Catholic Employers

  • Thread starter Thread starter Bon_Croix
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
B

Bon_Croix

Guest
Should these be rebuked when they force employees to work on sunday and other Holy Days? Why are they not being rebuked?
 
Bon_Croix said:
Should these be rebuked when they force employees to work on sunday and other Holy Days? Why are they not being rebuked?
Click to expand...
Considering many “Catholic” employers are in vital social services like Hospitals and emergency food (like food banks) the Catholic Church has made it VERY clear that it is honorable to work in these industries even on Sundays and Holy Days.

And one of the largest ‘secular’ non-vital companies, Hobby Lobby, have many Catholics in their
upper ranks and are closed on Sundays.

Are you trying to address a particular Catholic employer? If so, what is their industry? Are they vital?
 
I understand vitality and emergency situations.

I live in a pretty Catholic area and many small employers are Catholics in non-vital industry who require Holy Day work during week.
 
Bon_Croix said:
I understand vitality and emergency situations.

I live in a pretty Catholic area and many small employers are Catholics in non-vital industry who require Holy Day work during week.
Click to expand...
Please give examples.
 
Bon_Croix said:
A convenience store. A personal finance company.
Click to expand...
A convenience store is just that…convenience. It’s for those times we need something like food or gas in a pinch. In my area, which is rural, we would not be able to make a day trip to see elderly relatives if we could not gas up. Convenience stores are permissible under Catholic rule. It’s getting pretty close to a vital industry.

A finance company? I suppose it depends on what they do. It’s not physical labor. We are in a global financial market. It may not be practical to ignore markets for an entire day. In addition, it may be needed to help a family to have a consultation on a Sunday.

I see no issue with these as long as employers take care not to overburden their employees on Sunday.
 
Gas up the day before the Holy Day.

Anyone can ignore financial markets for a day. To think contrary is secular think. But, it’s more like making small loans. Again, get your loan the day before the Holy Day.

Too much commerce in this country and not enough faith!!!
 
Bon_Croix said:
Gas up the day before the Holy Day.

Anyone can ignore financial markets for a day. To think contrary is secular think. But, it’s more like making small loans. Again, get your loan the day before the Holy Day.

Too much commerce in this country and not enough faith!!!
Click to expand...
That’s your opinions, however, not church teaching.

It takes more than a tank of gas to go to my husband’s grandmother. We have a car with a small tank. Are we obligated to spend more on a bigger car just so we never need to fill our tank the same day? Or sometimes you have a house full of puking kids and need to grab some Gatorade and saltines. Or medicine. The church allows for convenience stores. It’s not up to you to take a position against them.

As far as the financial service job goes–again, the Church leads it up to our discretion. God does call for Faith, but He also calls for wisdom. He has told us to be as wise as serpents and as gentle as doves.
 
Last edited:
Where are these Church Teachings? I’ve read the CCC regarding the
Commandment in question (no 3).
 
Last edited:
123 Family needs or important social service can legitimately excuse from the obligation of Sunday rest. The faithful should see to it that legitimate excuses do not lead to habits prejudicial to religion, family life, and health.

Convience stores are an important social service to me, atleast.
 
Not to me. Around here, they sell more lottery tickets and beer than
anything else.

Besides, if you need a cup of milk to finish the pudding on Christmas, just
go to the neighbors house and ask.
 
Last edited:
You appear to live in a way different neighborhood than I do.
 
Bon_Croix said:
Not to me. Around here, they sell more lottery tickets and beer than
anything else.

Besides, if you need a cup of milk to finish the pudding on Christmas, just
go to the neighbors house and ask.
Click to expand...
People who use stores for lotto tickets and beer may not be Catholic. It doesn’t negate, at all, the legitimate need for foods, medicines, gas or other things that can’t be planned for.

Also, neighbors? This isn’t 1950. I don’t ask my neighbors for things. That’s not the way it works today.
 
