Economic stress provides time to give, receive

Published: 11.21.08

For those who are still in a position to help others – by providing aid to your local parish, food pantry or other charities – please continue to do so.

For some folks, the economic downturn is still just a news story. They have a job; the mortgage is being paid; and the value of their home is not upside-down – like that of others who bought when the values peaked – and the value of their home is still higher than their mortgage balance.

These folks relish the fact that gas prices have fallen to levels below this time last year – it now costs about half as much to fill your tank than it did earlier this year.

For others, the economy is more than a news story – it’s a real part of life. Take one central Floridian who has worked as a real estate paralegal. For a variety of reasons, she has not worked in more than a year. Now it’s even harder to find a job in that field as more firms are laying off staff. And her family and extended family are hurting, too, as most of them work in the auto industry in Michigan. Hard times have hit the Big Three auto companies and that industry seeks help from the government this week as Congress returns for a lame-duck session.

With the unemployment rate at 6.5 percent last month, the highest in 14 years, and with word it may be climbing to as high as 7.5 percent by year-end, more of our neighbors are feeling the pain. A significant majority of economists surveyed recently by the National Association of Business Economics believe we are in a recession and that the recession began in either the last quarter of 2007 or the first quarter of this year.

The U.S. bishops, at their meeting in Baltimore last week, addressed the issue by authorizing the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Cardinal Francis George of Chicago, to release a statement of “Solidarity at a Time of Economic Crisis.” (See related article.) The statement noted, “As pastors and bishops, we see the many human and moral consequences of this crisis.” It added, “We are our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers. We all are in this together. Hard times can isolate us or they can bring us together.”

In the weeks leading up to Christmas, we keep hearing that the recession will have a profound impact at the retail level. Anecdotal reports of full shopping mall parking lots may be misleading; perhaps those who are at the mall are taking advantage of pre-season sales, or they’re planning to spend less overall this year. Either way, the net result for retailers may be dim, and those economic stimulus checks taxpayers received last summer are probably long gone, swallowed up by rising prices on everything from gas to groceries, or put toward credit card balances.

As we prepare for Thanksgiving next week, we should be mindful of the blessings we have, even if they seem more limited this year. Even in hard times, there are elements of good and reasons to hope. We live in a country where people are encouraged to share, and they do so willingly and often. Some who have not been in a position to need help before find themselves seeking aid or comfort; while that must be difficult, it might prompt them to help others in the future when good times return.

For those who are still in a position to help others – by providing aid to your local parish, food pantry or other charities – please continue to do so. In these tough times, those nonprofits especially need and appreciate the help you can give.

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