Across the U.S., extreme heat is becoming the new normal, putting outdoor workers—often immigrants or undocumented laborers—at grave risk. Without guaranteed rest breaks or strong legal protections, many face dangerous working conditions daily. Catholic Social Teaching reminds us of the dignity of work, the rights of workers, care for creation, and the preferential option for the poor and vulnerable—all vital moral lenses for addressing this crisis.

This blog highlights resources for reflection and action during the Season of Creation and Labor Day:

• Explore Catholic perspectives on climate injustice and worker rights.
• Act through advocacy, education, and parish-based support.
• Pray for all who labor under the heat and for the strength to respond in faith.

Together, our efforts—like providing water to outdoor workers, joining campaigns for heat protection, and using Season of Creation liturgical resources—can build a more just and compassionate future.

Explore Season of Creation Resources: https://seasonofcreation.org

A Climate of Exploitation

Extreme heat is no longer exceptional—it’s the new normal.

“The United States is facing a potentially staggering expansion of dangerous heat over the coming decades… including conditions so extreme that a heat index cannot be measured.”
— Union of Concerned Scientists, Extreme Heat Report

Who is most at risk?

Outdoor laborers—farmworkers, construction crews, delivery drivers—many of them immigrants or undocumented, face daily threats to their health and lives. Most work without legal protections, union rights, or guaranteed rest.

Key Facts:

• OSHA still has no enforceable heat standard: OSHA on Heat Stress
• Texas HB 2127 rolled back water and shade breaks.
• In 2024 alone, the CDC reported 1,200+ heat-related deaths.
• Without major emissions cuts, extreme heat days (105°F+) could increase eightfold by 2100.

More Info:

• NOAA Heat Tracker
• Center for Public Integrity on Heat and OSHA Failures
• Public Citizen Campaign for Heat Protection

Catholic Social Teaching and Climate Injustice

The Catholic tradition offers a profound moral lens to confront this crisis:

Dignity of Work and the Rights of Workers

• 
  Laborem Exercens
  
• Education for Justice resources on workers’ rights
  

Care for Creation

• Laudato Si’ 
• Catholic Climate Covenant
• Climate Justice by Caritas 

Preferential Option for the Poor and Vulnerable

• Evangelii Gaudium 
• Education for Justice resources on the preferential option for the poor and vulnerable

“The cry of the earth and the cry of the poor must shape concrete church actions.”
— NCR Editorial: 10 Years of Laudato Si’

Faithful Response: What We Can Do

Our small efforts, united, can bring justice.

Advocacy

• United Farm Workers
• National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON)
• Public Citizen: Heat Protections

Education and Prayer

• Season of Creation Liturgical Resources
• Catholic Climate Covenant Season Toolkit
• USCCB Prayers for Workers

Material and Local Support

• Create cooling centers at parishes.
• Offer water to day laborers and delivery workers.
• Organize donation drives for fans and sun protection gear.

Parishes and Congregations Leading the Way 

• Learn more about Cool Congregations like St. Teresa of Avila in San Francisco, Calif. 
• Learn more about Creation Justice Ministries, which supports numerous Christian congregations to be advocates rooted in caring for the Earth.
• The Arizona Faith Network has worked with various churches to open cooling centers to support its communities

A Final Word: Prayer and Perseverance

Let us recall the psalmist’s promise:

“The Lord is your shade at your right hand… the sun shall not strike you by day.”
— Psalm 121

And let us act in the spirit of Dorothy Day, who reminds us:

“People say, what is the sense of our small effort? They cannot see that we must lay one brick at a time…”

Related News and Reflections

• Catholic Bishops from the Global South Demand Climate Justice
• Pope Leo XIV’s “Green Mass” and Creation Commitment
• Editorial on the Next Papacy and Climate Leadership

Printable & Shareable Resources

• May We Be Moved By Urgency Prayer
• No Hands But Yours Prayer
• Laudato Si’ Spiral
• Symbols of Creation Video Prayer

Upcoming Learning Opportunity

Secondary educators are invited to participate in the Justice Educators Collective through its upcoming professional development scheduled for Tuesday, August 12, at 2p.m. ET on “Rerum Novarum and Its Application Today.”