Podcast: Play in new window | Download (0.0KB)

Subscribe: Android | Email | Google Podcasts | RSS

Go beneath the surface with Paul Murano and his special guest Fr. Tony Blount on the Incarnation and spousal relationship between the Holy Spirit and Mary.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (0.0KB)

Subscribe: Android | Email | Google Podcasts | RSS

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 48:00 — 37.4MB)

Subscribe: Android | Email | Google Podcasts | RSS

For us as believers the dignity of work comes out of the whole theology of creation. Work is part of human dignity and written in natural law. As the parables of the talents and vineyard illustrate, every human being is created and gifted with special privileges – physical privileges, spiritual privileges, mental privileges, economic privileges, social privileges – precisely in order to use and work in them as God's hands and feet on behalf of others, to make the world a more just and loving place. 
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 Gods 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.

Friends of the Show get all Premium Content! Thank you to my newest Friends of the Show: LeDeana O'N; Donna H; Marc P; Ellen G; Jamie R; and Mary E, for loving and lifting me!

LOVE the Word® is a Bible study method based on Mary's own practice: lectio without the Latin. Get the book based on Sonja's method in the right margin, How to Pray Like Mary.
L – Listen (Receive the Word via audio or video.)

 

O – Observe (Connect the passage to your life and recent events.)
Read about one school’s efforts to educate others about how purchasing fair trade products can help vulnerable persons around the world. How can you act in solidarity with workers in your community, or around the world, whose rights are violated?
From the Examination of Conscience in Light of Social Teaching

As a worker, do I give my employer a fair day’s work for my wages? As an owner, do I treat workers fairly?
Do I treat all workers with whom I interact with respect, no matter their position or class?
Do I support the rights of all workers to adequate wages, health insurance, vacation and sick leave? Do I affirm their right to form or join unions or worker associations?
Do my purchasing choices take into account the hands involved in the production of what I buy? When possible, do I buy products produced by workers whose rights and dignity were respected?

V – Verbalize (Pray about your thoughts and emotions.)
Remembering that He loves you and that you are in His presence, talk to God about the particulars of your O – Observe step. You may want to write your reflections in your LOVE the Word® journal. Or, get a free journal page and guide in the right-hand margin.
E – Entrust (May it be done to me according to your word!)

Lord, help me use my power as a consumer and voter to ensure that the dignity of workers is respected. May we urge business owners and policymakers to place the dignity of the human person at the center of economic decisions.   Amen + 
Show Notes
Topics Discussed:
Catholic social justice principle #5, the dignity of work and the rights of workers 
Pope Benedict XVI, Charity in Truth (Caritas in Veritate)
Equity vs. equality
Privilege 
Overview:
Minutes 00:12:00 – The dignity of work and theology of creation, the parable of the talents   
Minutes 12:01-24:00 – Equality vs. equity, privilege 
Minutes 24:01-36:00 – The parable of the vineyard
Minutes 36:01-48:00 – Ways to protect and defend the dignity of work and the rights of workers
Additional Resources:
More on the Dignity of Work and the Rights of Workers from the Bible and Church documents 
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Seven Themes of Catholic Social Teaching
Book, Amazon: Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace and USCCB
Bible Study Evangelista is on the Laudate app!

Facebook Discussion Community
We're talking about work and the rights of workers over on the Bible Study Evangelista Facebook Discussion page. Come chat with us.
Read the Transcript
You can download a complete,

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (0.0KB)

Subscribe: Android | Email | Google Podcasts | RSS

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (0.0KB)

Subscribe: Android | Email | Google Podcasts | RSS

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 48:00 — 36.8MB)

Subscribe: Android | Email | Google Podcasts | RSS

A basic moral test is how our most vulnerable members are faring. In a society marred by deepening divisions between rich and poor, our tradition recalls the story of the Last Judgment (Mt 25:31-46) and instructs us to put the needs of the poor and vulnerable first.
“The poor not only suffer injustice, they also struggle against it! . . . [Solidarity] means that the lives of all take priority over the appropriation of goods by a few. It also means fighting against the structural causes of poverty and
inequality; of the lack of work, land and housing; and of the denial of social and labor rights. It means confronting the destructive effects of the empire of money: forced dislocation, painful emigration, human trafficking, drugs,
war, violence and all those realities that many of you suffer and that we are all called upon to transform . . . Love for the poor is at the center of the Gospel.” —Pope Francis, Address to the First World Meeting of Popular Movements

Friends of the Show get all Premium Content! Thank you to my newest Friends of the Show: Hannah M; Lorraine C; and Mike H, for loving and lifting me!

LOVE the Word® is a Bible study method based on Mary's own practice: lectio without the Latin. Get the book based on Sonja's method in the right margin, How to Pray Like Mary.
L – Listen (Receive the Word via audio or video.)

 

O – Observe (Connect the passage to your life and recent events.)
Read the stories of Syrian refugees who have fled to Europe in search of a better life and learn about Catholic Relief Services’ response with the support of Catholics in the United States. How are you called to stand with those who are vulnerable?
From the Examination of Conscience in Light of Social Teaching

Do I give special attention to the needs of the poor and vulnerable in my community and in the world?
Am I disproportionately concerned for my own good at the expense of others?
Do I engage in service and advocacy work that protects the dignity of poor and vulnerable persons?

V – Verbalize (Pray about your thoughts and emotions.)
Remembering that He loves you and that you are in His presence, talk to God about the particulars of your O – Observe step. You may want to write your reflections in your LOVE the Word® journal. Or, get a free journal page and guide in the right-hand margin.
E – Entrust (May it be done to me according to your word!)

Saint Teresa of Calcutta, may we never fail to recognize and encounter Jesus in what you called his “most distressing disguise of the poorest of the poor.”  Amen + 
Show Notes
Topics Discussed:
Catholic social justice principle #4, the preferential option for the poor and vulnerable 
How to serve without superiority
What Jesus meant by “take my 'yoke' upon you” 
Overview:
Minutes 00:12:00 – The secret to successful ministry, the preferential option for the poor   
Minutes 12:01-24:00 – Who are the poor, how do I serve them?
Minutes 24:01-36:00 – Serving without superiority, enabling the poor to thrive
Minutes 36:01-48:00 – The primary purpose of the option for the poor: to enable them to become active participants in society.
Additional Resources:
Pope Francis, The Joy of the Gospel (Evangelii Gaudium)
St. Ambrose, “You are not making a gift of what is yours to the poor man, but you are giving him back what is his. You have been appropriating things that are meant to be for the common use of everyone. The earth belongs to everyone, not to the rich.” (Populorum Progressio, Pope Paul VI, 23)
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Seven Themes of Catholic Social Teaching
Book, Amazon: Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace and USCCB
 
Bible Study Evangelista is on the Laudate app!

Facebook Discussion Community
We're talking about how to serve the poor over on the Bible Study Evangelista Facebook Discussion page. Come chat with us.
Read the Transcript