Social Justice
Our PARISH SOCIAL JUSTICE group will meet on Thurs. July 23 at 7PM in the parish office dining room. All are welcome!
Future meeting dates: (2009/2010) Aug. 20, Sept. 24, Oct. 22, Dec. 3, Jan. 28th, Feb. 26, Mar. 26, Apr. 23, May 28
The St. Wenceslaus Parish Social Justice group usually meets on the fourth Thursday of the month at 7:00 in the parish house dining room. Newcomers are always welcome.
Our current work is in support of
• recycling efforts at our parish festival in August
• agriculture in Scott County
• Guatemala and Red Lake missions
• The Dorothy Day soup kitchen
• Informing parishioners about Catholic social teachings
• The Joint Religious Coalition Day on the Hill
For more information on the St. Wenceslaus Social Justice group, please contact one of the following: Mary Higgins 758-0464 Ann Christy 758-3133
12-4-08 Meeting Report: We met at 7:00 in the Faith Formation office. Those present were Ann Christy, Kathy Doyle, Andrea Gibbs, Joan Goggins, Sr. Ginny Heldorfer, Mary Higgins, Sally Rademacher, Norb Sticha and Mary Zweber.
Ann Christy is planning to have her 8th graders make bowls using the Empty Bowl program for the soup supper in February. The bowls will be offered for a donation, to benefit the Dorothy Day Center. We will bring out some of the materials that we used for the soup supper last year.
The Joint Religious Legislative Coalition Day on the Hill will be Feb. 3. The JRLC is accepting registrations on line. Last year several members of our group attended. Ann is planning to invite a couple of her students again this year.
We will be sponsoring an environmental fair on Sunday, April 19 in the PAC. We talked about ways to get people involved and ideas for presenters.
Sally will be checking with Mike Sand about barrels for our recycling project. We would like St. Wenceslaus youth to help paint them. Mary H will check with the festival Top Six to ask permission to put out recycling barrels and Joan will check with the Chamber of Commerce concerning doing the same for Dozinky.
We decided that our next meeting would be on Thurs., Jan. 15 at 7:00 in the parish office dining room.
Several other parishioners joined us to discuss the parish response to the Freedom of Choice Act, which would wipe out most restrictions on abortions. We developed an action plan and Mary H. will get together an email group and list of names and phone numbers.
Report on Cedar Summit farm trip: The folks who went to Cedar Summit farm on Sunday September 21 were treated to a tour of the farm, including pastures and milking parlor, sustainable, organic agriculture in action. The Local Harvest Alliance was on hand to talk about the importance of locally grown food and answer questions. Cedar Summit Farm uses rotational grazing and processes their own milk, chocolate milk, cream, and ice cream. People had a chance to view the barns and the processing hall from the window of the farm store and see cows nursing their calves. Proceeds from sales of freshly made ice cream benefit the Local Harvest Alliance, which advocates to keep agriculture alive and well in Scott County. Eric and Lisa Schmid were there to share their composting worms and there were games for the kids.
St. Wenceslaus Social Justice Group Summary Report from Meeting, September 25, 2008
Next meeting Thursday, October 23, 7 pm, parish dining room.
Guest: Mike Sand Mike Sand told us about the recycling business he operates in St. Cloud and gave us many interesting details about recycling in general. We learned a lot about plastic recycling. He suggested that if we wanted to get involved in recycling projects, we should consider concentrating on aluminum and paper, since they are two very valuable resources.
Sally Rademacher will talk to Eric Schmid, who has expressed interest in a paper recycling drive. As a group, we will explore the idea of recycling at our parish festival and Dozinky. This will be a project we will develop over the year, and Mike will provide us with assistance. We hope to get parish youth involved. This is a very brief summary of one and a half hours of listening and discussion. We’ll share more details as the year goes on and committee members there are excited about beginning this effort. Sally has tried to get some information from New Prague Sanitary on how we could help our parishioners to be better recyclers but hasn’t met with a good response.
Sr. Ginny reported on the Cedar Summit event. She felt it went very well. There were approximately 60 people in attendance, about 2/3 of them children. This is an event that we would like to do again, probably in a couple of years. Suggestions for future reference were to divide into two tours if the group is large, work with younger children during the first part of the tour before the animals are involved, and give the Local Harvest Alliance an opportunity to present to the adults.
We will be putting in bulletin inserts each week from now until the election. We have the first week covered and need volunteers for future weeks. This can be done on Friday afternoons.
We will be sponsoring the pillow cleaning fund raiser on Sat. Oct. 4. We need a total of 4 people to work. We are advertising in the New Prague Times, church bulletins, flyers around town, and on KCHK.
We found out that we have been given $500 from the St. Wenceslaus endowment and we will be discussing how to best use the funds.
We will support Adopt-a-family again this year but will not be making any new materials. Sr. Ginny has invited Kathy McNamara to do a bulletin column, and we will reuse the display items we made last year.
Our next two meetings will be on October 23 and December 4.
What are Catholic Social Teachings? They are understandings of what it means to live the Gospel in our relationships with one another in family, community and the world. They call us not only to be charitable, but also to recognize, challenge and change social structures that are unjust.
Where do they come from? They come from the teachings of the popes and bishops, but even more basically from scripture and from the evolving understanding of the Jewish and then Christian peoples of how we are called to live in community.
Can you name them? There is no one definitive list of teachings, like there is for the Ten Commandments. The Catholic Bishops of the United States have summarized them as follows:
1. The Life and Dignity of the Human Person – All life is sacred, from conception to natural death.
2. Call to Family, Community and Participation – We humans grow and thrive only by interacting with others in friendships, families, and community. This principle emphasizes peace among all peoples.
3. Rights and Responsibilities - All people have basic rights. All people have the basic responsibility to respect other’s rights and to work actively and live for the common good.
4. Option for the Poor and Vulnerable - We are called as Christians to respond to the needs of all our brothers and sisters, especially the poor, by practicing both acts of charity and acts of social justice that encourage society to meet all people’s basic needs.
5. The Dignity of Work and Rights of Workers - Every person has the right to work as a way of contributing with dignity to God’s creation. The economy exists to serve people, not the other way around.
6. Solidarity - We are one human family regardless of race, nationality, or religion. We are obligated to work for peace and justice globally.
7. Care for Creation - The goods of this world are meant to be shared by all. We are called to respect and take care of our Earth, including preserving the Earth for the future.
How important are they? The bishops tell us that they are as important as studying the scriptures, following Church rules, receiving the sacraments, and attending Mass. They are not optional for Catholics. They are a necessary part of living out our Catholic faith.
How can I learn more? We have a parish social justice group, people who are working with parish staff and programs to highlight Catholic Social Teachings. They have worked hard to share the story of our parish involvement with Guatemalan missions this weekend (see the showcase and displays in the Parish activity Center!), and they have other projects in line. Watch for their presentations. Or join them!
When? Where? Who? Our parish social justice group meets on the fourth Thursday of the month in the parish dining room at 7:00. Visitors and new members are always welcome.
St. Wenceslaus Parish Social Justice group: Nick and Pat Benson, Ann Christy, Kathy Doyle, Andrea Gibbs, Joan Goggins, Casey Heid, Mary Higgins, Susan Karan, Dave and Florence Minar, Sally Radermacher, Dave Sticha, Norb Sticha, and Mary Zweber
Call
Mary Higgins 758-0464
Ann Christy 758-3133
for more information.
