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The workaday blues

18 Aug 2013 - Preaching the News for Sunday

Before his work is complete, Jesus informs his disciples in this Sunday's gospel, "there is a baptism with which I must be baptized, and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished!" According to a recent Gallup poll, nearly 70 percent of Americans view a day of accomplishing work at the office with negative emotions ranging from disinterest to downright anguish. Not even alluring workplace perks like nap rooms, free lunches, and massages will make an unhappy worker happy.The findings of Gallup's 2013 State of the American Workplace were grim: At best 30 percent of the 150,000 full and part-time workers surveyed honestly enjoyed their jobs and their bosses. A full 20 percent of respondents are what Gallup classifies as "actively disengaged," the ones who are muttering complaints at the watercooler and using their lunch breaks to scour job postings online.The remaining 50 percent of U.S. workers are "disengaged," according to the survey, meaning that while they show up for work, they are not "inspired by their managers." But perhaps the most startling thing that Gallup found is that those allowed to work remotely were more engaged.Jim Clifton, Gallup's chairman and CEO, said in a statement that poor management was one of the leading causes for employee disengagement. Many surveyed complained of "bosses from hell" who ignored talent and didn't cultivate growth.But the implications of the report go much deeper. It states that the dissatisfaction, anger, and boredom felt by workers hurts the economy, which has been feeble since the tecession of 2008. It also costs the U.S. an estimated $450 billion to $550 billion per annum of lost productivity, stolen goods, and missed days of work.Homily hint: “Work is more than a way to make a living; it is a form of continuing participation in God’s creation,” write the U.S. Catholic Bishops in their statement, The Dignity of Work and the Rights of Workers, which summarizes Catholic social teaching on work. Share some of its perspectives with your faith community, perhaps it will help those who feel alienated from their jobs to find new meaning in their work. Source: An article by Beth Stebner for the New York Daily News

work jobs workplace gallup poll american workers state of the american workplace jim clifton

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The workaday blues

18 Aug 2013 - Preaching the News for Sunday

Before his work is complete, Jesus informs his disciples in this Sunday's gospel, "there is a baptism with which I must be baptized, and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished!" According to a recent Gallup poll, nearly 70 percent of Americans view a day of accomplishing work at the office with negative emotions ranging from disinterest to downright anguish. Not even alluring workplace perks like nap rooms, free lunches, and massages will make an unhappy worker happy.The findings of Gallup's 2013 State of the American Workplace were grim: At best 30 percent of the 150,000 full and part-time workers surveyed honestly enjoyed their jobs and their bosses. A full 20 percent of respondents are what Gallup classifies as "actively disengaged," the ones who are muttering complaints at the watercooler and using their lunch breaks to scour job postings online.The remaining 50 percent of U.S. workers are "disengaged," according to the survey, meaning that while they show up for work, they are not "inspired by their managers." But perhaps the most startling thing that Gallup found is that those allowed to work remotely were more engaged.Jim Clifton, Gallup's chairman and CEO, said in a statement that poor management was one of the leading causes for employee disengagement. Many surveyed complained of "bosses from hell" who ignored talent and didn't cultivate growth.But the implications of the report go much deeper. It states that the dissatisfaction, anger, and boredom felt by workers hurts the economy, which has been feeble since the tecession of 2008. It also costs the U.S. an estimated $450 billion to $550 billion per annum of lost productivity, stolen goods, and missed days of work.Homily hint: “Work is more than a way to make a living; it is a form of continuing participation in God’s creation,” write the U.S. Catholic Bishops in their statement, The Dignity of Work and the Rights of Workers, which summarizes Catholic social teaching on work. Share some of its perspectives with your faith community, perhaps it will help those who feel alienated from their jobs to find new meaning in their work. Source: An article by Beth Stebner for the New York Daily News

work jobs workplace gallup poll american workers state of the american workplace jim clifton

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Severely obese children face severe challenges

