“If you want Peace, work for Justice”
– His Holiness Pope Paul VI, The Celebration of the Day of Peace, Jan. 1, 1972
Continuing education on the Church’s concern for the poor, the natural environment, and for the migrant, this helps to fuel the drive of parishioners to seek justice both in theory and in deeds.
The Life, Peace & Justice Committee serves as the link between the parish and the larger community–educating, advocating, and promoting life, peace, justice, and social concerns relevant to Catholic Social Teaching. The Church’s social teaching focuses on building a just society and living lives of holiness amidst the challenges of modern society; it includes topics such as: the dignity of human life, human rights, care for the Earth and its resources, the preferential option for the poor and vulnerable, workers’ rights, and solidarity with all our human family. See our Justice Advocacy Articles, as well as our series Consistent Life Ethic (CLE).
Please pray for the ministry work of our parish, especially our leadership committees. Your voice would be helpful in our Life, Peace & Justice Committee discussions. Please join us at the next meeting. The committee normally meets on the SECOND MONDAYS of each month at 7:00 PM ON the St. Francis Parish ZOOM. I hope to see you there.
For more information contact the Parish Outreach Ministry Office at justice@stfrancisa2.org or 734-821-2121.
Our projects include:
We Host Groundcover News Vendors once each month so that two vendors (one on each side of the church) will offer the paper after all Masses at St. Francis on the 1st weekend of each month. (Example: Even when Sunday is the 1st day of the month it is also the 1st weekend of the month.) Over the course of year(s) we hope to help venders introduce themselves formally by possibly publishing a photo and a short few sentences in our paper bulletin as well as on the website. See: groundcovernews.com
2025 February 26th…Book Discussion…The Truth About Immigration…
- The Works of Mercy: Promoting discussions on Incorporating the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy into Everyday Life and at our local Catholic Charities of Washtenaw County.
– - The Civility Project : (see the Wufoo form too)
- Protect Our Common Home: the plastics crisis… , (see the Wufoo form too) using resources from the Catholic Climate Covenant (catholicclimatecovenant.org).
- Economic Justice Book Discussion Group (see the Wufoo form too)
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Slavery & The Catholic Church – Learning Opportunity: The Catholic Church’s Historical Role in Slavery…
Watch the Movie, The Letter, and discussion afterwards.
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Read and discuss the book, Saving Us: A Climate Scientist’s Case for Hope and Healing in a Divided World by Katharine Hayhoe. . (see the Wufoo form too)
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We visited the Zekelman Holocaust Center to learn. (see the Wufoo form too) When the next group is singled out for hatred and exclusion, will we stand with those who are being persecuted? Or will we join in their persecution? What lesson will we learn? The Holocaust (1933–1945) stands as a stark reminder of what can happen when we fail to heed Jesus message to love.
- Automatically and Unintentionally: implicit bias presentation made in June 2022. We viewed the documentary Coded Bias. (see the Sign-up-Genius form too)
- The Encyclical, Fratelli Tutti – Overview & Discussion (#1. was 2021-10-19);
- Justice Advocacy Articles; –
- Human rights: Pregnancy Pro-Life Efforts; Consistent Life Ethic (CLE);
- St. Vincent Services: vehicle & gift donation distributions, financial & tax assistance;
Missions, Donations, Almsgiving & Special Collections for critical urgent emergency relief during a disaster or crisis; – - Care of Our Common Home: Garden; Sustainability Projects;
- Hunger: CROP Hunger Walk – crophungerwalk.org/AnnArborMI;
- Homelessness: Special Collections & Shelter Hosts & Habitat for Humanity Catholic Habitat House;
- Refugees: Together with our partner, Jewish Family Services (JFS) we are now helping 300 Afghan families settle in the Ann Arbor area. If you would like to continue to help, Here is the JFS website link summarizing current needs: https://jfsannarbor.org/
resettlement-integration- services/ Dear St. Francis Parish: Our partner, Jewish Family Services wrote 2021-DEC: “Thank you again so much for all of the incredible donations and gift cards for the Afghan refugees! Community support such as yours truly sustains the Resettlement program and helps us set up warm and welcoming homes for refugee families. We can’t thank you enough.” - Civil rights: Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration;
- Peace / Conflict Resolution: Compassionate Communication;
- Racial Justice: Subcommittee on Racism;
- Poverty: Washtenaw County Poor People’s Campaign,
- Refugee & Immigration Issues and Justice for Immigrants (see the Wufoo form too)
- Death Penalty Articles & Survey & Euthanasia Issues; (see the Wufoo form too)
Our parish encourages all to organize charitable efforts to assist our families to do these…
The Spiritual Works of Mercy
- Counseling The Doubtful
- Instructing The Ignorant
- Converting The Sinner
- Comforting The Sorrowful
- Forgiving Injuries
- Bearing Wrongs Patiently
- Praying For The Living And The Dead
Also, our parish encourages all, in collaboration with our St. Francis Parish St. Vincent Service Ministry to organize projects, (food drives, homeless shelters, tax preparation and the Giving Tree at Christmas) to assist poor families addressing these…
The Corporal Works of Mercy:
- Feeding The Hungry
- Giving Drink To The Thirsty
- Sheltering The Homeless
- Visiting The Sick
- Visiting The Prisoners
- Burying The Dead
- Giving Alms To The Poor (give to those who lack = clothe the naked)
Questions? Contact justice@stfrancisa2.org or 734-821-2121.
We keep our blog with photos at: http://service4justice.blogspot.com/