"Invite inthe poor, the crippled, the lame..."

In the 30's in the midst of the Great Depression, President Roosevelt offered the poor, the crippled, the lame a NEW DEAL. One of his top advisors was Father John Ryan who learned about social justice at the Saint Paul Seminary, my alma mater. Father Ryan advised about Social Security which we now take for granted, but which at the time was decried by FDR's opposition party as SOCIALISM!

Socialism is not the same as Communism.

Nor is it the same as Capitalism. George Bush once praised "Compssionate Conservatism," which would give a kinder face to "Cut Throat Capitalism.." Many Scandinavian countries have a Form of capitalism/socialism , but it is Capitalism WITH A HEART AND CONCERN FOR THE WELLBEING OF THE POOR, THE CRIPPLED, THE LAME.

On their streets you will find no homeless.

And yet currently most Scandinavian countries are unchurched.

So WHO is really hearing the Gospel, the Churched, or the inchurched?

Many today fear Health Care for all could be socialism. Yet the same people do not recognise we HAVE CORPORATE SOCIALISM! CORPORATE FARMERS WILL BE REIMBURSED FOR THEIR SOYBEANS BY THE GOVERNMENT FOR  LOSSES SUFFERED BY CHINA TARRIFS.

The Catholic Church has a long history of Social Justice gong from

 Ryan, all the way back to Pope Leo who advocated for the rights of laborers to form unions.

And so we pray:

"God bless the work!"

as the Irish would say.

And God bless the workers!

Jesus, the Carpenter,

sand with the poor, the crippld, the lame,

against any who would defraud them

with a dishonest wage.

Amen