Discussion about wages in Catholic social thought (CST) revolve around two key principles. The first is the just wage, meaning that wages that do not allow workers to support themselves, their families, or the common good demean human dignity and human life. The Catechism of the Catholic Church, citing the Second Vatican Council, spells it out this way:

A just wage is the legitimate fruit of work. To refuse or withhold it can be a grave injustice. In determining fair pay both the needs and the contributions of each person must be taken into account. “Remuneration for work should guarantee man the opportunity to provide a dignified livelihood for himself and his family on the material, social, cultural, and spiritual level, taking into account the role and the productivity of each, the state of the business, and the common good.” Agreement between the parties is not sufficient to justify morally the amount to be received in wages. READ MORE

By Jennifer Senior

I am trying to think of when I first realized we’d all run smack into a wall.

Was it two weeks ago, when a friend, ordinarily a paragon of wifely discretion, started a phone conversation with a boffo rant about her husband?

Was it when I looked at my own spouse — one week later, this probably was — and calmly told him that each and every one of my problems was his fault?

(They were not.) READ MORE

by Thomas J. Reese - Religion News Service

(RNS) — Many Americans assume the U.S. Catholic bishops are diehard supporters of Donald Trump. True, when it comes to pro-life issues and religious freedom, the bishops are in Trump’s corner, but on several issues, they strongly criticize the administration.

This nuance is what sets the Catholic bishops apart from white evangelical leaders, who tend to support the president on almost every issue. Nor do the bishops as a whole endorse any candidate. Bishops as individuals, like other citizens, can legally make endorsements as long as they don't use church money in doing so. Since the bishops do not endorse candidates, each party emphasizes the points on which the bishops agree with them, especially in a presidential election. READ MORE

Editor's Note: This weekend's Gospel reading will be Matthew 15:21-28 where Jesus encounters the Canaanite woman. This article is entitled "The Canaanite Woman's Faith." Enjoy!

Gospel (Read Mt 15:21-28)

To best understand this Gospel episode, we need to know that it follows a description of the great opposition Jesus faced from the Pharisees in Jerusalem. Even though He was performing amazing miracles of healing (read Mt 14:36), the Pharisees could only find fault with Him (read Mt 15:2). Jesus got frustrated with them, calling them “blind guides” (Mt 15:14). He decided to leave the city and head north, up to the region of Tyre and Sidon. These were cities in Phoenicia, territory that was primarily Gentile, not Jewish. It almost seems as if He wanted to get as far away from the hard-hearted Pharisees as He could.READ MORE

Editor's Note: I stuck this in Parish: 'the thought' because I keep thinking about what the “new normal” will be as we move forward. So many things have changed in the past months – the way we communicate, the way church looks and functions, the way people now work remotely, attend school and college remotely, and use curbside pickup more regularly than sitting inside a restaurant. The list of prior practices compared to current practices goes on and on. I really wonder if we've now shifted from “old normal” to a “new normal” that will stay with us long after this plague has passed. That's why this story seemed to me a perfect metaphor about “old normal” that becomes replaced with “new normal.”

To learn more about Franz Kafka, click here.

Director of Media & Communications

At 40, Franz Kafka (1883-1924), who never married and had no children, walked through the park in Berlin when he met a girl who was crying because she had lost her favorite doll. She and Kafka searched for the doll unsuccessfully.

Kafka told her to meet him there the next day and they would come back to look for her.

The next day, when they had not yet found the doll, Kafka gave the girl a letter "written" by the doll saying "please don't cry. I took a trip to see the world. I will write to you about my adventures."

Thus began a story which continued until the end of Kafka's life.

During their meetings, Kafka read the letters of the doll carefully written with adventures and conversations that the girl found adorable.

Finally, Kafka brought back the doll (he bought one) that had returned to Berlin.

"It doesn't look like my doll at all," said the girl.

Kafka handed her another letter in which the doll wrote: "my travels have changed me." the little girl hugged the new doll and brought her happy home.

A year later Kafka died.

Many years later, the now-adult girl found a letter inside the doll. In the tiny letter signed by Kafka it was written:

"Everything you love will probably be lost, but in the end, love will return in another way."

Additional Article: Kafka and the Doll: The Pervasiveness of Loss

TIME CHANGE  8:00 AM - 9:00 AM

This Saturday we will collect casseroles for Our Daily Bread. THERE IS A TIME CHANGE to 8:00 AM - 9:00 AM  as the Loyola Early Learning Center is having its graduation on the steps of the Church on Saturday morning. If you are delivering casseroles please drop them off prior to 9:00 AM. If you can't make the earlier time, please hold your casseroles for the September collection. Our September collection will be on Saturday, September 19th at the regular time.

Election officials across the United States are preparing for a surge of mail-in ballots this fall, as fears about voting in-person on Nov. 3 continue amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

But there are also fears about the mail-in voting process. Some are concerned, for example, that a crush of ballots dropped in the mail could result in delays in getting them to election offices and votes not being counted.