Dear Friends,
You may have noticed a few weeks ago a news report from Pew Research Center that said the share of adults living in middle income households fell to just under 50 percent last year from 61 percent in 1970. Upper income families rose to 21 percent of the total and lower income households increased to 29 percent of the total. A shrinking middle class suggests fewer opportunities for upward mobility. The ever-larger share of the nation’s wealth in upper income households means that the United States is becoming more like many countries in the world where there is great separation between the rich and the poor rather than a great middle class which drives the country forward. Countries without a strong middle class have historically been politically unsettled.
While that information is disconcerting, you and I have very little control over what is happening to the society as a whole. We can vote and we can be involved in our local politics, but making systemic changes that return higher salaries to middle income families would require incredible political will. Since our corporations have to compete on a world-wide stage, the consequence of that reality is a lower wage for the average worker.
Given that current reality what can our parish do to help?
We can make sure that we offer our children a good education so that they can obtain those higher paying positions and remain competitive on a world-wide stage. Here at St. Frances Cabrini half of our Sunday donations go to support All Saints School where 80 percent of the children come from families that qualify for free and reduced lunches. We want to make sure that we give the children a good education so they can move their families out of poverty. We do with less as a parish so that those children will have a chance.
We can create a local community where everyone, no matter what their level of income, is treated with dignity as a child of God. In our neighborhood, in this part of Omaha, people of upper middle class income and those who are poor live and worship side by side. We can work in our parish to respect and welcome all people to our community.
We can provide services, like the St. Vincent de Paul Society, to help people in our neighborhoods make it through times of economic crisis. When people are working, but only making enough to survive, it only takes a brief illness to put them behind in their bill paying and soon there is an avalanche of problems. With services to help them get through a crisis we can keep the problems from getting worse. You might consider joining our parish Vincent de Paul or regularly donating to this fund.
We can make sure that as the housing opportunities change in our neighborhood that there will always be adequate and good housing for those of lower incomes. More and more people are forced to rent every year rather than owning their own homes. We can work with local non-profits to make sure that lower income families have help to keep their homes looking good. This year, Rebuilding Together will be working in neighborhoods just south of the church to help home owners repair and paint their properties. If you know of elderly or people of low income who need help fixing up their home, please let the parish office know. If you would like to volunteer to walk our neighborhood to help identify the homes that need fixing, please contact Rebuilding Together Omaha.
Catholic teaching encourages us to look at concepts like the common good and solidarity when we make public policy decisions. We can make sure that we fully educate ourselves on local and national public policy issues so that our votes and our interactions with public officials may influence a policy that reflects Catholic teaching – for the good of all.
Peace,
Fr. Damian