Social Concerns Column for Sunday, November 13, 2011

Thus has the LORD of hosts said, 'Dispense true justice and practice kindness and compassion each to his brother; do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the alien or the poor. In your hearts do not think evil of each other.' --Zechariah 7:9

Catholic Social Teaching: Option for the Poor and Vulnerable. 
In a society marred by deepening divisions between rich and poor, our tradition recalls the story of the Last Judgment (Matthew 25:31-46) and instructs us to put the needs of the poor and vulnerable first.  -- Sharing Catholic Social Teaching: Challenges and Directions, U.S. Bishops

Church Social Teaching Resources: 
Learn more from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (http://tinyurl.com/BishopsSocialTeaching) and the Vatican (http://tinyurl.com/CatholicSocialTeaching).

Livermore Homeless Refuge Needs Volunteers to Clean Up.  
We need volunteers of any age to pitch in and clean up the host churches every two weeks as we move from one church to the next. The LHR has no permanent home; rather, churches around Livermore volunteer their facilities for two week stints.  Cleaning would be on a Saturday morning for about 90 minutes (depending on how many people come).  Cleaning involves wiping down, mopping and vacuuming the kitchen, bathroom, and room where our guests stay.  Are you a teen looking for service hours?  Are you a family who wants to pitch in together? Anyone willing to donate their time is welcome.  You can volunteer once, a few times, or come regularly.  We are very grateful for any time you can give.  Please call us: Donna & Bob McKenzie, 925-443-7389 or 925-895-4167

Fair Trade Gift Sale a Success!  
Thanks to all of you who stopped by our table in the courtyard in mid-October.  You purchased products direct from artisans in Peru, Ecuador, USA, India, Cambodia, Chile, Bangladesh, Israel, etc.  You have helped these artisans and their families make a living.  Missed the sale?  You can order online year round at: http://www.crsfairtrade.org/

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

Social Concerns Column for Sunday, November 6, 2011

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

Livermore Homeless Refuge Needs Volunteers to Staff Night Shift.  

The Refuge opened its doors on November 1st to provide shelter to the approximately one hundred homeless men and women of Livermore. When the weather forecast is for rain or temperatures below 40 degrees, the Refuge is open all night to literally prevent deaths by exposure.  At this time, the Refuge most needs your time to staff shifts from evening, through the night, to early morning.  For more information, please contact Bob and Donna, 925-443-7389 or 925-895-4167

Catholic Social Teaching: Solidarity.  
We are all one human family, and we are responsible for the well-being of each other.  This responsibility reaches across national, racial, ethnic, economic, and ideological differences.  Indifference to the pain and suffering of others has no place in our interdependent society.  We are all responsible for all.  Learning to practice the virtue of solidarity means that ‘loving our neighbor’ has global dimensions in an interdependent world.  -- 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).

Oakland Diocese Website for Social Justice.  

The Diocese of Oakland’s Office for Life and Justice supports social justice, respect life and restorative justice in parishes, deaneries, schools, ethnic centers and other institutions, recognizing that our efforts in education, service, advocacy, and solidarity are an essential aspect of the Christian life.  Their redesigned website showcases current issues and ministries:
Gabriel Project (a ministry to support pregnant mothers and their unborn children),  
After The Choice (a post-abortion healing ministry), 
JustFaith Ministries (faith formation programs for social ministry),
Change for Life (baby bottle fundraising program),
Action Alerts (to enlist voters on legislation with moral implications),
and much more. Visit the website at: http://www.oakdiocese.org/ministries/social-justice

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.

I know that the LORD secures justice for the poor and upholds the cause of the needy. --Psalm 140:12

Social Concerns Column for Sunday, October 30, 2011

And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? -- Luke 18:7

Livermore Homeless Refuge Needs Volunteers to Staff Night Shift.  