15 Sep 2013 - Preaching the News for Sunday

God seeks to rescue both the sons lost to sin and to self-righteousness, the parable in the long version of this Sunday’s gospel demonstrates. Alas, no such rescue seems to be at hand for children who are extremely obese. Options are limited as medical experts search for an effective treatment.About 4 to 6 percent of children and teens in the U.S. are severely obese, and there are very few effective options for helping these kids reach a healthy weight, said a scientific statement out Monday from the American Heart Association.The heart group defines severely obese children as those who fall at the very high end of weight charts, also called extreme or morbid obesity. The heaviest children in this country have higher rates of type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, liver disease, sleep apnea, musculoskeletal problems, and early signs of clogged arteries, said lead author Aaron Kelly, an associate professor in the department of pediatrics at the University of Minnesota. "Those are the immediate consequences, but we also know that severe obesity in childhood is a strong predictor of morbid obesity in adulthood."The heart association statement "is a call to action," Kelly said. "We are saying this is a problem that hasn't been defined really well until now, and we need to get people to wrap their heads around how serious it is. Severe obesity is an extremely difficult disease to treat. Most of the standard approaches often used successfully in children with milder forms of obesity unfortunately do not work very well in those with severe obesity."Exercise physiologist Melinda Sothern, a professor at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in New Orleans who has treated more than 3,000 overweight children, including many severely obese kids, said: "The underlying biological characteristics that predispose children to severe obesity and the environmental and psychosocial factors that allow it to continue are not well understood."Unfortunately standard approaches fall short because severely obese children often have emotional problems and this, along with excess weight, makes physical activity" difficult for them, she said. "Treatments need to be tailored to each child."Homily hint: Jokes about overweight people still seems acceptable to many. Imagine the shame and low self-worth which would follow from constantly hearing the shape of your body ridiculed. Encourage those in attendance to avoid joking about a person’s weight. Instead, respect and understanding can build the esteem needed for healthy living. Source: An article by Nanci Hellmich for USA TODAY

Children obesity morbid obesity melinda sothern aaron kelly obese children american heart association

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Jewish identity not an article of faith

06 Oct 2013 - Preaching the News for Sunday

"Increase our faith," the apostles implore Jesus in this Sunday’s gospel. Contemporary American Jews apparently aren’t terribly concerned about questions of Jewish faith or religious practice, according to a new study.“A Portrait of Jewish Americans,” released Tuesday by the Pew Research Center, shows strong secularist trends among American Jews: 62 percent said Jewish identity is largely about culture or ancestry; only 15 percent said it’s about religious belief. “Non-Jews may be stunned by it,” said Alan Cooperman, coauthor of the study. “Being Jewish to most Jews in America today is not a matter of religion.”Yet in spite of their weakening adherence to Jewish observances, the report noted that “American Jews overwhelmingly say they are proud to be Jewish and have a strong sense of belonging to the Jewish people.” As if to prove that point, a strong majority of Jews (69 percent) call themselves very or somewhat emotionally attached to Israel—a proportion that has held fairly steady for at least a decade.When the study’s surveyors asked what is essential to being Jewish, more respondents (73 percent) named “remembering the Holocaust” than any other answer. By contrast only 19 percent of respondents in the survey called “observing Jewish law” an essential part of being Jewish. After remembering the Holocaust, the second most popular response to what it means to be Jewish was leading an ethical life, the option chosen by nearly seven in 10 people.Homily hint: While researchers thrive on categories and distinctions, when we pause to consider our own religious heritage we find a mix of ancestry, culture, tradition, and belief. All of us stand on the shoulders of those who came before us, from whom we received our heritage. Invite community members to celebrate and cherish that heritage, and in turn to pass it on. Source: An article by Lauren Markoe for Religion News Service

Faith jewishness a portrait of jewish americans alan cooperman heritage pew research center united states jews holocaust israel religious identity

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Sentences in need of rediagramming

17 Nov 2013 - Preaching the News for Sunday

A life-sentence for stealing a $159 jacket? It sounds like something out of Les Miserables but in fact it is one of the 3,281 cases of U.S. prisoners given life-terms for nonviolent crimes, according to a recently released report. Jesus warned that “you will even be handed over by parents, brothers, relatives, and friends, and they will put some of you to death.” But still injustice always comes as a shock.In the report “A Living Death” issued recently by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), investigators chronicled the lives of thousands of families ruined by sentencing people to die behind bars for nonviolent offences with no chance of parole. Some, like the jacket thief, said an article in the Guardian, were given the most extreme punishment short of execution for shoplifting; one was condemned to die in prison for siphoning gasoline from a truck; another for stealing tools from a tool shed; yet another for trying to cash a stolen check.The ACLU report stated that today the United States is virtually alone in its willingness to sentence nonviolent offenders to die behind bars. Life without parole for nonviolent sentences has been ruled a violation of human rights by the European Court of Human Rights. The U.S. has the highest incarceration rate in the world with 2.3 million people now in custody, with the war on drugs acting as the overriding push-factor. Of the prisoners serving life without parole for nonviolent offences nationwide, the ACLU estimates that almost 80 percent were for drug-related crimes.Homily hint: Justice and perseverance, the main themes of today’s gospel, have also been the topics of recent statements by Pope Francis, who said the reform of the world’s justice systems “is no utopia. It can happen." It is up to us to see that justice is done here and now. That is the day-to-day work of Christians. Source: An article by Ed Pilkington for The Guardian