I have no problem with my neighbors. Apparently, you may be anti-social. Anti-socials tend to be very independent, so I don’t know why you need a convenience store 7 days a week.

If you are Catholic, I advise you do some soul searching and confess your selfish acts if they exist.
 
Bon_Croix said:
I have no problem with my neighbors. Apparently, you may be anti-social. Anti-socials tend to be very independent, so I don’t know why you need a convenience store 7 days a week.

If you are Catholic, I advise you do some soul searching and confess your selfish acts if they exist.
Click to expand...
I am Catholic.

Having “no problems” with your neighbors does not mean that you borrow things from them. As a matter of course, I do not lend or borrow items. This does not make one anti-social. It is well known that good fences make good neighbors.

Convenience stores are there for convenience. They are there so that society (not just myself) can use them when they need. They are there to fill the gas tank for the generator when you haven’t had power in 3 days. They are there to fill the gas tank for the trip home from Grandma’s. They are there to get Immodium and Gatoraid when your family has the stomach flu and you’re out of medicine. They are there to pick up sundry items when Aunt Suzie decides to descend upon your house with her brood.

And yes, they are there to get milk.

I would suggest you do some soul searching of your own regarding your black-and-white thinking. I’ve worked convenience store jobs and while there was a good number of people who just went because they felt like it, there were often a number of people who came because there were no other places open—late at night or early in the morning—and yes, even on holidays.

It is good that persons like you cannot be judge and jury for society. It is good that the Catholic Church understands that life happens. The hubris to sustain one enough to think that gas stations shouldn’t be open is astounding. Clothing stores, craft stores, even restaurants—they are all unnecessary. Things like gas stations, pharmacies, and hardware stores (if you’re a home owner and had a pipe burst at an inconvient time, you’d understand) are all things that are permissible because they serve a greater societal need.
 
They are not there for convenience, they are there b/c they have franchise contracts with companies that are outside of their state lines.

It used to be we had convenience stores and they closed on Sundays like normal people.

Secular thinking has crept into you b/c you have allowed it to. But, you are mitigated by the fact that you have been deceived by secular society itself.
 
The Catholic Church doesn’t say there’s anything wrong with working on Sundays.

Sometimes, employers just cannot afford to shut every Sunday. They need to make a profit, otherwise there’ll be no employer at all. And as Xanthippe says, it’s often not practical to shut for a whole day at least once a week, because of the nature of the job or the service the employer provides. Convenience stores stay open because they are convenient. That’s the whole point of a convenience store.
 
Last edited:
Bon_Croix said:
They are not there for convenience, they are there b/c they have franchise contracts with companies that are outside of their state lines.

It used to be we had convenience stores and they closed on Sundays like normal people.

Secular thinking has crept into you b/c you have allowed it to. But, you are mitigated by the fact that you have been deceived by secular society itself.
Click to expand...
:roll_eyes:

You have no idea what you’re talking about.

Yes, there are some franchise convenience stores.

However, I’ve worked at 3.

One was was completely independent, another was part of a statewide chain and the third was part of 3 or 4 stores that banded together. And in every single case there was not a day that went by that I wasn’t privvy to someone in dire need who had to be helped right away.

You are operating on an extremely limited and narrow view of life experience that is NOT in line with Church teaching. It is you, not I, that misrepresents the Church. The Church has always allowed for essential services, always. It is our underanding of what is essential and our needs as a society change. That does not mean we are more secular. If anything, it means that our understanding of the complexities of life are far more merciful…which is something every Catholic should be striving for.
 
Last edited:
The Fifth Council of Florence was pretty clear that beer and lotto tickets may not constitute more than 17.3% of a convenience store’s earnings on Sundays and Holy Days. Anything above that and it ceases to be an important social service and becomes, rather, a den of iniquity.
Take it up with Pope Robert III and the Fathers of the Florentine Council if you disagree…
😛
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top