The Refuge opens its doors on November 1st and will provide shelter to the approximately one hundred homeless men and women of Livermore. When the weather forecast is for rain or temperatures below 40 degrees, the Refuge is open all night to literally prevent deaths by exposure.  At this time, the Refuge most needs your time to staff shifts from evening, through the night, to early morning.  For more information, please contact Bob or Donna, 925-443-7389 or 925-895-4167

Catholic Social Teaching: Life and Dignity of the Human Person.  
Made in the image and likeness of God, all persons are sacred.  Belief in the sanctity of human life and inherent dignity of each person is the foundation of all of our social teachings.  Today this value is threatened by abortion, assisted suicide, euthanasia, the death penalty, and the many ways in which people are treated with disregard for their human dignity.  -- Sharing Catholic Social Teaching: Challenges and Directions, U.S. Bishops, 1998.  Learn more from the Vatican at http://tinyurl.com/CatholicSocialTeaching

First Friday Fast for Food Security is a campaign by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.  
Try cutting back to $3 per person for food on the First Friday of the month: you may go hungry, just like people on food stamps.  Why not donate the money you do not spend on food to St. Vincent de Paul or your local soup kitchen?  Learn the details on Facebook ("First Fridays for Food Security") or http://usccb.org/sdwp/Fasting-Resource-Intro-May-6.pdf

Building Communities of Salt and Light: Developing Effective Pro-Life and Social Ministry (November 5th).
The Diocese of Oakland’s Office for Life and Justice will be hosting a special training for Social Justice and Respect Life Ministers.  Tom Ulrich, Director for Parish Outreach at Catholic Relief Service, will lead a discussion around how to develop thriving parish social ministry.  Sat, Nov 5th, 9am – 3pm, Christ the Light Cathedral Conference Center, Oakland.  For more information: John Watkins (jwatkins@oakdiocese.org, 510-267-8379).  For carpooling from St. Michael, call Joanne, 443.1422.

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.

Follow justice and justice alone, so that you may live and possess the land the LORD your God is giving you. --Deuteronomy 16:20

Social Concerns Column for Sunday, October 23, 2011

And in the same town was a widow who repeatedly came and entreated him, saying, "Give me justice and stop my oppressor." --Luke 18:3

About Catholic Social Justice.  

 We as Catholics are called to bring the healing hand of Christ to those in need, the courageous voice of the prophet to those in power, and the gospel message of love, justice and peace to a suffering world.  Learn more from the US Bishops (http://tinyurl.com/BishopsSocialTeaching) and the Vatican (http://tinyurl.com/CatholicSocialTeaching).  -- Diocesan Social Action Office of Cleveland, Ohio, "Overview of Catholic Social Teaching"

Next English Language Tutor Training is October 29, 9am - 4pm.

We have partnered with the Livermore Public Library’s excellent and popular program to help adults improve their English skills.  If you speak English, you have all the skills you need to tutor a fellow St. Michael parishioner.  By helping an adult become fluent in English, you will equip them to prosper in our society.  The time commitment is about two hours per week.  You do NOT have to be bilingual.  Interested?  Call Joanne Angvick, 443-1422.

Building Communities of Salt and Light: Developing Effective Pro-Life and Social Ministry (November 5th).   

The Diocese of Oakland’s Office for Life and Justice will be hosting a special training for Social Justice and Respect Life Ministers.  Tom Ulrich, Director for Parish Outreach at Catholic Relief Service, will lead a discussion around how to develop thriving parish social ministry.  Sat, Nov 5th, 9am – 3pm, Christ the Light Cathedral Conference Center, Oakland.  For more information: John Watkins (jwatkins@oakdiocese.org, 510-267-8379).  For carpooling from St. Michael, call Joanne, 443.1422.

Franciscan Action Network and Catholic Climate Covenant: FAQ on Global Climate Change.   

