Bishop Talks

09/09/2026

LABOR DAY: THE CRY OF THE WORKER HAS REACHED GOD’S EARS. Bishop RAYMOND RIVERA.

Even though I have been away from the city for a season of rest, relaxation, and recuperation, Labor Day is too important for me to remain silent. This day must be more than the unofficial end of summer. It must turn our attention toward the worker—the person whose hands, mind, strength, sacrifice, and long hours help sustain our families, communities, institutions, and nation.

The biblical story begins with a working God. For six days, God created; on the seventh day, God rested. God looked upon the work of creation and called it “very good” (Genesis 1:31; 2:2–3). Then God placed our first parents in the garden “to work it and take care of it” (Genesis 2:15). Humanity was called to stewardship—to cultivate, protect, and participate in God’s creative purpose.

Work, therefore, is not the curse. Work belongs to our created DNA. The curse distorted work into painful toil, exploitation, anxiety, and alienation (Genesis 3:17–19). Whenever human beings are treated like disposable machinery so that others may accumulate greater wealth, God’s intention for work is violated.

Labor Day grew out of the struggles of working people across the world who resisted crushing hours, dangerous conditions, child labor, and unjust wages. Here in New York City, workers held the nation’s first Labor Day parade in 1882. In 1894, it became a national holiday. It was not simply handed down by the powerful; it bears the fingerprints of workers who organized, sacrificed, and struggled for dignity.

Scripture does not remain neutral when workers are exploited. “Do not hold back the wages of a hired worker overnight” (Leviticus 19:13). Deuteronomy commands employers to pay poor and needy laborers promptly because their livelihood depends upon it (Deuteronomy 24:14–15). The prophets condemn those who deprive laborers of their wages (Malachi 3:5). Jesus declares, “The worker deserves his wages” (Luke 10:7).

Then James speaks with fire: “The wages you failed to pay the workers who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty” (James 5:4).

After nearly sixty years of ministry, I have walked with working people—immigrants, mothers and fathers, educators, caregivers, factory workers, maintenance workers, ministers, small-business owners, and laborers who carried more than their fair share while receiving less than their rightful due. I have seen how an unjust wage enters the home: rent falls behind, food becomes uncertain, children feel the pressure, and human dignity is wounded.

This is not only economics. It is spiritual. It is moral. It is biblical.

On this Labor Day, let us honor workers with more than words. Let us defend safe conditions, fair compensation, rest, the right to organize, and the dignity of every person whose labor helps create our common life.

Where the worker is exploited, God hears the cry. Where justice is denied, God takes a side.

08/13/2026

All responsibility as the living church, the body of Christ, to be light of the world and salt in the Earth, to proclaim that Jesus Christ is savior and Lord & to speak truth to the fallen systemic structures will cause the principalities and powers governed by the spirit of this age in love .Bishop

05/14/2026

05/01/2026

From weakness to witness that’s the journey of formation.” Bishop, RAYMOND RIVERA.

Today at 7 PM (Bishop Talk – Live), I’ll continue Part Two on Spiritual Formation: The Challenge of the Church Today.

When you look at the disciples before the Resurrection and before Pentecost, you see a very human picture. They struggled. They misunderstood Jesus. At times they were driven by ambition, competing for position, unsure of their calling, unable to carry the authority they were being prepared for.

Their formation was real—but it was incomplete.

I’ve seen that pattern in my own journey and over decades of ministry. As a young leader, I watched gifted people begin well, but without deep formation and the lived power of the resurrection and the Holy Spirit, many drifted. Some were pulled by the pressures of the world, others by ego, distraction, or influences that weakened their walk. But when Christ truly formed them—when the Word took root and the Spirit empowered their lives—you could see the difference. They became steady, grounded, and consistent in their faith.

Then something happened with the disciples.

Through the power of the resurrected Christ and the filling of the Holy Spirit, those same men were transformed. They became witnesses, missionaries, instruments of revival. Their lives carried depth, clarity, and purpose. They grew into the calling they could not yet fully understand.

That journey still speaks to us.

Many believers begin in one place—but God is not finished. If we submit to His process, He forms us, matures us, and brings us into a deeper expression of His purpose.

Today, we will talk about that journey—and the call for the Church today to move toward mature, Christ-centered, holistic formation.

Join me live at 7 PM.