Social Concerns Column for Sunday, September 4, 2011

 If you lend money to one of your poor neighbors among my people, you shall not act like an extortioner toward him by demanding interest from him.  --Exodus 22:24

Microlending Helps People to Help Themselves up and out of poverty.  You can invest in a hardworking individual or group in a developing country for just $25.  Because this is a loan, not a handout, you will get the money back.  The Kiva website makes it extremely easy: http://www.kiva.org

Meet Entrepeneur Madame Faty of Senegal.  
Through the Kiva microlending website, the St. Michael Social Concerns Ministry recently made a loan to the Begg Thierno Group in Senegal, a women's partnership in perfume and fruit sales.  Madame Faty is 35 years old, married with one child. This loan will enable her to purchase a greater variety of perfume in order to expand her small business.  Visit our microloan site to learn more: http://www.kiva.org/team/st_michael_parish_social_concerns_ministry/loans

Building Communities of Salt and Light: Developing Effective Social Ministry (Sat, Nov 5, 9am-3pm, Christ the Light Cathedral Conference Center).  
If you are a looking to make your parish's Social Justice or Respect Life Ministry more effective this conference is for you.  The Diocese of Oakland's Office for Life and Justice in partnership with Catholic Relief Service and JustFaith Ministries will be hosting a special training for Social Justice and Respect Life Ministers at Christ the Light Cathedral Conference Center in Oakland .  Tom Ulrich, Direct for Parish Outreach at Catholic Relief Service and author of Strategies for Success: Parish Social Ministry will lead a discussion around how to develop thriving parish social ministry.  For more information: John Watkins (jwatkins@oakdiocese.org, 510-267-8379).

10th Anniversary Observance of 9/11 Attacks.  
The San Francisco Interfaith Council is joining forces with Mayor Ed Lee's office and the San Francisco Opera to convene the 10th anniversary observance of the 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States . This observance will be held in concert with the San Francisco Opera's annual Opera in the Park, scheduled for 2:00 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 11, 2011, in Sharon Meadows, Golden Gate Park.

Would you like to pursue a social justice project? The St. Michael Parish Social Concerns Ministry would like to help you to help others!  Call Joanne, 443-1422.

Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. --Psalm 82:3