"Why is climate change an issue for people of faith? For those of us in economically developed countries, we must examine the ethic of responsible use of the world’s resources. Climate change will demand of us a more responsible lifestyle that uses less of the world’s resources so that we can share the gifts of creation more fully with those at the margins of human development. For the sake of God’s creation, for the poor and for all of us, we must learn to live more sustainably."  -- Read more FAQs under "Care for Creation" tab at: http://www.franciscanaction.org

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 will judge the world in righteousness; he will govern the peoples with justice. --Psalm 9:8

Social Concerns Column for Sunday, October 16, 2011

He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. --Micah 6:8

Fair Trade Gift Sale, Sunday, Oct 16, 8am - 1pm, courtyard.  
Miss the sale?  You can order Fair Trade Gifts any time of the year at www.crsfairtrade.org.  Fairly traded chocolate, coffee and tea are available year round in groceries stores in Livermore.  Just look for the Fair Trade logo.

Next English Language Tutor Training is October 29, 9am - 4pm.  
We have partnered with the Livermore Public Library's excellent and popular program to help adults improve their English skills.  If you speak English, you have all the skills you need to tutor a fellow St. Michael parishioner.  By helping an adult become fluent in English, you will equip them to prosper in our society.  The time commitment is about two hours per week.  You do NOT have to be bilingual.  Interested?  Call Joanne, 443-1422.

One Human Family.  
"Give to the emperor the things that are the emperor's and to God the things that are God's." (Mt 22:15-22)  What belongs to God?  Everything belongs to God -- creation itself, the goods of the earth, the allegiance of the human heart, the destiny of our world.  The fundamental obligation to share the vital goods of the earth with our brothers and sisters is founded in this teaching of Jesus.  -- Rev. Donald Senior, Catholic Theological Union, Chicago.

Today is World Food Day.  
WFD is a worldwide event designed to increase awareness, understanding and informed,  year-around action to alleviate hunger.  Learn more at: http://www.worldfooddayusa.org

Workers in the Vineyard: Developing Effective Respect Life and Social Justice Ministry  (November 5th).  The Diocese of Oakland's Office for Life and Justice will be hosting a special training for Social Justice and Respect Life Ministers on Sat, Nov 5th, 9am - 3pm, Christ the Light Cathedral Conference Center, Oakland.  For more information: John Watkins (jwatkins@oakdiocese.org, 510-267-8379, http://www.oakdiocese.org/ministries/social-justice).  For carpooling from St. Michael, call Joanne, 443.1422.

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. 

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

Social Concerns Column for Sunday, October 9, 2011

The righteous care about justice for the poor, but the wicked have no such concern. --Proverbs 29:7

Fair Trade Gift Sale, Sunday, Oct 16, 8am - 1pm, courtyard.  
Why buy fairly traded crafts, chocolate, coffee and tea?  When you purchase products marked "Fair Trade", the artisan or farmer is guaranteed a living wage.  Catholic Relief Services is there in the community, helping people to help themselves up and out of poverty.  Your purchases are not a handout, but an act of partnership between producer and consumer.  You are giving the gift of the dignity of work to the artisan and farmer.

JPII on the Dignity of Work.  
"Awareness that man's work is a participation in God's activity ought to permeate even the most ordinary everyday activities. For, while providing the substance of life for themselves and their families, men and women are performing their activities in a way which appropriately benefits society. They can justly consider that by their labor they are unfolding the Creator's work, consulting the advantages of their brothers and sisters, and contributing by their personal industry to the realization in history of the divine plan."  -- Blessed John Paul II, Laborem Exercens (On Work)

Next English Language Tutor Training is October 29, 9am - 4pm.  
We have partnered with the Livermore Public Library’s excellent and popular program to help adults improve their English skills.  If you speak English, you have all the skills you need to tutor a fellow St. Michael parishioner.  By helping an adult become fluent in English, you will equip them to prosper in our society.  The time commitment is about two hours per week.  You do NOT have to be bilingual.  Interested?  Call Joanne, 443-1422.

