The Fruit of our
Lenten Sacrifice 

Dignity of Work and the Rights of Workers

Catholic social teaching inspires and guides how we are to live and work in the world. In this principle, Dignity of Work and Rights of Workers, we remember that, Jesus spent years working as a carpenter. Work is important to help people fulfill their potential. And everyone must receive a fair wage to provide for themselves and their families.

 

The Eucharist … is the sacrament par excellence of love. Christ offers himself and breaks himself for us and asks us to do likewise so that our life might become bread that feeds our brothers and sisters. –Pope Francis

Christ, the bread of life, fed the multitudes while on earth and today continues to nourish us spiritually through the Eucharist. This Lent, we reflected on how the Eucharist unites us with God and one another as members of the same body of Christ, and how the Lord invites us to see him in our global family.

We saw Christ in Uganda, through Adolf and Florence, who learned new farming methods, so they can provide food for their family and help their neighbors grow better crops. We can imagine how much Jesus rejoiced when Adolf said, “I have seen my children happy because they are well fed.”

We saw Christ in El Salvador, in Sandra and Santos Amaya’s family. Like the body of Christ—which, though one body, has many members—each family member contributes their unique gifts to support the household. We saw Christ in Sandra’s sacrifices to ensure her family and community can thrive, from learning how to keep chickens to traveling long distances for training that helps her and her neighbors.  

We saw Christ in Indonesia, through Evita and her disaster preparedness group. Together, they have helped keep their community safe during natural disasters, which have increased and become more destructive due to climate change. We saw Christ again in the group’s communal vegetable garden, which ensures their families have nutritious food even in emergencies.  

Lastly, we have seen Christ in you during this holy season—in your prayers, sacrifices and almsgiving. As we near Holy Week, we reflect on the Eucharist as the sacrament of unity that ignites in us the desire to get out of our comfort zone and become Jesus’ hands to care for our neighbors. Let us continue to imitate Christ in how he offers himself for us on the Cross and in the Eucharist. In this way, may we generously give of ourselves to honor and uphold the dignity of our sisters and brothers around the world.  

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