The Presbytery, Abbeydorney, (066 7135146)

Dear Parishioner,

Last week’s ‘Mass Leaflet/Newsletter’ carried a small notice inviting parishioners to identify ‘Good Neighbours’ whose story might be told on ‘Horizons’, the Sunday morning religious programme on Radio Kerry. Are there such people? In every parish where I have worked, I have heard many times statements such as:

“When my husband was sick, my neighbours looked after the cows and did anything I wanted done.”

“If we go away for a night or two, we don’t need to worry about security. Our neighbours will keep an eye on the place.”

“I have had no reason to ask my neighbours to help me but I know there are there for me, if I want them.”

You might say, “Why would I tell other people through Horizons about my good neighbours! They would be very embarrassed.” Most of us would not want to hear ourselves ‘being praised to the sky’ because of the helping hand we give. We would say that we help because we believe it is the right thing to do and we don’t spend time thinking about whether we should help or not. We just offer to give a helping hand and we know our offer will be appreciated. If you were thinking of giving a story of a ‘Good Neighbour’ to Horizons, would it be a good idea to tell that neighbour you intended doing so? I think it would be good to have a word with them and see if they would be at ease about it. Some people may like the ‘Surprise Party’ that is arranged for them for a birthday or some other occasion. I have to admit I would not want to be taken by surprise in that way. Fr. Denis O’Mahony
Musings: Christian Evangelist and Ravensbruck concentration camp survivor, Corrie Ten Boom, found herself ill-prepared to meet one of the SS camp guards – now a devout Christian – years later in a church in Munich. When he reached out his hand, her hand stuck to her side. Recalling how ‘as the angry, vengeful thought boiled through me’ she realised that Jesus had died for this man – ‘was I going to ask for more?’ And yet, she ‘felt nothing, not the slightest spark of warmth or charity.’ ‘I cannot forgive him’, she prayed, ‘Lord, give me your forgiveness.’ And suddenly, she felt her hand in his. (Salvador Ryan, Intercom Feb. 2014)

The Scandal Of “Zero Hours” Employment Contracts.

Last year was the anniversary of the 1913 lockout. Workers were paid very low wages for long hours of work. Many were casual workers, waiting each morning to see if they would be hired. One third of families in Dublin lived in overcrowded slum conditions, in which diseases, especially TB was rampant. When two tenement houses in Church Street collapsed, almost 100 people were made homeless. The attempt to unionise workers led to the employers locking them out of their employment for seven months and bringing in ‘scab labour’ from Britain to replace them. Despite the encyclical letter ‘On Capital and Labour’ (Rerum Novarum), by Pope Leo XIII in 1891, which affirmed the rights of workers to form trade unions, the Catholic Church in Ireland supported the employers. However, 100 years later, in the pursuit of higher profits, the exploitation of workers by some employers still continues. In Bangladesh, a fire that killed more than a thousand workers highlighted the appalling conditions, low wages and long hours which people in many parts of the world often have to work. Even in the wealthy Western world, more and more people are being forced to work for wages that will not lift them out of poverty. Fast food outlets and retailers are increasingly employing workers on “zero hours”, which require them to be available for work “as when required.” but with no guarantee that work will be offered to them. One contract stated, “The company has no duty to provide you with work. Your hours of work are not predetermined and you will be notified to you on a weekly basis as soon as is reasonably practicable in advance by your store manager. The company has the right to require you to work varied or extended hours from time to time.” For example, they may be required to be available for work for 48 hours a week, but may be offered only a few hours work in any particular week. Some weeks, they may be offered no work at all. Rotas can be changed at the last minute, and if there is not enough business, staff can be sent home early. With no stability of income, it is impossible to plan your finances. Your bills may be regular and predictable, but your income is very unpredictable and you may not be able to depend on a second job, as you have to be on call for work at short notice for your “zero hours contract” employer.

Many workers in part-time work depend on family income supplement or a partial jobseeker’s allowance to make ends meet, but the irregularity of work from week to week may make

them ineligible for these top-up payments. Employees may not be entitled to sick pay or holiday pay. Such contracts leave employees insecure and undermine family life. The pressure for such “zero hours contracts” arises from the demand, by consumers, for out-of-service hours, alongside a continual squeeze on wages demanded by shareholders. Employers try to justify such contracts by saying that it suits some people, such as students or carers, which is undoubtedly true. But the majority of people are being forced to accept work which may not enable them to escape from poverty, and they may actually be better off on welfare. In Irish law, workers on “zero hours contracts” must be paid for 25 per cent of the hours they have to be available for work, but this is usually considerably less than they would receive if they were unemployed. Some employers and politicians lobby for a reduction in welfare payments, to pressure more people into accepting such appalling working conditions.

Apart from the financial problems involved, a “zero hours contract” requires an employee to be over deferential to their employer. They cannot complain or raise issues, about any aspect of their conditions of employment or they may be penalised by being offered few, or no, hours work. Those employees who are seen by their employer as “cooperative” will be prioritised when it comes to allocating hours. Says one employee: “Regularly they would call you in the middle of the day and they are like, ‘can you come to work now?” You feel like you have to say ‘yes’ because if you say ‘no’ you are seen as unreliable and the next week you don’t get a shift; it’s as simple as that…..I felt hugely manipulated and bullied.” In companies where the majority of staff are on “zero hours contracts”, trade unions are not tolerated, just as they were not tolerated in 1913. There are no figures available for the number of people in Ireland who are employed on “zero hours contracts.” There are more than a million workers in the UK in this situation. Some large retail and fast food outlets, with tens of thousands of staff, employ between 80 percent and 100 percent of their entire workforce in this way. Many of these UK companies also operate here in Ireland. Casual work, where workers waited at the factory gate for a tap on the shoulder, which was commonplace in 1913, has returned; workers now are waiting at the metaphorical factory gate for a call on their mobile phone.

(Fr. Peter McVerry S.J. in Reality Magazine, January/February 2014.)

7^th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Fresh Thinking: Today’s Gospel from the Sermon on the Mount presents a sharp contrast between the old way of seeing things, as represented in the Jewish Law, and the new way of seeing things, as represented by the teaching of Jesus. In the Old Testament, Moses went up the mountain to receive the Ten Commandments, on which the entire Jewish Law was based. Now Jesus - the new Moses - goes up a hill, and he delivers his teaching, his law, which takes the old law a major step forward. Jewish Law was big into external observance. Keep it to the letter and you were alright. Make sure to stick to everything it said and you couldn’t go wrong. It didn’t really matter what kind of person you were on the inside as long as you kept rigidly to what was prescribed in the Law.
Jesus’ law – the beatitudes is very different. It is not just about keeping the letter of the law. It’s about what’s on the inside, the kind of person you are, your whole way of living and relating to others. For Jesus, external observance is not sufficient. He offers a whole new way of looking at the law and so Jesus contrasts the words of the Torah with his interpretation of them for his disciples. He says:

“You have learnt who it was said: Eye for eye and tooth for tooth. But I say this to you: offer the wicked person no resistance…..”

“You have heard how it was said: You must love your neighbour and hate your enemy. But I say this to you: love your enemy and pray for those who persecute you….”

The contrast is stark. The old way of living is no longer enough. We must now live according to the far more challenging new law of Jesus.

When Abraham Lincoln was running for president of the USA, there was a man called Stanton, who never lost an opportunity to vilify him.

Yet, when Lincoln won the election, he gave Stanton a post in his cabinet. Why? Because he considered him the best man for the job.

And Lincoln was proved right. Stanton gave him loyal service.

Asked why he didn’t destroy his enemies, Lincoln replied,

‘Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?’