a global marketplace, and to contribute to the common good of our society.

Labor Day should be more than a shopping day or time for back to school sales. It should be a time to review why the Church has stood with workers in their struggle for justice. Each of us has a responsibility to make this economy work for everyone: employers, workers, shareholders, union members, consumers. As followers of Jesus Christ we are called to measure our economy, not only by what it produces, but how it touches human life, whether it protects human dignity and strengthens family Iife."

 

July 5, 2007

PARIS (Reuters) - As Europe's workers take a few weeks of holiday this summer, their American colleagues will be lucky to get a few days off work, says a report published by the European Trade Union Institute.

Finland, followed by France, offers working people the most statutory vacation, at more than six weeks per year, the report, an international snapshot of how much paid leave people get by law and in practice in 21 countries, says.

The United States is the only country where employees have no statutory leave, and they get about half as much time off in reality as Europeans get, according to the report, compiled by the Washington-based Centre for Economic Policy Research.

"The United States is in a class of its own," the report says. "It is the no-vacation nation."Andrew Watt, an economist at the Brussels-based European Trade Union Institute, said the report not only highlighted a conscious decision to ensure more free time in Europe. It also showed the errors many economists make when saying U.S. productivity and economic output is better than Europe's.
Canada and Japan, which require employers to give at least 10 days paid leave to their staff, are less generous than the Europeans, who get at least four weeks by law and often much more in practice, the report said. In the United States, leave was generally harder to secure for people in low-pay and part-time jobs, it added.
© Reuters 2007. All Rights Reserved.

May 28, 2007

As we celebrate the day designed to memorialize all those who have died in this nation's service, we cannot help but remember those American service personnel who have most recently given their lives in the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. We must remember them, and as Abraham Lincoln said, "care for their widows and their orphans." A recent report on the Newshour with Jim Lehrer reported that the widows and orphans and wounded veterans are still paying a disproportionate share of the burden. Families are still taking up collections for Kevlar body army that the government is not supplying their sons in combat, wounded veterans are not receiving adequate care and compensation, and the money that is being borrowed to pay this war will have to be repaid by their children. You can read or hear this report at: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/middle_east/jan-june07/warcost_05-23.html

It is well and good for us to pray for these men and women whom we have asked to carry our burdens, we must however do more than express our gratitude to them, we must shoulder our responsibilities to them. This recent report from PBS, and the recent reports about Walter Reed Hospital have demonstrated that we continue to fail in our responsibilities to them. If we wish to suport our troops, write your congress persons and demand that we actually do that in deed and not just with words.

April 30, 2007

Mistislav Rostropovich died last week. Perhaps the world's best cellist he was renown in this country and throughout the world for being one of the Russian artists who risked his career and perhaps his life in defense of human rights during the Soviet era, by granting shelter to Alexander Solzhenitsyn.

I was in seminary in Washington D.C. during the days when Slava (his nickname) came to live in the United States. The first time I saw him he was attending a student concert at Catholic University. When the concert was over he was introduced to great applause, borrowed a chagrined student's cello (not his normal Stradavarius) and game an impromptu performance of Bach's "Air on a G String." I hope that student kept that cello. I also saw him conduct the Washington National Symphony Orchestra in Modest Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition." This introduced me to Rostropovich as a conductor, a man whose very body celebrated the music he evoked from the musicians for the audiance. In my mind's eyes I can still, over 30 years later, still see him conducting. It was one of the most memorable concerts I have ever attended.

This is a man whose vocation to music became a vocation to the world and a vocation to world wide freedom. He is an illustration of how each person, within their own vocation is an instrument of God for the good of all.

Interestingly, Slava was buried from the Russian Orthodox Church of Christ the Savior, where the previous week, Boris Yeltsin was buried. For much of both men's lifetime, this church was closed and religious life forbidden in the Soviet Union. How much the world has changed within the last thirty years.

Through the magic of YouTube, you can see Rostropovich play the cello and conduct. A complete list of his recordings is available though EMI.

February 22, 2007

UNICEF released the The 2007 Innocenti Report Card on Child Well Being for Children in Rich Countries. This Report Card provides a comprehensive assessment of the lives and well-being of children and young people in 21 nations of the industrialized world. Its purpose is to encourage monitoring, to permit comparison, and to stimulate the discussion and development of policies to improve children’s lives.

Specifically, it attempts to measure and compare child well-being under six different headings or dimensions: material well-being, health and safety, education, peer and family relationships, behaviours and risks, and young people’s own subjective sense of well-being. In all, it draws upon 40 separate indicators relevant to children’s lives and
children’s rights.

I was surprised and distressed that the United Kingdom and the United States find themselves in the bottom third of the rankings for five of the six dimensions reviewed. In fact the United States aggregate ranking was second last! The leading countries were in order: The Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Spain, Switzerland and Norway.

Read the report yourself, just click on the link above. Be warned it is grim reading, whcih is probably why people in the United States are not going to read it. It reminds us me that we here in America are not as child friendly and child focused as we imagine ourselves to be.

February 13, 2007

There is word today of a negotiated settlement with North Korea. In exchange for massive fuel and food assistance they will dismantle their nuclear program. Let us all pray that this is true and that all sides honor this agreement.

Gerald R. Ford

Yesterday, January 3, 2007, the 38th President of the United States, Gerald R. Ford, was laid to rest in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Universally eulogized as a good and decent man who restored honor and trust to the presidency, his life was a testimony to that fact that in public life one can be a fierce competeitor who nevertheless respects rather than demonizes his opponents. This was exemplified in the close personal relationship that developed between President Ford and President Carter, the man who had defeated him in his re-election bid. Barely able to speak the words through his tears, President Carter conlcuded his eulogy with the words that began his presidency, "On behalf of a grateful nation I want to to thank my predecessor for all he has done to heal our nation."

Public life is meant to be partisan, ideas are meant to be debated. However, the American genius, historian Shelby Foote wrote, rests in our ability to govern by compromise - remembering that we forge our unity out of our diversity, not by over-riding it. For a dozen years now our country's public climate has been marked by animosity, scorn, and derision. It is not enough to remember President Ford as man of reconciliation, we must imitate his example.

Sudan

The United Nations estimates that 180,000 people have died, but other reliable estimates indicate 300,000 casualties, more than 2.4 million are homeless, and at least 2.6 million people are affected by the humanitarian emergency in Darfur, Sudan. The World Health Organization estimates that 10,000 more are dying each month. Malnutrition, malaria and cholera are among the greatest health risks. Equally dangerous is the vast insecurity of the region, with continued attacks on civilians and humanitarian aid operations.

This week, the United Nations Relief Services have reduced by 50% the amount of food given to the starving because of the lack of response from the governments of the world. If you are able to help, here is the link to Catholic Relief Service: Sudan.

Iraq

As of Nov. 1, 2006, there have been 3,141American deaths. For most of us, these men and women are nameless and faceless. CNN and the Washington Post are providing us the service of lifting up the names and memories of these soldiers: Casualties and Fallen.  These soldiers are joined by 44,739 wounded.

I believe these heroes deserved better from their leadership, and I will comment on why I believe that is true at another time. Now, let me end with our prayer for the dead: 

Eternal rest grant unto them Oh Lord, and let perpetual light rest upon them. May their souls and the souls of all the faithful departed rest in peace. Amen.