L.A. Hotel Workers Rework ‘Las Posadas’ amid Strike Threats

The following article by Mark Pattison for the Catholic Labor Network shows how some workers used the traditions they are familiar with in their fight for social justice. Such struggles have so much to say to us: workers have real material needs, they can be creative and united in fights to win justice and equity, God has a preference and a special relationship with the poor and the oppressed, and thisis salvific work that gives us a taste of God's Kingdom.

 

Thousands of workers at two dozen hotels in the Los Angeles area won contracts by the end of 2023 as UNITE HERE Local 11 has waged a campaign since April to win improved pay and benefits for union members – but thousands more are still waiting for an agreement.

Eréndira Salcedo, a housekeeper at the Hilton Pasadena and a UNITE HERE shop steward, is one of those workers. She’s one of 15,000 hotel workers represented by the local.

“The salary has been a main issue because we are not paid enough to live,” Salcedo, a native of Michoacan state in Mexico, said through an interpreter. “What we’ve also been fighting for is health insurance, a pension fund when we retire, and opportunities for growth.”

To prepare for a strike, UNITE HERE members at the Hilton Pasadena walked out four different times, for shorter durations. They also brought attention to their situation to the larger community by giving a new twist to “las posadas,” a nine-day devotion popular for centuries among Latin Americans that re-enacts Joseph and Mary’s quest to find an inn where the Christ Child could be born.

The hotel workers didn’t need nine evenings to make their point. Instead of selecting houses to play the role of inns, “we made different stations. The Hilton Pasadena was the first place, the Hyatt Place Pasadena and then at City Hall,” Salcedo said. She served as a reader at the Hilton.

“We were working on Colorado Avenue. It’s the main thoroughfare in Pasadena where we were doing the procession,” she added.

“It was an experience like no other. We thought it was relevant. We were looking for peace in our homes, and it was an experience that brought us and our coworkers together.”

Community support is tangible. “People come out, sometimes they bring us water, they bring us burritos. We appreciate people from outside the union who have shown their support,” Salcedo said.

While UNITE HERE urges would-be hotel guests to cancel their reservations if they find that their hotel has been struck – some hotels are using an app to recruit scabs – hotel chains are actually operating fewer of the hotels that bear their name, and make their money licensing their brand name. The Hilton Pasadena, for instance, is operated by a company called Aimbridge Hospitality.

Salcedo believes the workers’ actions will ultimately convince Aimbridge to come to terms. “Yes, of course. Claro que si. I have total faith that they’re getting close,” she said. “I hope this will push the company to finally sign a contract.

Workers at the Hilton Pasadena went on strike for the fifth time on New Year’s Eve, just in time to throw the hotel into chaos on the eve of the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day, one of college football’s premier events. Like the previous four walkouts, it’s a short-term strike, but nobody was saying how long they intended to stay out.

“A lot of the guests, once they go back in,” Salcedo said, “have been very supportive. I believe that we’re fighting for our rights, and that we’re entitled to those rights.”

Two Brief Advent Sermons

The following two short sermons were delivered in 2011 by a Roman Catholic priest who probably wishes to remain anonymous. I believe that they contain much wisdom and are worth holding on to.

As we go through the season of Advent different personalities make their appearance. The first ones are the prophets who tell us to prepare the way of the Lord.

The prophet Isaiah tells of a ‘voice crying in the wilderness’ to prepare our hearts for the coming of the Messiah. The prophet Micah tells us the Messiah is to be born in Bethlehem. Zephaniah speaks of the Day of the Lord, and tells us, ‘do not be discouraged.’

For the first time today Mary, the Blessed Mother, makes her appearance. For eleven months of the year we are told to follow Christ. For one month out of the year we are told to follow Mary. For the one month of Advent we are told to follow Mary. Mary will lead us to Bethlehem. Mary, different from the prophets who told us to prepare, Mary tells us how to prepare. Mary pondered these things. Mary treasured these things, and pondered them in her heart.

We are not told to pray harder. We are not told to spend more time in church. WE are told to look into our hearts, to look into our hearts and be full of hope and promise, to prepare for love beyond all telling.

Mary was expecting. Mary was expecting a child. But a lot happened to her and Joseph that was not expected.

Full of hope and promise, full of grace. We say that, ‘Mary, full of grace.” We can be thankful Mary was full of grace and not full of reason. The innkeeper was full of reason. When we are full of reason there is no room in the inn.

The innkeeper had some good reasons why there was not room in the inn. This is not the right time. You should wait until things improve in the economy before you try to have a child. You should wait until the world becomes a better place. Wait until the time is right. Wait until we are all ready. Things are just too unpredictable.

