Social Concerns Column for Sunday, March 4, 2012

“Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them…” -- Matthew 11

The Stations of the Cross Around the World with Catholic Relief Services: Station 4 Jesus meets His mother. 
In India, mothers and their infants often do not receive the medical care and adequate nutrition they need for healthy growth and development. CRS is working with local health care workers in India to ensure that mothers and their children receive healthy foods, vitamins and proper immunizations.

Catholic Social Teaching: Option for the Poor.
As a community of faith, we have the obligation to reach out to those most in need. The Gospel specifically calls us to take action on behalf of the most vulnerable members of society. – Courtesy of Catholic Relief Services, http://tinyurl.com/Stations2012

Volunteers for the Livermore Homeless Refuge

Thank You from the Livermore Homeless Refuge. 
Your generous donations have been immediately put to use to serve the homeless of Livermore.  The Refuge has been open over 100 nights since last November, giving our homeless a safe and warm place to sleep, a helping hand, a face of Jesus.  Thanks to the volunteers and supporters from St. Michael and faith based groups of Livermore.  To donate or volunteer, please call Bob and Donna McKenzie, 925-443-7389 or 925-895-4167.

Lenten Contemplation: Poems for Prayer and Pondering. 
JustFaith ministries has a powerful aid for your private devotions entitled “Lenten Poetry Companion”, including tips for praying with poetry and space for journaling.  Online at: http://justfaith.org/GradNet/LentenPoetry.pdf

Fr. Greg Boyle, Christ the King Parish, 6-9pm, March 9th. 
You are invited to a special Lenten event with Fr. Greg Boyle, author of Tattoos on the Heart. 6:00 pm – Soup Supper in Parish Hall. 7:30 – 9:00 pm – Fr. Greg’s Talk and Book Signing.  RSVP by Monday, March 5, to animo3@pacbell.net.




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.

The LORD does righteous deeds, brings justice to all the oppressed. – Psalm 103

Social Concerns Column for Sunday, February 26, 2012

He shows pity to the needy and the poor and saves the lives of the poor. – Psalm 72

Collection for Livermore Homeless Refuge, February 25-26. 
Please put your donations in the boxes located at the entrances to the church.  We need coffee, hot chocolate, cups, plastic forks/spoons/knives, paper plates / bowls, napkins, underwear and socks (men’s and women’s), generic gift cards, toilet paper cleaning supplies, blankets and sleeping bags, etc.  When you are out doing your usual shopping, why not buy one more item for the homeless?  For more information or to ask for pickup, call Bob and Donna McKenzie, 925-443-7389 or 925-895-4167.

The Stations of the Cross Around the World with Catholic Relief Services (CRS). 
Station 3 Jesus falls the 1st time.  In Zambia, 64% of the population has fallen beneath the cross of poverty. Widespread malnutrition and a high prevalence of HIV and AIDS have contributed to this reality.  In Zambia, CRS organizes Savings and Internal Lending Communities (SILC) which help people in the poorest communities earn more money to support their families and set aside savings for the future.  – Courtesy of Catholic Relief Services, http://tinyurl.com/Stations2012

Catholic social teaching: DIGNITY OF WORK AND RIGHTS OF WORKERS. 
The ability to work to earn a living is a right of all people. All workers have the right to a fair wage, to organize themselves, and to work in good conditions.  – Courtesy of Catholic Relief Services, http://tinyurl.com/Stations2012

Bishop Cordileone Endorses Two Pro-Life Ballot Initiatives: Please Sign Petitions. 
All California bishops encourage all Catholics to support these two pro-life efforts. Please help get the word out and sign petitions. (1) The Parental Notification Initiative (www.CAParentalRights.org) requires doctors to notify a parent before performing an abortion on a girl age 17 or younger. (2) The SAFE California Act (www.safecalifornia.org) will replace California’s death penalty with a sentence of life in prison with no chance of parole as the maximum punishment for murder.  This means convicted killers will remain behind bars forever – with no risk of executing an innocent person. And save considerable tax payer money.

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.

