anc 0 VOL. 31, NO. 3S
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Friday, September 1, 1988
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Summer's lease hath all too short a date - William ShakespeaTe
Labor Day is call to solidarity, bishop.says WASHINGTON (NC) - Labor Day gives Catholics a chance to work toward solidarity and "see in the poor and vulnerable the face of Jesus," said Auxiliary Bishop Joseph M. Sullivan of Brooklyn,
N.Y. , "This Labor Day, American Catholics are being called to discover and practice the virtue of 'solidarity,''' said the bishop, chairman of the U.S. Catholic Conference Committee on Domestic Policy. His comments came in a statement titled "Solidarity and American Catholics" issued for Labor Day, Sept. 5.
A Labor Day message is issued annually by the USCC, public policy arm of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops. "Solidarity is a work of faith, a sign that we see in the poor and vulnerable the face of Jesus," Bishop Sullivan said. "As believers, we are convinced that in supporting their struggles for dignity, justice and human rights, we serve the Lord. "Solidarity ties us together," he said. "It helps us see each other as members of one family - where an injustice to one is a blow to all and progress for those in need strengthens the whole community.
"Solidarity requires us to see in the poor and powerless not some distant problem or distant issue, but our own sisters and brothers, denied their dignity and rights," he added. "Solidarity requires us to serve those in need, to join our voices with theirs in pursuit ofjustice and to work together to defend our God-given dignity and righ~s. "The church itself is called to be a sign of solidarity," he declared. He noted that Pope John Paul II's encyclical "On Social Concerns," issued earlier this year, discussed economic justice, authentic development, a preference for the poor "and a new sense ofsolidarity
in a world divided by ideology and injustice." In their 1986 letter on economic justice, the U.S. bishops discussed a similar concern, focusing specifically on U.S. economic life, Bishop Sullivan said. Bishop Sullivan said the pope has reminded Catholics that "the church feels called to take her stand beside the poor, to discern the justice of their requests and to help satisfy them, without losing sight ... of the common good. ' "As American Catholics, I believe we hear in this call to solidarity echoes of our nation's best traditions of community and the com-
mon good," Bishop Sullivan said. "We also hear the traditional social teaching of our church affirmed and advanced. Most of all, we hear in the call to solidarity the challenge to put our faith and citizenship to work in building a church and 'nation more at the service of the human person, more respectful of the life, dignity and rights of all our sisters and brothers: "This Labor Day," he concluded, "in the midst of all our other activities, let us take a few moments to reflect on the dignity of work and the rights of the human person. Let us commit ourselves to the pursuit of genuine solidarity in our nation and in our world."