* * *

Third Advent 2011

John the Baptist in the Gospel today has lot of explaining to say who he is not. Priests and Levites were sent to ask him, ‘Who are you?’ I am not the Christ. Who are you then. Are you Elijah? ‘I am not.’ Are you the Prophet? ‘No’ Are you Elvis?

John the Baptist was a prophet in the tradition of the Old Testament prophets. All the prophets in the Old Testament had something in common. All the prophets had to have a sense of the woundedness of Israel. They all had to have a sense of the brokenness of Israel. All the prophets had to feel this in an intense way.

There were a lot more prophets in the Old Testament than are recorded in the Scriptures. Their words never got into the the Scriptures, or if they are in the Scriptures their words are included in other books, anonymously.

The prophets of the Old Testament who lived in times of crisis, their writings have survived. The reason their writings have survived is that our faith has its origin in times of crisis. The hopes and dreams, the promises, the holy darkness has to come from the darkness of evil, not somewhere else. So there has to be a transformation of the evil darkness, to become the holy darkness.

So it is that our faith has its origin in Advent. The faith of Israel had its origin in times of crisis. Advent is the time of this transformation of darkness. Advent is a time of the holy darkness. The struggle is not so much between darkness and light. The struggle is between darkness and darkness, one kind of darkness and another kind of darkness. And it is that one kind of darkness has to be transformed into another kind of darkness. And that is to say we cannot get to the holy darkness without being in the human condition. We cannot try to be holy without being in the human condition. This darkness is the silent sister of Advent.

John the Baptist had a curious message. People were attracted to John the Baptist. His message was direct and blunt. He was not into Diet Coke, or God Lite. John himself was this curious mixture of light and darkness. John had a message of hope. This attracted those to John, his message of hope.

John was living in days unfulfilled. John was not going to live to see the desert bloom. At first he thought the Messiah would come to separate the sheep from the goats, but then that was not the vision he was to have. From the time of his birth John had this burden, this burden of the woundedness of Israel. There was a mystery beyond understanding. And to say to those who came out to see him, ‘You should just cheer up. You need to cheer up.’ That is not what they needed to hear; that is not what John said.

‘There is one who comes after me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie.”

In our Christian faith there is something we prepare for when we prepare for Christmas that is generally not part of the preparation for Christmas in the secular world. It is the coming of Christ at death. Generally this is not part of the Christmas decorations, the preparations we would see in the stores, the coming of Christ at death.

No one is quite sure why, but at Christmas time we think of those who have died. Maybe it is that Christmas is a family time, and these who have died are still part of our family and loved ones. Maybe it is that Christmas is a time of warmth and beauty, and there is a warmth and beauty in our relationships, and in life after death, our relationships will be more personal. There is something in our instincts that lead us to think of the dead at Christmas. It is another way we experience the coming of Christ.

So as we say in the new translation of the Mass, ‘It is right and just’ that we do this, to think of the dead at Christmas. It is another way we prepare for the coming of Christ.

On this Gaudete Sunday we hear the words of St. Paul to the Philippians, “Rejoice in the Lard always; again I say rejoice. Indeed, the Lord is near.’ (Phil 4:4).

A remarkable Advent sermon from 2011

The following sermon was given 11 years go by a Roman Catholic priest who would probably prefer to remain anonymous. I found most of his sermons to be moving and engaging and reassuring, and almost mystical.

Second Sunday of Advent 2011

This year for the season of Advent our assignment, our homework, is to get used to the new translation of the Mass prayers. Your parts, the parts the people say, is rather minimal. The parts the priest says from the altar have more changes. For while we will be using Eucharistic Prayer number three.

Eventually we will use all four of the Eucharistic Prayers, but for now just number three.

We will notice as we get used to the new translation that there is an emphasis on the holy. God is holy. God is the Holy One. What does that mean that God is the Holy One. Many of us would associate the word holy with religious, or godly. Most of us do not like the word godly, or even the word religious. And it des not mean we are going to be using more incense.

The holy, in fact, has nothing to do with being godly, or religious, or incense. To say God is holy means there is a heaviness to where God walks. There is a heaviness to the presence of God. To say something is holy means it is genuine and authentic. We like to think things are genuine and authentic.

So many things come from the holiness of God. It is from the holiness God that we can have the forgiveness of sins. Pagan gods could never forgive sins because they are not holy. Sinners are included in the communion of saints, the communion of saints and sinners, because God is holy. So in the new translation of the Mass prayers we will notice an emphasis on the holy. God is holy.

