By Maria Bohan
The Labor Day holiday is often swept up in the chaos of back to school preparations, leaving many with little idea about its importance.
On this day free from labor, it would do us all some good to recognize how far working conditions have come, and how far they still must go around the world.
Take a minute to pray that the world can come together to solve issues of unsafe working environments and economic disparity and that the laborers of this world will always be valued.
God, help us to build a new world in the midst of the old.
A world where all workers are valued.
A world where those who clean houses can buy houses to live in.
A world where those who grow food can afford to eat their fill.
We pray for the coming of a world where all workers everywhere
share in the abundance that you have given us.
We ask these things knowing that you give us the courage and strength
to live out our faith in the workplace and the marketplace, as well as in the sanctuary. Laboring God, as you labor with us, may we labor for you,
ever committed to doing your world in the world.
Amen.
(Edi Rasell)
Learn more about the Sisters of Saint Dominic of Blauvelt, New York’s work helping the economically disadvantaged here.
Maria Bohan is a Volunteer for the Communications and Development Office at the Sisters of Saint Dominic of Blauvelt, New York. She is a student at Bryn Mawr College majoring in English and a graduate of Pearl River High School.