He has sent me to bring glad tidings to the lowly, to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives and release to the prisoners,  -- Isaiah 61

Social Concerns Column for Sunday, February 19, 2012

He who shuts his ear to the cry of the poor will himself also call and not be heard.
Proverbs 21:13

Collection for Livermore Homeless Refuge, February 25-26. 
Please put your donations in the boxes located at the entrances to the church.  We need coffee, hot chocolate, cups, plastic forks/spoons/knives, paper plates / bowls, napkins, underwear and socks (men’s and women’s), generic gift cards, toilet paper cleaning supplies, blankets and sleeping bags, etc.  When you are out doing your usual shopping, why not buy one more item for the homeless?  For more information, call Bob and Donna McKenzie, 925-443-7389 or 925-895-4167.

The Stations of the Cross Around the World with Catholic Relief Services (CRS). 
Station 2 Jesus carries the cross.  In rural El Salvador, women and children walk for hours each day to the river to retrieve and carry water that will be used for cooking, bathing and drinking.  When CRS helped build a well in rural El Salvador, 130 families in El Pedregal gained access to clean water in their homes.
http://orb.crs.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/ORB-2012-Stations-of-the-Cross.pdf

Catholic Social Teaching: RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES.
We must take responsibility to protect the rights of all people. These rights include the right to life, food, water, shelter, education, and employment, along with political and cultural rights.

Pope on Justice, Life, Truth. 
“America first proclaimed its independence on the basis of self-evident moral truths. America will remain a beacon of freedom for the world as long as it stands by those moral truths which are the very heart of its historical experience.  And so America: If you want peace, work for justice. If you want justice, defend life. It you want life, embrace the truth, the truth revealed by God."  -- Pope John Paul II, St. Louis, Missouri, January 1999

First Fridays for Food Security. 
For the past ten months, Catholics in the U.S. have been fasting on First Fridays in solidarity with persons living in poverty in the U.S.  Your challenge: feed your family for the entire day with about $5 per person.  You will likely go hungry, so this is a great discipline for Lent.  Learn more at: http://tinyurl.com/FirstFridayFast2012

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.

You have been told, what is good, and what the LORD requires of you: Only to do the right and to love goodness, and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8

Social Concerns Column for Sunday, February 12, 2012

Volunteers at the Livermore Homeless Refuge

Religion that is pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained by the world. – James 1:27

Collection for Livermore Homeless Refuge, February 25-26. 
Please put your donations in the boxes located at the entrances to the church.  We need coffee, hot chocolate, cups, plastic forks/spoons/knives, paper plates / bowls, napkins, underwear and socks (men’s and women’s), generic gift cards, toilet paper cleaning supplies, blankets and sleeping bags, etc.  When you are out doing your usual shopping, why not buy one more item for the homeless?  For more information, call Bob and Donna McKenzie, 925-443-7389 or 925-895-4167.

The Stations of the Cross Around the World with Catholic Relief Services (CRS)
Station 1 Jesus is condemned.  In Madagascar, the majority of the population live in rural areas and work as subsistence farmers. Ineffective farming techniques, limited sanitation systems and frequent droughts have condemned more than half of the population to live below the poverty line.  Catholic Relief Services has worked with the Malagasy people to improve farming methods and foster environmental sustainability in rural communities throughout the country.

Catholic Social Teaching: Care for God’s Creation. 
We are called to be good stewards of what has been entrusted to us. Through protecting the environment in which we live, we respect the goodness of nature, a gift God has given.  -- Catholic Relief Services

Tri-Valley Charities Need Your Time! 
Do you have a New Year’s resolution to do something for the needy of our community? 

* St. Vincent de Paul: work at food locker or help desk (Rich Mueller, richmca@hotmail.com),

* Livermore Homeless Refuge: staff a night shift (Bob and Donna McKenzie, 925-443-7389 or 925-895-4167),

* Open Heart Kitchen: prepare and serve hot meals once a month (925-580-6793).

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.

The Lord sets prisoners free; the Lord gives sight to the blind. The Lord rises up those who are bowed down; the Lord loves the righteous. – Psalm 146