Justice american civil liberties union sentencing life sentences a living death aclu perseverence social justice prison reform

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Some assurance for those seeking some insurance

22 Dec 2013 - Preaching the News for Sunday

This Sunday’s gospel relates how Mary and Joseph lived in uncertainty as they faced unexpected circumstances surrounding the birth of Jesus. Consumers facing tight insurance deadlines and uncertainty due to website performance problems during the holidays will get extra time to pay their premiums under the new healthcare law, insurers announced Wednesday.The board of the industry's biggest trade group—America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP)—said consumers who select a plan by Dec. 23 will now have until Jan. 10 to make their first month's payment. That's 10 extra days beyond a New Year's Eve deadline set by the government.The voluntary move comes as insurers and the government try to head off anticipated problems around the first of the year, when new coverage options for the uninsured take effect and several million people whose existing policies were canceled must switch to new plans.The administration applauded the industry decision. It will "ultimately make it easier for consumers to enroll" through the new online insurance markets, said U.S. Department of Health and Human Services spokeswoman Joanne Peters. The federal HealthCare.gov website is now working reasonably well, but insurers still report accuracy problems with enrollment information the government is sending about their new customers.Karen Ignagni, CEO of the industry group, said the decision was taken "to give consumers greater peace of mind about their health care coverage." AHIP represents about 95 percent of the industry, including the major national carriers and nearly all BlueCross BlueShield plans.Homily hint: Healthcare insurance has so dominated the national conversation this past quarter as to become a wearisome topic—except for those who still lack coverage as the new year looms. Websites and technology can only get us so far; at the end of the day it is people helping people which will solve this national crisis. Source: An article by Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar for the Associated Press

health insurance affordable care act joanne peters karen ignagni americas health insurance plans

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North American leaders trade more than pleasantries

23 Feb 2014 - Preaching the News for Sunday

The psalmist this Sunday encourages all to “bless the Lord” and to “forget not all his benefits.” Twenty years after the U.S., Canada, and Mexico approved a cross-border trade agreement, the leaders of the three nations gathered Wednesday in Mexico to review the benefits of their trade relationships—and to discuss shortfalls as well.The three presidents said they were eager to engage on issues of trade and other neighbor-to-neighbor interests, even as in the U.S. Congress is pushing back against some of President Barack Obama’s top inter-border priorities.The three North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) partners who met in Toluca, near Mexico City, faced a full agenda, including commerce, immigration, energy, and security. The talks highlighted how increasingly interconnected the three economies have become in the two decades since NAFTA took effect. But they will also illustrate the limits of Obama’s power, his hands tied on immigration by congressional Republicans and on trade by his fellow Democrats.The summit takes place against a backdrop of tensions surrounding revelations the U.S. National Security Agency spied on Mexican President Peña Nieto before he was elected and gained access to former Mexican President Felipe Calderon’s email system while he was in office.To the North, Canadian leaders have voiced frustration at the amount of time the Obama administration has taken to decide whether to approve the Keystone XL pipeline that would carry oil from tar sands in western Canada 1,179 miles to Nebraska, where existing pipelines would then carry the crude to refineries on the Texas Gulf Coast.Trade experts say NAFTA is due for an upgrade after 20 years to take into account the current globalized environment and to address issues not covered in the original pact.Homily hint: International trade sparks heated debates on all sides of the political spectrum. When good jobs are “outsourced” to poorer nations so multinationals can drive down wages and drive up profits, moral issues come into play. We need to work for trade pacts that are truly fair for all parties involved. Source: An article by the Associated Press

barack obama united states mexico north american free trade agreement nafta canada international trade

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Longtime sanction on priest lifted

