Los Angeles, Calif., Sep 7, 2010 / 13:01 pm
In his Labor Day homily at Our Lady of the Angels Cathedral on Monday, Los Angeles Coadjutor Archbishop Jose Gomez spoke of the “gift of labor” as a participation in the “work of God.” He urged all of the faithful to work for a world in which the Christian vision of humanity prevails, and “in which our talents are employed to serve our brothers and sisters for the love of God.”
Human labor, the archbishop said, allows men and women to become a part of God's creative activity, and “to rejoice in the harvest of his bounty.” Thus, it belongs to man's nature both to work, and to give thanks to God for the fruits of human labor. Both the work and the fruits, the archbishop taught, are a “gift from above.”
Archbishop Gomez also called attention to the world's ongoing need for a just distribution of God's gifts, which he said should be achieved through acts of social responsibility and charity.
“In this celebration of the Holy Eucharist on this Labor Day,” he noted, “it is fitting that we pray with hearts open for all those who are prevented from knowing God's gifts,” including “all those who are deprived of an honest day's work or fair wages” or who “live under conditions in which their dignity is not respected.”