Social Concerns Column for Sunday, December 11, 2011

Hate evil, love good, and establish justice in the courts. --Amos 5:15

Call 2-1-1 for Help in Alameda County. 

2-1-1 is a free, non-emergency, confidential, 3-digit phone number and service that provides easy access to housing information and critical health and human services 24 hours a day.  2-1-1 is available in 140 languages!  For more information visit: http://www.211alamedacounty.org

¿NECESITA AYUDA?
http://www.211alamedacounty.org/2-1-1-languages.html
2-1-1 provee información GRATIS - por teléfono - in Español, sobre viviendas, salud y servicios sociales disponibles en el condado de Alameda.

Catholic Social Teaching: Care for God’s Creation. 

Care for the earth is not just an Earth Day slogan, it is a requirement of our faith. We are called to protect people and the planet, living our faith in relationship with all of God’s creation.  -- Sharing Catholic Social Teaching: Challenges and Directions, U.S. Bishops, 1998.  Learn more from the US Bishops (http://tinyurl.com/BishopsSocialTeaching) and the Vatican (http://tinyurl.com/CatholicSocialTeaching).

Holiday Waste Reduction Tips from California: A Season for Giving, Not for Discarding. 

The State of California asks you to help make this a green Christmas with many practical tips.  For example: (1) Give a gift card and eliminate fancy wrapping paper. (2) Send an e-card instead of a paper card.  (3) Check your tire pressure before going to visit grandma.  (4) Repurpose old holiday cards into gift tags, bookmarks, decorations; tie a ribbon through a hole in the top of the card for a fun tree decoration.  (5) Buy local and reduce your carbon footprint.  (6) Buy rechargeable batteries. And more and more!  Visit: http://www.calrecycle.ca.gov/PublicEd/Holidays

“God destined the earth and all it contains for all people and nations so that all created things would be shared fairly by all humankind under the guidance of justice tempered by charity.”  -- The Church in the Modern World, #69

Would you like to pursue a social justice project? 
The St. Michael Parish Social Concerns Ministry would like to help you to help others!  We recently attended a respect life, restorative justice and social justice workshop at the Cathedral of Christ the Light and have many resources for you.  Call Joanne, 443-1422.

"So I will come near to you for judgment. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers, against those who defraud laborers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and deprive aliens of justice, but do not fear me," says the LORD Almighty. --Malachi 3:5