17 Aug 2014 - Preaching the News for Sunday

In the universal vision of the prophet in this Sunday’s first reading, all are welcome into the house of God. Within the ranks of active clergy, that now includes a Central American priest Pope Francis has reinstated after lifting a ban dating back 29 years.The Rev. Miguel D’Escoto Brockman, 81, was suspended by the Vatican in the 1980s for his involvement in the political activities of Nicaragua’s Sandinista movement. D’Escoto recently wrote to Francis asking for that order to be revoked so he could celebrate Mass again before he died.D’Escoto and three other priests were suspended in 1985 for defying a church ban on clergy holding government jobs. The Sandinistas, who supported the “popular church” of liberation theology, overthrew the pro-American regime of Anastasio Somoza in 1979. D’Escoto served as Nicaragua’s foreign minister from 1979 to 1990.The Vatican announced August 4 that Francis had agreed to the priest’s request to lift the suspension and asked D’Escoto’s superior in the Maryknoll order to help reintroduce him to priestly ministry. Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers confirmed in a statement that the pope had agreed to remove “the canonical censure inflicted upon him,” and approved his reintegration and resumption of his priestly duties.D’Escoto was ordained a Roman Catholic priest in 1961. He helped found Orbis Books, the theological publication division of Maryknoll, and he was an official with the World Council of Churches. From September 2008 through September 2009, he presided over the 63rd session of the U.N. General Assembly as its president.Homily hint: The Central American conflicts of the 1980s created a lot of ideological enemies. With the passage of time and a change in leadership in the church, new beginnings are possible. Pray for all of those who serve the church, regardless of the posts they may hold. And pray for a church large enough for everyone to have a place. Source: An article by Josephine McKenna for Religion News Service

central america liberation theology

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Family transcends borders

19 Oct 2014 - Preaching the News for Sunday

The author of the Letter to the Thessalonians gives thanks to God for all that the community does, “calling to mind your work of faith and labor of love.” In a labor of love and a leap of faith, a Harvard University student who was brought to the United States without documents as an infant put his ability to live in the U.S. at risk by crossing the border without permission from the U.S. government to accompany his dying mother to Mexico. After being stuck in Mexico for months, he gave thanks Tuesday upon learning he will be allowed to return.The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service had declared that Dario Guerrero Meneses effectively deported himself when he crossed the border without permission to accompany his dying mother to clinics offering alternative cancer treatments in Mexico. His mother died in August, and the agency denied Guerrero's initial attempts to return home to his remaining family in California.But only hours after the Associated Press reported on his predicament Tuesday, the agency sent Guerrero a letter through his attorney saying he had been granted humanitarian parole and will be allowed to return after all. "Oh my God. I don't know. I feel good!" Guerrero said as the news brought tears of joy to his aunts and cousins.Guerrero said he was excited to resume his education and take up new family responsibilities (he will soon become a father). The parole is temporary, however. It lasts for two years and does not give him legal residency, let alone a clear path to U.S. citizenship.Guerrero, who was brought from Mexico to California by his parents at the age of 2 and only learned of his illegal status as a young adult, was one of hundreds of thousands of young people granted a reprieve from deportation in 2012 by the Obama administration."The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service did a great thing," his attorney Alan Klein said. "He should be back in America in a few days.""This is the perfect (humanitarian parole) case," Klein added. "He knew that he could possibly give up his right to be here so he could take care of his mother. He's the reason we have immigration, and he's the reason we have a Statue of Liberty because he is what we want here."Homily hint: A son risked all to accompany his dying mother on her last journey. Sort of a mirror image of the story of Mary and Jesus, where a mother followed her son and stood with him at the Cross. Guerrero’s story reveals how desperately sensible immigration reform is needed. A humanitarian approach should be not the exception but the rule. Source: An article by Laura Wides-Muñoz and Peter Orsi for Associated Press

immigration mexican americans

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Homily stories

03 Jul 2011 - Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A

The average work week for most Americans is 46 hours, although 38 percent of respondents in a National Sleep Foundation study admitted they work more than 50 hours per week. North Americans work nearly nine full weeks more than their Western European counterparts, and working Americans average about two weeks of vacation per year, while the European worker average is five to six weeks. Many working Americans receive no paid vacation at all. Any way you look at it, laborers in the U.S. and Canada are suffering from time poverty and rest deprivation, which in turn is affecting their physical and spiritual health and contributing to a decrease in family socializing, community involvement, and care for the environment. People are just too tied to their jobs to do much of anything else. Several initiatives, including Take Your Time Back, are underway to encourage local and federal agencies to require employers to guarantee more time to employees in leaves and vacations and reduce the amount of compulsory overtime an employer can impose. Long before any of these guarantees are in place, all those who labor and are burdened can find the rest they so desperately need in Jesus—a rest that cannot be revoked or rescinded by political and economic forces, a rest that will protect against ever living out of balance again.

Authors Patrice J. Tuohy

laborers working americans take your time back balance

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