Social Justice and Faith.  
"The work for social justice is first and foremost a work of faith, a profoundly religious task. It is Jesus who calls us to this mission, not any political or ideological agenda."  -- Diocesan Social Action Office of Cleveland, Ohio, "Overview of Catholic Social Teaching"

Catholic Social Teaching Resources: 
Learn more from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (http://tinyurl.com/BishopsSocialTeaching) and the Vatican (http://tinyurl.com/CatholicSocialTeaching).

Building Communities of Salt and Light: Developing Effective Pro-Life and Social Ministry (November 5th).
The Diocese of Oakland’s Office for Life and Justice will be hosting a special training for Social Justice and Respect Life Ministers.  Tom Ulrich, Director for Parish Outreach at Catholic Relief Service, will lead a discussion around how to develop thriving parish social ministry.  Sat, Nov 5th, 9am – 3pm, Christ the Light Cathedral Conference Center, Oakland.  For more information: John Watkins (jwatkins@oakdiocese.org, 510-267-8379).  For carpooling from St. Michael, call Joanne, 443.1422.

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. 

This is what the LORD says: Do what is just and right. Rescue from the hand of his oppressor the one who has been robbed. Do no wrong or violence to the alien, the fatherless or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place. --Jeremiah 22:3

Social Concerns Column for Sunday, October 2, 2011

He will defend the afflicted among the people and save the children of the needy; he will crush the oppressor. --Psalm 72:4

Fair Trade Gift Sale, Sunday, Oct 16, 8am - 1pm, courtyard.  
Why buy fairly traded crafts, chocolate, coffee and tea?  When you purchase products marked "Fair Trade", the artisan or farmer is guaranteed a living wage.

The Feast of St. Francis, October 4, 2011: Take the Pledge.  
The Catholic Coalition on Climate Change (http://catholicclimatecovenant.org) challenges us to take their St. Francis Pledge to:

• PRAY and reflect on the duty to care for God’s Creation and protect the poor and vulnerable.
• LEARN about and educate others on the causes and moral dimensions of climate change.
• ASSESS how we-as individuals and in our families, parishes and other affiliations-contribute to climate change by our own energy use, consumption, waste, etc.
• ACT to change our choices and behaviors to reduce the ways we contribute to climate change.
• ADVOCATE for Catholic principles and priorities in climate change discussions and decisions, especially as they impact those who are poor and vulnerable.

Next English Language Tutor Training is October 29, 9am - 4pm.  
We have partnered with the Livermore Public Library’s excellent and popular program to help adults improve their English skills.  If you speak English, you have all the skills you need to tutor a fellow St. Michael parishioner.  The time commitment is about two hours per week.  Interested?  Call Joanne Angvick, 443-1422.

Building Communities of Salt and Light: Developing Effective Pro-Life and Social Ministry (November 5th).
The Diocese of Oakland is hosting this event for Social Justice and Respect Life Ministers on Sat, Nov 5th, 9am – 3pm, Christ the Light Cathedral Conference Center, Oakland.  For more information: John Watkins (jwatkins@oakdiocese.org, 510-267-8379).

What is Catholic Social Teaching?  
Catholic Social Teaching is a collection of teachings that are designed to reflect the Church’s social mission in response to the challenges of the day. The teachings are rooted in biblical values and reflections on Christian tradition.  This tradition calls all members of the Church, rich and poor alike, to work to eliminate the occurrence and effect of poverty, to speak out against injustice, and to shape a more caring society and a more peaceful world.  Learn more from the US Bishops (http://tinyurl.com/BishopsSocialTeaching) and the Vatican (http://tinyurl.com/CatholicSocialTeaching).



Helping Others
The St. Michael Parish Social Concerns Ministry would like to help you to help others!  Call Joanne, 443-1422. 

He does execute justice for the fatherless and widow, and loves the foreigner, in giving him food and clothing. --Deuteronomy 10:18