Comfort my people – The necessity of prayer

As we enter the month of September, there are many things to remember in prayer. I have listed some of them below.

Although I no longer live in Louisiana, I take it for granted that September is the peak of hurricane season. However, the peak of hurricane season now seems to be building up to the full six months of June through November. As my home state and family are at risk during the months of hurricane season, I ask that you pray that everyone in Louisiana and elsewhere will be protected from loss of life and property during the ongoing hurricane season.

Let us also keep in our prayers those still recovering from natural disasters, especially the victims of the floods and tornadoes here in Kentucky. May God grant them the help they need as they try to rebuild their lives and properties.

Speaking of family and home state, I want to share with you that my brother recently sold our family home in New Roads, Louisiana. This really had to be done because the house was vacant. Hopefully another family can live there and create memories as wonderful as those I had growing up in that house. Those memories are very precious to me now. However, with the sale of the house I grew up in, my roots are more and more here in Kentucky, and I am happy about that! I am deeply grateful to each of you for your support and for making me feel more and more at home here in the Archdiocese of Louisville and in Central Kentucky.

In September we also celebrate Labor Day and give thanks to God for the gift of human labor. The dignity of human labor helps us to care for ourselves and our families and to experience and live out that part of our human nature that reflects the creativity and productivity of God, who created all things and appointed us as stewards of all creation.

On Labor Day, we should pause and thank God for the necessity and gift of human labor, which helps us in many ways. However, it can be a great temptation to feel defined by that alone and to see our value rooted only in what we do, in our occupation, in our job. Although human labor is an important part of our lives, it is not the totality of who we are. We will always be much more than what we do for our work. We need to be constantly reminded of this reality, especially in difficult economic times. Each of us is priceless before God and before others.

While we recognize the value, necessity and dignity of human work, each of us is so much more than what we do. We are children of a Father in Heaven who loves us and is close to us in difficult times to assure us of his presence and fill us with his peace. Each of us has a human dignity before God and before all humanity which ultimately finds its origin and value not in what we do but in the gift of life which God himself has granted to each of us.

On September 9th, we celebrate the feast of Saint Peter Claver. On this annual day, the Catholic bishops of the United States invite us to pray for an end to racism and for healing and reconciliation between people of different races and for peace in our communities. We will celebrate a Mass for these intentions on Sunday, September 8th at 5:30 p.m. at the Cathedral of the Assumption.

I invite you to join us in prayer at this Mass as we come together to commit ourselves, strengthened by the Eucharist, to love every person as Jesus loves us, and to commit ourselves, following the good example of Saint Peter Claver, to working toward greater understanding and harmony among people of different races and cultures.

September also marks the beginning of a new school year. Let us pray for a peaceful school year in all schools and especially for the success of our Catholic schools in the spiritual and academic formation of our children.