Today is the second Sunday of Advent. If we are waiting for part two, there is no part two. Nor is there a part three, or a part four. Christmas when it gets here, the Church celebrates Christmas rather quietly. It is not a boisterous, big party. We enter the church by the side aisle, and stop by the crib.

Advent too is rather quiet. Advent is a reflective time. The darkness of this time of year. The Church does not give us a lot of business to do. To keep watch, to keep vigil, to wait patiently. It is this time of year we make peace with the past year, calm down our emotions, put things in perspective. At least when we come into the church during the season of Advent it looks like Advent.

What is true in our lives is that God does not always come in the front door with a lot of fanfare. Maybe God could come in through the back door, or God could come in through the side door into our lives. God could come in through the cracks. If we have any cracks in our walls, God could come in through the cracks. If there are any cracks in our lives God could come in through those cracks.

So Advent is a reflective time. We can think about these things, whatever the Lord gives us to think about, put them in perspective, make peace with the events, the people, the relationships in our lives, the things in our lives, our death.

Advent is a kind of catechism for us. Advent is a season of hope. When we have the virtue of hope we live differently. When we are in touch with hope we are able to see things of the heart. John the Baptist who makes his appearance today was crying out a message of hope. John the Baptist did not say ‘I hope things get better.’

Even with the virtue of hope things may get worse, or get more intense. But the God we have is a God of hope. John the Baptist has the message that God is the origin of hope, God is the origin of the hopes and dreams of a people. The God we have is a God of Advent.

The Christmas season began some time ago, at least in the stores. The Christmas season begins some time after Halloween. So the season of Advent is something of an insertion into the Christmas season. So we have to as Christians balance these things. We have to balance the sometimes business of the Christmas season with the reflective and quiet time of the season of Advent.

And we can do both. We are used to that. We can have Advent within the busyness of this time. John the Baptist today is not asking us to believe in the holidays. John the Baptist is not asking us to get into the holiday spirit. The surprise is that God could surprise us. God can come in through the side door. God can come in through the cracks. We need to see that we are involved in a profound mystery. We need to be aware of the wonder. We need to expect that God can come into the circumstances of our lives, into our own human experiences.

Michael Leach's "The mind is a terrible thing" and other writings

I think that Michael Leach is a particularly sensitive writer with a deep spirituality. I know of his work through the National Catholic Reporter. His article "The mind is a terrible thing" (NCR, 10/28-11/10/22) raises good questions about how we think and how we manage our faculties, but its best points are on how we deal with intrusive thoughts that we don't want to have. How do we manage them? What do they tell us and what do they say about us?

Catch up with Michael Leach here, and please do read "The mind is a terrible thing." It's a short read that may take you far. Here is the link.

 

A Prayer For Workers On Labor Day

Lord God, Master of the Vineyard,

How wonderful that you have invited us

who labor by the sweat of our brow

to be workers in the vineyard

and assist your work

to shape the world around us.

As we seek to respond to this call,

make us attentive to those who seek work

but cannot find it.

Help us listen to the struggles of those

who work hard to provide for their families

but still have trouble making ends meet.

Open our eyes to the struggles of those exploited

and help us speak for just wages and safe conditions,

the freedom to organize, and time for renewal.

For work was made for humankind

and not humankind for work.

Let it not be a vehicle for exploitation

but a radiant expression of our human dignity.

Give all who labor listening hearts

that we may pause from our work

to receive your gift of rest.

Fill us with your Holy Spirit

that you might work through us to let your justice reign.

Amen.

Taken from the The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Catholic Labor Network.

Christianity & Labor w/ Matt Bernico from the Magnificast on The Valley Labor Report

There are many theological fundamentals for working-class people here. Please give this a deep listen.
 

Discovering Alessandra Harris

I am just now discovering the writer Alessandra Harris. I would say that she's a theologian and intellectual who is very much in the present time. The biographical statement at the Black Catholic Messenger (BCM) website says "Alessandra Harris is author of two novels and is a wife, mother of four, and co-founder of BCM. She earned degrees in Comparative Religious studies and Middle East Studies and currently studies in the Diocese of San Jose's Institute for Leadership in Ministry. She has also contributed to publications such as America Magazine, Grotto Network, and US Catholic. Her third novel is due in 2022." 

There is a great deal on the Black Catholic Messenger website by Alessandra Harris. Her three-part interviews with Keith "Bomani Shakur" are good places to start, but I want to draw your attention to her article "Opinion: The pro-life movement has some explaining to do." I offer this not because I'm "pro-life" (I'm not) but because of the thought that went into this writing and because it has "graphic content including descriptions of abortion, rape, homicide, and infanticide" that demands that most of us not look away from as we formulate our positions. She deals frankly with context and radical honesty and judgmental attitudes that get lost in the debates. 

