November 28, 2021
Jeremiah 33:14-16

“Executing Justice”

By Rev. Hector Rodriguez

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.

You make our collective work possible by your witness for justice every day in your church, community, and Annual Conference. MFSA does not receive any financial support from the United Methodist Church's giving channels. 100% of our budget is funded through your membership dues and your generosity in giving.

Rev. Hector Rodriguez is President of the National Farm Worker Ministry Board of Directors. Rev. Hector Rodriguez is the current board president of NFWM. 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. In 1973, he joined the picket lines in the Coachella Valley, protecting the workers from the threat of violence. He describes sleeping in the camp with the workers, arriving at the picket line before dawn, and enduring the harassment and bullying of the state police.