Social Concerns Column for Sunday, June 5, 2011

A poor man's field may produce abundant food, but injustice sweeps it away. -- Proverbs 13:23
Learn More About Fair Trade.
http://www.crsfairtrade.org

Fair Trade is about fair prices.  It’s about eliminating exploitative middlemen and sharing more of a product’s value with the people who made it.  Fair Trade is about being good stewards of the planet God gave us.   Catholic Relief Services’ Fair Trade program contributes to sustainable development by offering better trading conditions to marginalized producers and workers.  The CRS Fair Trade website helps you pray, learn, act, give (and receive!) in solidarity with artisans and farmers around the world.

Drink Fair Trade Coffee from Livermore Grocery Stores and Cafes. 
Experience great coffee from beans farmed in ecologically responsible ways.  Fair Trade Coffee is sold in all grocery stores in Livermore, in brands ranging from Folgers to Starbucks.  Look for the “Fair Trade Certified” symbol on the package.

Eat Fair Trade Chocolate from Livermore Grocery Stores. 
It is fair to farmers and wonderfully delicious!  We find “Divine” brand chocolate at many Livermore grocery stores, and also several Fair Trade Chocolate brands at Trader Joes.  Hmmmmm!

Give Fair Trade Gifts from Catholic Relief Services.
People love hand-crafted gifts and admire the cause you serve with your purchase.  Order a free catalog (1-800-685-7572) or shop online (www.crsfairtrade.org).

To do what is right and just is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice. -- Proverbs 21:3

Social Concerns Column for May 29, 2011

Stop doing wrong, learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow. --Isaiah 1:16-17

Bishops’ Justice for Immigrants Campaign on Facebook. 
Follow “Justice for Immigrants Campaign” on Facebook and keep updated on the latest developments with the U.S. Catholic Bishops’ campaign for comprehensive immigration reform.  “We are one family under God.”

Catholic Campaign to End the Use of the Death Penalty. 

Blessed John Paul II, when he held the chair of St. Peter, repeatedly called for an end to the use of the death penalty. He called the death penalty “unnecessary” and a painful reminder that our “model of society bears the stamp of the culture of death, and is therefore in opposition to the Gospel message.”  The state of California currently has the option to sentence criminals to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole: a viable alternative to the death penalty.  Visit the US Bishops’s webpage: http://www.usccb.org/deathpenalty

Vatican Issues Report on Science of Climate Change. 

Recently, the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, one of the oldest scientific institutes in the world, issued a report on the impacts for humankind as a result of the global retreat of mountain glaciers as a result of human activity leading to climate change.  The report calls “on all people and nations to recognize the serious and potentially irreversible impacts of global warming caused by the anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases and other pollutants, and by changes in forests, wetlands, grasslands, and other land uses.”  Read the report at: http://catholicclimatecovenant.org

Better is a little with righteousness than great income with injustice. --Proverbs 16:8

Social Concerns Column for May 22, 2011

To do what is right and just is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice. -- Proverbs 21:3

Drink Fair Trade Coffee.  

Experience great coffee from beans farmed in ecologically responsible ways.  Fair Trade Coffee is sold in all grocery stores in Livermore, in brands ranging from Folgers to Starbucks.  Look for the symbol on the package.


Give Fair Trade Gifts. 
People love hand-crafted gifts and admire the cause you serve with your purchase.  Order a free catalog (1-800-685-7572) or shop online (www.crsfairtrade.org).



Eat Fair Trade Chocolate.  
It is fair to farmers and wonderfully delicious!  In Livermore, Debbie Post has found Divine brand chocolate at grocery stores, and also several Fair Trade Chocolate brands at Trader Joes.  Excellent quality!







Learn More About Fair Trade.  

Fair Trade is about fair prices.  It’s about eliminating exploitative middlemen and sharing more of a product’s value with the people who made it.  Fair Trade is about being good stewards of the planet God gave us.   Catholic Relief Services’ Fair Trade program, embraces the idea of Fair Trade as a partnership between producers and consumers.  Fair Trade contributes to sustainable development by offering better trading conditions to, and securing the rights of, marginalized producers and workers.  U.S. Catholics and others of good will have a special role to play in making trade fair and sustainable.  The CRS Fair Trade website is designed to help you pray, learn, act, give (and receive!) in solidarity with artisans and farmers around the world: http://www.crsfairtrade.org

A poor man's field may produce abundant food, but injustice sweeps it away. -- Proverbs 13:23

Social Concerns Column for May 15, 2011

The LORD God then took the man and settled him in the garden of Eden, to cultivate and care for it. – Genesis 2:15

Pope Reflects on Care for Creation During Easter Vigil.  
“Our profession of faith begins with the words: ‘We believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth’. If we omit the beginning of the Credo, the whole history of salvation becomes too limited and too small. The Church is not some kind of association that concerns itself with man’s religious needs but is limited to that objective. No, she brings man into contact with God and thus with the source of all things. Therefore we relate to God as Creator, and so we have a responsibility for creation. Our responsibility extends as far as creation because it comes from the Creator.”  Read the Pope’s Easter homily: http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/homilies/2011/documents/hf_ben-xvi_hom_20110423_veglia-pasquale_en.html

May 15 is the Annual Catholic Charities of the East Bay Appeal.  
The appeal is a major fundraiser to support the programs of CCEB that reach out to and serve the needy. From a handout to a hand up, CCEB's programs include safety net services for those about to lose their homes, those who have had their utilities turned off and those with other, specific one time needs all the way through to employment training for those who are ready to move to a solid place in life.  http://www.cceb.org/

Immigration Day 2011, Sacramento, May 24.  
This year’s motto is “One California: Many Peoples, One Future”.  The Social Justice Coordinator of the Oakland Diocese invites you to celebrate the 15th Annual Immigrant Day. Join immigrants and advocates in a statewide day of advocacy, education and unity.  Immigrant Day 2011 will bring a unified voice to Sacramento in support of policies that advance immigrant integration and prosperity for all Californians: http://www.caimmigrant.org/immigrantday.html

He who despises his neighbor sins, but blessed is he who is kind to the needy.  --Proverbs 14:21