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Narrowing the Sacred-Secular GapBy Msgr. George G. HigginsThe YardstickJuly 19, 1999Chicago's Cardinal Francis George, speaking at a recent Washington seminar sponsored by the Library of Congress, said that the modern view of church-state relations "impoverishes most of our discussions of religion and politics."He said that "national feasts and ceremonies replaced the liturgical calendar of the church, whose feasts became private observances.... National holidays have become primarily occasions for private recreation." I understand and basically agree with the cardinal's point, and would qualify and amplify it a bit in light of my somewhat specialized pastoral ministry. True, national feasts and ceremonies have become private observances, and national holidays have become occasions for private recreation. Also true, some national holidays increasingly are taking on a communal religious tone. The revised Sacramentary has helped by providing liturgical texts for at least some national holidays, notably, for example, Independence Day, Thanksgiving and Labor Day. The year 1956 marked an important milestone in Labor Day's religious observance. Since then we have been privileged that day to offer the Mass of the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker. This feast, established in 1955, is assigned to May 1, the traditional Labor Day in every major country except the United States and Canada. It is difficult to determine why Peter J. McGuire, founder of the Carpenters' Union and originator of our American Labor Day, selected the first Monday of September instead of May 1. There is reason to believe, however, that he and his colleagues wanted to distinguish the American labor movement from the negative connotations of the traditional European Labor Day, at that time the Marxists' property and pride. McGuire and his associates, including Samuel Gompers, first president of the American Federation of Labor, conceived of Labor Day in at least vaguely spiritual terms. They intended it to symbolize and promote human labor's dignity and the brotherhood of man. Although their "spiritual" language was theologically thin and far removed from the church's liturgical language, it was a good beginning compared to the anti-religious tone of so many 19th-century European Labor Day celebrations. Catholics, in increasing numbers, have gone beyond this beginning to a more authentically religious observance of Labor Day. Almost every year for half a century I have participated in a Labor Day Mass somewhere in the United States. The National Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice is effectively promoting Labor Day's religious observance. A few weeks ago it distributed to every U.S. Catholic parish a packet of material to help pastors convert Labor Day into a quasi-religious holiday. This packet provides Scriptural and liturgical aids, and emphasizes the importance of Catholic social teaching. Labor Day is not the only opportunity given the church to add a religious tone to so-called secular events. One other example will suffice to make the point. In the United States -- in sharp contrast with Europe, including so-called Catholic Europe -- every major labor convention opens with a public prayer and in many cases features a daily public prayer. I have delivered the opening prayer at more than 100 such conventions. Again, some critics consider this a superficial, meaningless formality. I disagree. Whatever its limitations, American culture -- almost uniquely in the modern industrial world -- provides the church an opportunity to bring a religious tone to gatherings of this type. Not to take advantage of this would, in my opinion, be a pastoral failure and seriously underestimate secular culture's positive side. My experience is that in small but ever-growing numbers, Catholics in
America are bringing a religious tone to the observance of Labor Day and
other national holidays. I am heartened by this gradual movement in what
I consider the right direction.
Papal Social Encyclicals Other Catholic Social Teachings General Articles of Interest Catholic Worker Connection Msgr. George Higgins Home Page E-Mail: Fr. Sinclair Oubre
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