Archbishop's web site Denver Catholic Register Parishes Catholic Pastoral Center
March 27, 2002
Cesar Chavez: his light shines on
Labor leader sought social justice with tenacity and love
By Bishop José Gomez, S.T.D.
On Monday, March 25, the City and County of Denver honored the memory of the late labor leader Cesar Estrada Chavez with a holiday. The state will pay tribute to Chavez on his birthday March 31.
Festivities for Denver's first Cesar Chavez Day celebration began with a 2 p.m. Mass at St. Joseph's Catholic Church to give thanks to God for Chavez's life and for his ideals based on the Catholic Church. Chavez's faith in Christ led him to seek social justice for his fellow human beings with tenacity and love. The struggle that ensued led him down a path that many would not choose to follow. Commemorating the peace and justice work that Chavez accomplished, often at the expense of his own health and welfare, is a reminder to us that those who choose to do God's work here on earth should not be forgotten.
Emulating the path of nonviolence set by Dorothy Day, Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Chavez was a human rights leader whose work touched many throughout the world. He believed that sacrificing oneself for the cause of social justice was one of the greatest gifts we can give our fellow human beings. He was both the founder and driving force behind the United Farm Worker's Union, which sought to ensure that those who pick our crops would benefit through just wages and decent working conditions. Workers and supporters marched so that those who put the food on America's tables would have a voice in determining their future and the future of their children.
Chavez's Catholic background led him to appeal to the Catholic Church for support during turbulent times. The Church responded favorably because it is part of her mission to try to achieve social justice here on earth. Chavez and his followers carried the banner of La Virgin de Guadalupe on pilgrimages many times with empty stomachs and parched throats, but filled always with the spirit of justice and pride.
Life magazine rightly called Chavez, "the Gandi of the fields." Speaking about the labor leader, Chavez's counterpart Dolores Huerta said, "Cesar's life is the lucero, the light that provides vision to the path, with the glow of energy generated by the struggle." We are grateful to Cesar Estrada Chavez for teaching us about the value of human life, the dignity of the worker and the meaning of humility. And for showing us that we all are called to help the marginalized and those less fortunate than ourselves.
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