Petitions for Labor Day 2006

 

Meditation

The national liturgy begins with the Memorial Day Weekend. It climaxes with the Fourth of July and tapers off with Labor Day and is finally put to sleep under a blanket of snow as we go over the river and through the woods to celebrate Thanksgiving at Grandma’s.

For workers

With Labor Day it’s back to work in earnest

For the Labor Movement which seeks to tame savage capitalism by seeking the good of the worker: family wage, decent working conditions, equal pay for equal work.  In peace, let us pray....

 

For those who are looking for a job, a worrisome task, indeed, and for those who have to make a job-change, a traumatic experience, indeed.  In peace, let us pray….

 

For those who have to work so hard at making a living they don’t have time to live. In peace, let us pray....

 

For those who dislike their job very much, that they might find a way out and have the courage to choose it. In peace, let us pray....

 

 

For teachers

With Labor Day it’s back to school

The task of an educator is to draw out (“to lead out”—educare) the best there is in our kids. For educators who face overwhelming competition in that awesome task. For all of us that we might appreciate the immense task that educators face and might give them the moral support and pay they deserve. In peace, let us pray...

 

For mothers and fathers who are the first educators of their sons and daughters—the very first ones called to draw out the best there is in their kids—for fathers and mothers who are the school before the school. In peace, let us pray....

 

For the nation

Because there’s simply not enough room on planet Earth for Islamic extremists and Western unbelievers the nation is in the throes of World War III. For the nation now faced with the dilemma of bombing away the atomic capabilities of Iran or seeking a better path to peace. In peace, let us pray....

 

For the Nation as we begin to gather in the fruits of harvest. That we might have a sense of gratitude for this land of plenty. That we might regain a joyful sense of simplicity which is grateful for the basics of life, like food enough to eat, a clean bed to sleep in and a warm shelter to live in through the long winter months. In peace, let us pray....

 

For the Nation, soon in painful remembrance of the fifth anniversary of that unspeakable disaster of 9/11, which brought down two towers and three thousand innocent human beings, and revealed to us the true face of the enemy who pursues us. In peace, let us pray....

 

For all the war dead. For our own beloved dead, especially those who have fallen asleep in the Lord since last Labor day. In peace, let us pray....