Opening Prayer: April 4, 2011
Father Cletus Kiley
O God, your prophet Isaiah spoke your Word: “For Zion’s sake I will not be silent,For Jerusalem’s sake I will not be quiet……â€Like Isaiah this morning we must say we will not be silent.
We will not be quiet. Something has gone awry in this land. And guided by you, we must speak. We must act.
There was a time in this country when a man who worked hard could count on a fair day’s pay. But not today!
There was a time in this country when, after a lifetime of hard work, a man could look forward to retirement. But not today!
There was a time in this country when we respected the women and men who worked in our schools, protected our cities, made our levels of government work. But not today!
Today somebody has changed the rules. And we will not be silent about it!
First came the Wall Street Gamblers who crippled our economy, gave themselves obscene bonuses and began the great Lie that those to blame were Labor unions and the Middle Class! This a Lie and we will not be silent about it!
When they couldn’t fool us on that one, they blamed the immigrants, and pitted working people against each other trying to wreak havoc on a level playing field for workers.
When we saw that for what it is, they demonized our public sector unions. And we can only wonder, aren’t our unions next?
Today they balance their budgets on the backs of the working class. Tax breaks go to the ultra wealthy. General Electric doesn’t even pay a dime. They say our unions have too much voice in political life, but pretend that we don’t see the hand of the Koch brothers and other billionaires underwriting their efforts.
O yes, Lord, something has gone terribly awry in the American House! But today we will not be silent about it!
As you gave the prophet the courage to speak out, so give us that same courage this morning. For the working people of this country the stakes have never been higher.
As you gave the prophet a righteous anger, so let righteous anger pour down upon this house this morning! We have had enough! We are Labor. We are the Building Trades. We are America’s working people and WE ARE ONE.
We will not go quietly into that dark night. We will not be silent.
Today, guided by your vision, we say it is time for a new social contract in this country! And we are going to make it happen!
So bless us now with courage. Bless us with righteous anger. For today we will not be quiet! Today, WE ARE ONE, and in Your Name we will act. Amen
In your holy name, we’re going to stand up for working people. We are going to stand up for the rights of workers. And we, the Building Trades are going to do our part to put this country back on track! So help us God! Amen.
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April 5, 2011 Dear Building Trades Leaders: Many delegates to the 2011 National Legislative Conference of the Building and Construction Trades Department have requested copies of the powerful and inspiring opening invocation delivered yesterday by Father Cletus Kiley. We have posted the video to the WE Party Patriots blog, where state and local councils, as well as local unions, can download it for showing at union meetings or for posting on their own websites and communications channels. Tom Owens
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