I bought a brand new flannel shirt today for somebody who doesn't get many new shirts. I got it at Wal-Mart, and its label said it was made in Bangladesh. Once again I thought of the stockholders of Wal-Mart, and wondered if they were proud to be making dividends on the backs of the poor who have no other choices but to work for them at low wages. These products are not made in factories where the workers have the right to freely express the opinions and organize labor unions to protect their rights and secure a bigger piece of the economic pie. And also so that I Robert Waldrop in Oklahoma City can buy a shirt for somebody who needed one.
Sin is a personal act.
Thus sin makes men accomplices of one another and causes concupiscence, violence, and injustice to reign among them. Structures of sin' are the expression and effect of personal sins. They lead their victims to do evil in their turn. Thus we journey into the Jubilee Holy Year 2000. Here are some of the prayers of hope that I have for this upcoming Year of Grace.