Social Concerns Column for April 24, 2011, Easter Sunday

He who is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward him for what he has done.  -- Proverbs 19:17

Microlending Makes a Difference.  
The St. Michael Parish Social Concerns Ministry has joined with eighty-one lenders around the world to fund a $3,550 loan to the ladies of St. Joseph Group in Senegal.  Our loan was made through Kiva, a well established microlending agency (www.kiva.org).  The nine ladies of St. Joseph Group  raise pigs and run small businesses.  Mrs. Emilie Ciss (standing at far left) is married with four children.  She sells biscuits and dairy products; with this loan, she will expand her business to better feed her family and increase her savings.  See our Kiva portfolio at: http://www.kiva.org/team/st_michael_parish_social_concerns_ministry

Next English Tutor Training is April 30th.  
We have partnered with the Livermore Public Library’s excellent and popular program to help adults improve their spoken English skills.  If you speak English, you have all the skills you need to tutor.  YOU DO NOT NEED TO BE BILINGUAL.  You will be paired with a St. Michael parishioner who is eager to improve their spoken English.  We ask for two hours of your time per week, scheduled at your convenience. Contact Joanne Angvick, 443-1422, joangvick@sbcglobal.net

Justice Flows from Prayer and Eucharist.  
“The most important setting for the Church’s social teaching is not in a food pantry or in a legislative committee room, but in prayer and worship, especially gathered around the altar for the Eucharist."  --from "Communities of Salt and Light: Reflections on the Social Mission of the Parish," U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, January 1996, Pg. 3, http://www.usccb.org/sdwp/saltandlight.shtml

A generous man will himself be blessed, for he shares his food with the poor.  --
Proverbs 22:9