Please give Alessandra Harris your attention.

 

"What gives you hope?"

The following quote is excerpted from the "Peter Maurin Farm" column by T. Christopher Cornell that appeared in The Catholic Worker of June-July, 2022:

A student asked me, "What gives you hope?" It was the second time someone of that generation has asked that, and I responded that I wasn't going to answer with any platitudes or take the easy way out. The answer was that I honestly had no answer. And I have pondered that since.

My answer now would be that hope is not an emotion, it is a choice. I hope because I have a conviction to do so. I hope because of a sermon here, a friendship there, a good deed done, a lesson learned. I hope because of an accumulation of experiences, some in community, some solitary, that have been lived in that hope. There is an echo of the catechism here, I don't think I made this up myself. The old way of expressing it was that hope is a theological virtue, and as such it grows when it is practiced. I'm not sure how that sounds to a twenty-something. But it was true in the sixties when I was born, it was true in the eighties when I was a twenty-something, it was true after September 11 and it is true now.

With war, inflation, uncertainty and disconnection threading through our thoughts, all I can conclude is that hope points us in the direction that I think is right.

Feeling Social Justice--Not Only Knowing It, But Feeling It

 

All of God's creatures means ALL of God's creatures...

 

The beginning of love...

 

Happy Easter from Catholics for Choice

On behalf of the entire team at Catholics for Choice, I want to wish you a joyous Easter, however you choose to honor this day.

Easter marks the culmination of forty days of journeying toward a radical change of heart and mind. Our community of pro-choice Catholics knows well that this kind of transformation is desperately needed, after a Lenten season fraught with new attacks on abortion access in our states, the fight to get an overqualified Black woman in her rightful seat on the bench, all in the shadow of a looming Supreme Court decision that could decimate our right to abortion.

Still, we pressed on, signing petitions, calling our lawmakers, and showing up at rallies. And we saw some signs of hope: Colorado signed the Reproductive Health Equity Act into law, and Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, backed by reproductive rights and interfaith leaders, was confirmed to the Supreme Court. We spoke truth to power and demonstrated to our church, country, and communities that pro-choice Catholics are the majority, and we are not alone.

As we near the possible gutting or striking down of Roe v. Wade, we must not freeze in fear and disbelief at the spectacle of injustice before us. We must, instead, encounter it and work toward the transformation of hearts and minds. Here at Catholics for Choice, we are providing education and fostering dialogue about the moral complexities of abortion, and we are emboldening pro-choice Catholics to be loud and proud about our values, our faith, and our commitment to justice.

It was because of Mary Magdalene’s faith, not in spite of it, that she chose to proclaim the resurrection and fulfillment of God’s promise to us all despite the obstacles and disbelief. It is because of our faith, and not in spite of it, that we continue the struggle for reproductive freedom and justice for all.
 

Wishing many blessings for you and your loved ones,

Wishing many blessings for you and your loved ones,

Jamie L. Manson

Good Friday, the Firing Squad, and the Gas Chamber

From the Catholic Mobilizing Network...


Good Friday is a time to contemplate capital punishment.

Today we remember that Jesus suffered and died for us in an execution at the hands of the state.

At the same time, we remember that thousands of our brothers and sisters in the U.S. face the same gruesome fate — and that we, as Christians, have a responsibility to advocate against these attacks on human dignity.

On this particular Good Friday, this responsibility looms larger than ever. Two states — South Carolina and Arizona — have recently announced plans to restart executions in the coming weeks.

(This is very important. Please read more here.)

Today, Good Friday, we weep over the execution by a state of a convicted criminal who carried the message of our salvation. That message of salvation tells us to see Christ in others. If we are about that project, can we allow state-sanctioned executions to take others? 

The Theotokos (God-Bearer)

 

Plant those seeds, friends! Speak words of hope.

 

An Evening Prayer Posted From Palestine

Peace be upon you O Mary, full of the grace of the Lord is with you, blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb, our Lord Jesus Christ, Saint Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.

Amen

 

A Important Message for Holy Week

 I think that if we miss this, then we miss much of the significance of Holy Week and Easter/Pascha:

O, Gracious God....

 

A prayer and photo from Palestine

Good morning with all the goodness and happiness of the morning prayer. Peace be upon you Mary full of the grace of the Lord with you blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb our Lord Jesus Christ Saint Mary mother of God pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.

 Amen.

 

Angelic Choir __ Healing Gregorian Chants