This week, President Biden released his American Jobs Plan which he sees as an investment in America that will create millions of good jobs and rebuild our country's infrastructure. Additionally, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention extended an order aimed at preventing evictions through the end of June. Yesterday, President Biden announced the America Jobs Plan at the Carpenters Pittsburgh Training Center. Biden said the plan would require over $2 trillion over the next eight years to modernize American infrastructure, such as highways and bridges. If implemented it would be the largest jobs program since World War II. He also indicated that the money would come from raising taxes on corporations, not from the middle class. You can find the summary of the plan here. As legislators begin to read the plan on both sides of the aisle, we expect there will be those critical of the tax hikes and those who believe the proposal is not big enough to address the economic crisis. The Housing Eviction Moratorium was scheduled to expire on March 31, 2021. On March 26th, CCUSA joined the USCCB and the Catholic Health Association in a letter to the CDC urging a continued extension of the eviction moratorium. You can read about the letter and find the full text here. On Monday, March 29, the CDC extended the moratorium through June 30, 2021. CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky signed a declaration determining that the evictions of tenants could be detrimental to public health control measures. More information can be found here. On March 31, the CDC reported that 193,796 million people have received at least one dose of the vaccine, including 97 million who have been fully vaccinated. Although signs are promising, people should remain vigilant in their use of masks and social distancing. To learn more about how you can get the vaccine please contact your state health department for more information on its plan for COVID-19 vaccination. Sr. Donna Markham, OP visited with Vice President Harris on Wednesday to discuss the COVID-19 Community Corps, a campaign to increase vaccine confidence while reinforcing basic prevention measures. Catholic Charities USA is a collaborator in this campaign. Please visit the CCUSA Social Policy/Advocacy page for updates and policy papers. See here.
Faith and the Common Good
From the start, Jesus leaves us amazed. His people give him a solemn welcome, yet he enters Jerusalem on a lowly colt. His people expect a powerful liberator at Passover, yet he comes to bring the Passover to fulfillment by sacrificing himself. His people are hoping to triumph over the Romans by the sword, but Jesus comes to celebrate God's triumph through the cross. What happened to those people who in a few days' time went from shouting "Hosanna" to crying out "Crucify him"? What happened? They were following an idea of the Messiah rather than the Messiah. They admired Jesus, but they did not let themselves be amazed by him. Amazement is not the same as admiration. Admiration can be worldly, since it follows its own tastes and expectations. Amazement, on the other hand, remains open to others and to the newness they bring. Even today, there are many people who admire Jesus: he said beautiful things; he was filled with love and forgiveness; his example changed history ... and so on. They admire him, but their lives are not changed. To admire Jesus is not enough. We have to follow in his footsteps, to let ourselves be challenged by him; to pass from admiration to amazement. What is most amazing thing about the Lord and his Passover? It is the fact that he achieves glory through humiliation. He triumphs by accepting suffering and death, things that we, in our quest for admiration and success, would rather avoid. Jesus -- as St. Paul tells us -- "emptied himself... he humbled himself" (Philippians 2:7-8). This is the amazing thing: to see the Almighty reduced to nothing. To see the Word who knows all things teach us in silence from the height of the cross. To see the king of kings enthroned on a gibbet. Seeing the God of the universe stripped of everything and crowned with thorns instead of glory. To see the One who is goodness personified, insulted and beaten. Why all this humiliation? Why, Lord, did you wish to endure all this? Jesus did it for us, to plumb the depths of our human experience, our entire existence, all our evil. To draw near to us and not abandon us in our suffering and our death. To redeem us, to save us. Jesus was lifted high on the cross in order to descend to the abyss of our suffering. He experienced our deepest sorrows: failure, loss of everything, betrayal by a friend, even abandonment by God. By experiencing in the flesh our deepest struggles and conflicts, he redeemed and transformed them. His love draws close to our frailty; it touches the very things of which we are most ashamed. Yet now we know that we are not alone: God is at our side in every affliction, in every fear; no evil, no sin will ever have the final word. God triumphs, but the palm of victory passes through the wood of the cross. For the palm and the cross are inseparable. Excerpt from Pope Francis' Palm Sunday homily, March 28, 2021, St. Peter's Basilica
Trivia
In 1866, which important piece of legislation did President Andrew Johnson veto? On March 28th, the trivia question was, "Who was the first woman to receive a medical degree in the United States?" Robert Van Tassell of Catholic Charities Hawa'i was the first to correctly identify Elizabeth Blackwell as the first woman to receive a medical degree in the United States. As we complete Women's History Month, it seems appropriate to recognize the first woman doctor, as we celebrate the medical professionals and scientists who have been on the front line of addressing the health needs and vaccines for the pandemic. Dr. Blackwell graduated in 1849 to great public interest and approval. In need of further training that was still not available in the United States, she studied for a few years in England and France. Unfortunately, her goal of becoming a surgeon was thwarted when she contracted an infection that caused her to lose her left eye. In the early 1850s, Dr. Blackwell returned to the United States. She and two other female doctors-Dr. Marie Zakrzewska and Blackwell's younger sister Dr. Emily Blackwell-established the New York Infirmary for Indigent Women and Children (now New York-Presbyterian Lower Manhattan Hospital) They treated poor patients and provided medical training for women.
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