Labor Day provides us with the opportunity to thank God for the blessings he gives us through the gift of work.

"This Labor Day we need to look beyond the economic indicators, stock market gyrations, and political conflicts and focus on the often invisible burdens of ordinary workers and their families, many of whom are hurting, discouraged, and left behind by this economy," said Bishop Blaire, Bishop of the Diocese of Stockton, in this year's U.S. Bishops' Labor Day Statement.

Read the statement online in English here

and in Spanish here.

Especially as the recession continues, we pray for those who are struggling to obtain work and provide for themselves and their families.