Things to do on Labor Day

The first was to say the Votive Mass of the Most Holy Trinity (Traditional Latin Mass) traditionally chosen as the Votive Mass on Mondays, which had no other feast on the universal traditional liturgical calendar.

The second thing to do was to change out the flag for some parishioners. Happy to do it. The Pledge was said, standing.

The third thing to do was to take a few hours off with some of the parish family. There was the iconic BBQ and then some of the more able bodied took to Badminton, named after Badminton House, an estate in Gloucestershire owned by the Duke of Beaufort.

In between, we solved all the problems in the world and in the Church.

With unknown origins (which I don’t like) Labor Day came about as a recognition of the rights of workers as human beings instead of their being sweatshop slaves with no rights. People of certain descent were really kicked in the face in the liberal northeast, especially the Irish and Italians… et al.

Unions got a bit exaggerated with the Mafia, newly enslaving workers who had to fork over most of their wages for the privilege of being slaves to new slave owners. Then Jimmy Hoffa got disappeared 30 July 1975. Then on 5 August 1981, Reagan began firing 11,359 ATCs without hesitation, just like that. That kind of simmered things down.

Lately, there’s a much better balance with much better working conditions, perhaps better than in any country in history, except that just right now, with the whole Covid thing, nobody wants to work, what with people being paid not to work. That’s crazy, so demeaning, so dispiriting, so transforming of self-starters into entitled and violent idiots.

God created us to also as His co-workers in His creation. Good work is, simply, good. When we don’t cooperate with our vocation, we lose hope in who we are before God and neighbor. That’s the point, of course, for politicians who lust after the power of control which ever-more-entitled-people then simply give to the ever more violent maniacs.

Labor Day shoves reality in the face of the present situation. I like that. Great day! Saint Joseph, pray for us!

BTW, if you don’t know, “Keeping holy the Sabbath” is all about honoring the first Labor Day, that is, for God!