Social Concerns Column for Sunday, September 23, 2012

The community of believers was of one heart and mind … There was no needy person among them, for those who owned property or houses would sell them, bring the proceeds of the sale, and put them at the feet of the apostles, and they were distributed to each according to need.  -- Acts 4:32-35

Bishops Say Spend Wisely.  “As consumers, believers can promote social justice or injustice … When we purchase goods and services, we can choose to support companies that defend human life, treat workers fairly, protect creation, and respect other basic moral values at home and abroad.”  – U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, “Everyday Christianity: To Hunger and Thirst for Justice”, http://tinyurl.com/HungerThirstJustice

Bishops Call for a Just Economy.  Bishop Stephen E. Blaire, Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, USCCB, recently stated:Everyone and every institution has a role to play in building a more just economy … Blessed John Paul II said, “Society and the State must ensure wage levels adequate for the maintenance of the worker and his family, including a certain amount for savings. This requires a continuous effort to improve workers' training and capability so that their work will be more skilled and productive, as well as careful controls and adequate legislative measures to block shameful forms of exploitation, especially to the disadvantage of the most vulnerable workers, of immigrants and of those on the margins of society.”  -- Read more at: http://tinyurl.com/WorkersEconomy

Bishops Call the Faithful to Form Consciences for November Election.  “The relative silence of candidates and their campaigns on the moral imperative to resist and overcome poverty is both ominous and disheartening … In this election year, Catholics should review and act on what the U.S. bishops said on economic issues in Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship: Economic decisions and institutions should be assessed according to whether they protect or undermine the dignity of the human person. Social and economic policies should foster the creation of jobs for all who can work with decent working conditions and just wages. Barriers to equal pay and employment for women and those facing unjust discrimination must be overcome. Catholic social teaching supports the right of workers to choose whether to organize, join a union, and bargain collectively, and to exercise these rights without reprisal. It also affirms economic freedom, initiative, and the right to private property. Workers, owners, employers, and unions should work together to create decent jobs, build a more just economy, and advance the common good.”   -- Read more at: http://tinyurl.com/WorkersEconomy

He won't break a bruised reed. He won't quench a smoking flax, until he leads justice tovictory.  -- Matthew 12:20