Building communion between the Church and labor

Formation happens for Franciscans not only in classrooms and friaries, but also among the people friars are called to accompany. Br. Domingo Martinez, OFM, who recently professed solemn vows, completed his pastoral year as part of his initial formation, gaining hands-on ministry experience. In this reflection, he looks back on what the experience taught him about ministry, relationship and the Franciscan ministry of presence.

I thank God for the many blessings bestowed on me during my pastoral year. Prior to joining the friars, I worked on union political campaigns with the national American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO). When I learned that Br. Brian Jordan, OFM, pastor of St. Francis of Assisi Parish in New York, had dedicated it as New York’s only Workers’ Chapel, I wanted to know more. I reached out to Br. Brian about a potential pastoral year there. He created a ministry program better than I could have imagined.

I spent my ministry between the parish and the local union federation, the New York City Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO. The program Brian established allowed me to live out the Church’s social doctrine in a concrete ministerial way. It brought together my faith, my professional background and my ministry.

Bringing faith and labor together

At the CLC, I worked to bring faith communities and labor unions together. One of my first assignments was assisting at the New York City Labor Day Parade. The parade begins with Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, where I helped corral volunteers and encouraged nervous lectors. After the Mass, I worked in the parade, answering questions, directing some of the parade traffic, and generally serving as an extra pair of hands. And that was just the beginning!

As the year progressed, I continued to encounter even deeper moments of integration, reaching beyond my professional history. One day, the president of the CLC asked me to join a meeting with some union organizers from the United Farm Workers (UFW). My father grew up as a farm worker in Texas in the 1940s and ’50s, and my family always held the UFW in high esteem. The organizers discussed their work in the New York City area.

They informed us of a shift in the demographics of temporary farm workers in New York. Applications from Jamaica had increased. The UFW organizers traveled to Jamaican cities, including Negril, where I spent my Brothers Walking Together year, to help applicants prepare for work in New York. After Hurricane Melissa hit Jamaica, UFW organizers asked how they could help. Thanks to Br. Colin King, OFM, I connected the UFW to the Church in the Diocese of Mandeville. I still get goosebumps reflecting on how that situation brought together my own family history, professional background and ministerial experience.

Moments of grace

My time at the CLC continued to offer moments of grace for which I thank God. I offered a prayer at a vigil and picket outside a children’s hospital during the nurses’ strike. I helped set up the annual commemoration of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire, in which more than 140 people, mostly immigrant women, died because of locked factory doors and blocked escape routes. The national AFL-CIO asked me to attend an iftar at a mosque in the Bronx. I joined the faith table of Hands-Off NYC, which organized immigration trainings and the No Kings March in New York City. Working in collaboration with secular nonprofits allowed me to share our Franciscan charism in the public square.

Bringing labor into the Church

This relationship went both ways. I coordinated monthly labor Masses at the Church of St. Francis of Assisi that honor the men and women who die on the job in New York. Martin Luther King Jr. Day fell during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. We invited the state-level AFL-CIO secretary-treasurer, a Baptist minister, to speak after a special MLK Day Mass. My pastoral year experience has helped me further integrate my personal life, work and formation.

A way forward in renewal

I cannot express my gratitude enough for the blessings I received during my pastoral year. The 31st Street community welcomed me; the pastor created an amazing program, and the formation team approved it. I am especially grateful that the friars approved this ministry, despite its novelty. Creative forms of ministry such as this can only help our community. Sharing the Franciscan charism in the public square brings us into places we may never have approached. Working with like-minded secular organizations pools resources and breaks open opportunities for the Spirit to lead us in our ministry.

These creative collaborations offer a way forward in renewal. They also offer a model that can survive declining vocations and reduced resources. Solidarity, or in our language, communion, strengthens us. I pray in thanksgiving for this opportunity to build communion with labor, and that we may continue to make bold choices and try new methods for renewing our fraternity.