Social Justice Standing Committee Meeting Minutes Our Lady of the Angels Pastoral Regional Council Regional OfficesOctober 14, 2007
Present:Deacon Hosea Alexander, Hortense Bradley, Terry Dicks, Deacon Guy Wauthy, Helene Wauthy
Dcn. AlexanderandHortense Bradley are members of the OLA Regional Council.Guests Terry Dicks, Deacon Guy Wauthy and Helene Wauthy are members ofthe St. Jerome Parish Pastoral Council.
Absent:Berenice Escobedo, Loraine DeJesus
The meeting began with an introduction of guests and committee members present.
Hortense Bradley led the Question of the Week Reflection on the past Sunday’s Gospel.
Copies of the Synod Initiative VI were distributed and read to revisit the purpose of the committee’s existence and its call to service to the faithful throughout the region.There was discussion on what it means to become “a People of Communion and Justice for the life of the world” and how our Regional Council can best assist the faithful in responding to God’s call to do so. Issues of peace and justice include feeding the hungry, housing the poor, providing shelter for the homeless, promoting the common human dignity of a living wage and fair trade among nations, visiting and assisting the imprisoned … (Notice the use of action verbs.)
Noted was the need for communication between our Regional Council and parishes. Discussion identified the need to facilitate widespread dissemination of information on Catholic social teaching and sharing what individual parishes are doing in their social justice ministries. An effort should be made especially to inform Just Faith groups in individual parishes of activities planned both at the archdiocesan level and within local parishes.Visits to the archdiocesan Office of Justice and Peace web site’s “News Blast” must be encouraged and promoted.
Dcn. Guy recommended that because pastors are so busy, each parish should designate a social justice point person and forward the name to the regional office so that information may be easily targeted to the right people. He further noted the need to make the faithful aware ofthe
United States’ bishops’ stands taken on justice and peace issues. Additionally, he suggested the Regional Council strongly encourage each parish pastoral council to dedicate one meeting to introduce the social justice document “Communities of Salt and Light.”Hortense noted that the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops makes available on its web site a wealth of information on important church teaching regarding social justice. Also, the regional council’s blog should be promoted at each parish and used for interactive discussion of issues.Terry cautioned that the promotion of social justice awareness should not be so narrowly focused on the hot button issue of immigration.She said that social justice incorporates so many other important concerns of equality, mutuality, and interdependence, such as racism and prejudice.Dcn. Guy added to the list : living wage issues, detention outreach, poverty, fair trade issues.It was suggested that parishes also need to go beyond reading and studying and theorizing about the call to justice.Parishes must broaden their vision beyond local boundaries to include active concern for
Darfur and other such challenges to peace and justice globally.At the same time, however, our approach must consider that “we cannot solve injustice over there unless and until we deal with it here.”Dcn. Guy strongly recommended the promotion of and organizing the Just Faith program in each parish in the region.It is an excellent instrument of combining personal spirituality with a studied understanding of our call to justice.He recognized that the program’s current length of 30 weeks can be intimidating to some. A measure of balance needs to be maintained, however, between the need for knowledge and study of social justice and the call to activism.One should not overtake the other.It is not enough to just study about just faith. One must put the knowledge gained and the accompanying heightened spiritualitythat Just Faith nurtures into some kind of action. Consequently, a call to activism is equally important.Too much activism, however, can lead to burnout, and too much information can lead to being overwhelmed and inaction.Terry Dicks added that people want bare bones information that does not require a lot of reading. The regional council’s communication should reach people “where they are,” being sensitive to what may be a limited knowledge base and the many demands upon their time. Hortense Bradley suggested that with the Just Faith program, perhaps the objective should be two-pronged: emphasize knowledge and spirituality and devote greater attention to the natural need to act on that inspiration.Dcn. Alexander suggested that a review of Census data on the population within our region would reveal needs of neighborhood communities for which parishes can provide outreach.He noted that his parish, The Holy Name of Jesus, determined from a study of census data that people in their surrounding community would benefit from health fairs.His parish conducted such fairs and received positive community feedback. The following recommendations to be presented to the council were made:*A letter from Bishop Solis with a personal salutation to the pastor and one to the parish council contact requesting that each parish council have a liaison for the purpose of receiving and sharing information on social justice issues and activities.This letter should also articulate Synod Initiative VI.*Respectfully ask each parish for feedback on the status of their social justice ministry.Do they offer Just Faith? Offer any assistance they may need from the regional council.*Gather information from parishes with active social justice ministries: What are they doing? What has the response been?*The regional council sponsors a speaker on Human Dignity inviting all parishes to attend.*The regional council should touch base with the Archdiocese’s Office of Justice and Peace for guidance and resources.*Discuss the possibility of establishing a Health Cabinet for the region to promote fair and equal accessibility to healthcare.Hortense Bradley stressed the critical need for more of the faithful throughout the region to join not only the Regional Council’s Social Justice Committee, but the other five committees as well: “Evangelization and New Evangelization,” “Structures for Participation and Accountability,” “Ongoing Education and Formation ,” “Ministry and Leadership,”“Eucharistic and Sacramental Living.” The documents of the historic Synod of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles 2003 are published in “Gathered and Sent.” The meeting adjourned with the Prayer for the Synod of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.Respectfully submitted,Hortense BradleyHortense Bradley