November 28, 2021
Jeremiah 33:14-16
Farm workers
The Rev. Hector Rodriguez serves as president of the National Federation of Farm Workers. (Courtesy photo)
The first reading for the first Sunday of Advent comes to us from the Book of Jeremiah (33:14-16). Here is what the text says: “The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. In those days and at that time, I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up...and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.” That Branch, of course, is Jesus the Christ, whose birth we celebrate in a few weeks.
We in the farm worker movement are especially grateful to hear the message about executing justice and righteousness throughout the land, for we have been both waiting for and working toward the execution of justice in favor of our farm workers, who continue to toil under harsh conditions and with little compensation for their hard and skilled labor, upon which we all depend.
Animated by the songs and readings of this Advent Season, may we collectively toil as with the pangs of childbirth for the passage of long-awaited legislation which both handsomely remunerates the great sacrifices of our front-line farm workers and bestows the citizenship on them which they richly deserve, being already among the foremost citizens of the Reign of God, which Jesus announced first and foremost to God’s Poor.
May this new year, which in the Church we inaugurate this very Sunday, bring a new-found unity to our common efforts, across all unions, organizations and associations throughout this farm worker movement, such that in our unity, all farm workers will find solace, strength and solid achievements in the execution of justice in our land.
Rev. Hector Rodriguez is the current board president of National Federation of Farm Workers. Hector has centered his life’s work around helping the oppressed, from visiting labor camps to accompanying workers through the halls of Washington, DC, to protecting workers on picket lines. This devotional was distributed by Methodist Federation for Social Action.