12th Annual St. Joseph's Day Breakfast

Submitted by Caitlin on November 17, 2008 - 11:41am.

Reception and Other Events

Wed May 06, 2009

Start: 05/06/2009 - 12:30am

Timezone: Etc/GMT-5

St. Joe's 2009 group

Honorees Dale Kowalczyk and Randy Gardner, Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, and Honorary Co-hosts Rep. Frank LoBiondo and Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr. (Photo credit: Byron Buck)

On Wednesday, May 6, 2009, a group of 156 people, including 13 members of Congress, gathered at the Washington Court Hotel to celebrate The Faith & Politics Institute's 12th Annual St. Joseph's Day Breakfast.

The theme of this year's breakfast was holding up the work of those who work on America's transportation infrastructure, building essential pieces of our everyday lives. Transportation infrastructures such as roads, rails, bridges and airways are so much a part of life in our country that their importance is easily overlooked. The 12th Annual St. Joseph's Day Breakfast specifically held up the stories of Randy Gardner, an Iron Worker from the Washington, DC area, and Dale Kowalczyk, a Laborer who worked to rebuild the I-35W bridge in Minneapolis after its collapse. To read each honoree's bio, download a PDF of the breakfast program.

Barbara Easterling, former CWA Secretary-Treasurer and FPI Board Member, served as Master of Ceremonies. Rev. Canon Philp Majka, Chaplain at Dulles Airport, offered an opening prayer. After the opening greetings, Labor Secretary Hilda Solis offered remarks to standing applause. She spoke of the importance of rebuilding America's crumbling transportation infrastructure, and of the importance of working people as the backbone of the American economy.

Honorary Co-hosts Rep. Frank LoBiondo (R-N.J.) and Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-N.J.) shared personal stories of growing up in working families and being inspired by the dedicated examples of their parents and grandparents. They also spoke of their commitment to protecting and continuing to uphold working people. AFL-CIO President John Sweeney also offered remarks.

Sandy Sorensen, minister and team leader for Justice and Witness Ministries with the United Church of Christ, offered this closing prayer:

Worker God, who shaped the world in all its diversity – with mountains and valleys, rivers and deserts, farms and cities, people of all colors and vocational callings – and threading through it all beautiful dreams of justice, compassion, liberation and peace;

Meet us here, worker God,
Strengthen our hearts and our hands to work with you in the building of justice and peace;

We lift up this morning all people who labor, at home or in the workplace, in the United States and around the world;

St. Joe's table 2009 We are mindful of those who are paid too little for their work or who work in unsafe conditions, those who labor with health insurance, sick leave, a pension, paid vacations, a fair wage;

Creator God, help us to build a new world in the midst of the old, a world where all workers are valued, a world where those who build and clean houses are also able to buy houses to live in, a world where those who grow food and transport it to market can also afford to eat their fill, a world where those who labor in stores, schools, hotels, restaurants, nursing homes, those who pave roads and build bridges, those who maintain our railways, our seaports and make it possible to travel the skies – a world where all workers everywhere share in the abundance that you have given us;

Fill our hearts with compassion and a thirst for justice, may clarity be our ally and wisdom our support;

Visit us, this weary world, and all who labor with your grace and touch us with the vision of fullness of life for all people. Amen

Since 1997, The Faith & Politics Institute has been celebrating St. Joseph's Day with an annual breakfast, speech, and awards presentation. St. Joseph is the patron saint of the worker, and the Institute's annual St. Joseph's Day breakfast was founded to raise awareness of the spiritual and moral issues that affect economic life in America. Friends of the Institute and hosts join together in recognizing national and grassroots labor leaders, business leaders, and public sector representatives who work to promote fairness and dignity in the workplace.

The Faith & Politics Institute thanks the donors who make our St. Joseph's Day Breakfast possible.

View photos of the breakfast here.

Download a transcript of the breakfast here.

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