Life, Peace & Justice Advocacy

“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:
Kelly Gauthier at chaysayd@yahoo.com / 734-769-0807 or Dick Brown dickbrown27@hotmail.com / 734-944-6096 or the Parish Outreach Ministry Office, Scott Wright at swright@stfrancisa2.org or 734-821-2121.

Our projects include:

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 & Religious Action for Affordable Housing (RAAH) & 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 2021-12: “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
Death Penalty Articles & Survey & Euthanasia Issues;

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/

Consistent Life Ethic

St. Francis Parish seeks to be consistently Catholic in this world which is torn by political divisions. The pro-life issues at every stage of human life. A series of six full page Forum articles highlight the pro-life issues at every stage of human life. Articles were published January -March 2017. See https://www.stfrancisa2.com/life/

Lessons From Pope Francis’ “Laudato Si’ “

Reaching Out to the Stranger

We are all familiar with the verse in Matthew that states: “I was…a stranger and you welcomed me…” and “The Parable of the Good Samaritan” in Luke. These readings, like others in the New Testament, leave no doubt as to the importance that Jesus placed on helping the stranger who is in need. Read More

During this year that is the 50^th anniversary of the assassination of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. we are reminded of the many ways that he as well as other members of the Civil Rights Movement reached out to those in need even though they may have been strangers. But these examples do not stand alone. All through human history, men and women have reached out to help those who are in need. Sometimes they faced great risk to themselves because of their actions. (Just as the Good Samaritan, a foreigner, may have said to himself, upon seeing the victim of robbers on the road between Jerusalem and Jericho: “If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?” The priest and the Levite may have thought when they passed by without rendering assistance: “What harm may come to me if I stop to give assistance?”)

Some examples in our recent history involving reaching out to help the stranger:

Paul Gruninger of the Swiss police (who was stationed near the Austrian border in 1938 / 1939) approved special identity papers which kept hundreds of Jews who were listed as “illegal refugees” from Germany and Austria from being deported back to their home countries and the threat of concentration / extermination camps.
During the ethnic conflict in the former Yugoslavia, Anica Zecar, an elderly woman with Parkinson’s who hid Muslims, Croats, and Kosovars in her apartment to prevent them from being “ethnically cleansed” would say “no” to Serbian soldiers who knocked on her door asking if there were any Muslims or Croats
Les Binns, at his own risk, abandoned his own summit attempt of Mount Everest in order to try to rescue two mountain climbers (who were total strangers to him) who had collapsed near Everest’s summit in the severe cold and blinding winds of the oxygen-depleted region called the “death zone”.

While these examples may seem to us to be beyond the capability of the average person, maybe what is intended in Matthew and Luke is for us to:

See the image of God in each person that we meet.

Steps that we may want to consider taking as we go about our daily life:

Reach beyond our normal area of “comfort” by meeting / interacting with new people (such as the vendor of the Groundcover newspaper).
Treat everyone with equal kindness; make real friends with the poor.
Learn about organizations that are new to us such as Peace Neighborhood or volunteer at Food Gatherers.
Address racism / racial bias when we encounter it.
Reach out to refugees who are escaping wars/conflicts, droughts, and famines.

St. Francis of Assisi Life, Peace & Justice Committee

Social Justice and the Civil Rights Movement

Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness: Only LIGHT can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: Only LOVE can do that.”

On the third Monday of each January, Martin Luther King Day celebrates the life and achievements of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Who was Dr. King and why (and how) did he become involved with social justice and civil rights? Read More

It may be helpful to see how and by whom he was influenced during his formative years.

Although our Declaration of Independence includes the hallowed phrase “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness”, many men, women, and children were cruelly imprisoned in a system of Slavery. Slavery had existed in the Americas long before the American Revolution and continued until the end of the Civil War. It impacted not only those whose ancestors came on slave ships from Africa but also (in its early stages) Native Americans. Slavery’s motivation was Cheap labor and Profits for the slave Owners. Those who were enslaved were seen as lesser human beings.

Sadly, even after the end of Slavery in the United States, African-Americans were treated as third-class citizens. Segregation, Jim Crow Laws, and racial lynchings made a mockery of the assertion that “all men are created equal”.

In the nightmare that African-Americans faced, the Black churches (along with many white congregations) worked to abolish Jim Crow laws and address the racial culture that permeated our society.

Dr. King was one of many* who worked for change to this system. (* E.g., W.E.B. DuBois, Mordecai Johnson, Patti Murray, to name just a few.) Besides being influenced by the Black social justice ministers of the 1930’s and 1940’s, he, like them, was heavily impacted by the actions, philosophy, and non-violent approach of Mohandas Gandhi against British Colonialism in India. These influences coupled with his education at Morehouse College, Crozier Seminary, and Boston University provided him with a broad perspective as to how to mobilize both the religious and political communities to effect change that might provide the impetus for a more just society.

(Note: There will be additional follow-up articles that will discuss various aspects of racism / discrimination in America, the relationship of the Civil Rights Movement and Catholic Social Teaching, as well as actions that Parishioners may consider to address racism today.)

(For those Parishioners who are interested in learning more about Dr. King’s views and philosophical approach, it is suggested that one google some of his sermons, speeches, and letters – such as “Loving Your Enemies”, “Address at the Conclusion of the Selma to Montgomery March”, and “Eulogy for the Martyred Children”. Alternatively, the Parish Life, Peace & Justice Committee can provide one-page summaries of these and many other of Dr. King’s writings / speeches.)

St. Francis of Assisi Parish Life, Peace & Justice Committee

Also, see more articles here…

Life, Peace & Justice Advocacy

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