On this Sunday before Labor Day, we have an opportunity to reflect on what the Church teaches us about the dignity of work and the rights of workers. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, together with Catholic Relief Services, recently created a video to communicate the Church’s teaching on work, this video is available on our website. Many Catholics do not know the rich social justice tradition defending the rights and dignity of workers. Many encyclicals have been written on the issue especially: Rerum Novarum or Rights and Duties of Capital and Labor. This is an encyclical issued by Pope Leo XIII on May 15, 1891. Rerum Novarum is considered a foundational text of modern Catholic social teaching. Many of the positions in Rerum Novarum were supplemented by later encyclicals, by other popes in (1931), (1961), and (1991). In the Catholic tradition, work is more than a way to make a living; it is a form of continued participation in God’s creative action. Here are a few questions for our consideration on this day: In your own experience of work—in an office setting, serving others, as a student, or working in the home—how have you experienced work as a form of participation in God’s creative action? When has it felt difficult to recognize the dignity of work?