Materials for
Lent:
Lenten Journey to Justice with the
Catholic Campaign Against Poverty
What are they:
The
ongoing group that was meeting on global poverty prepared six weeks of
Lenten materials for the bulletins of our parishes, schools, and for the
web. The topics are:
- Called to
Global Solidarity
- Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs)
- Foreign Aid
- Making Trade
Fair
- Debt Relief
- Parishes
respond
Each week has a story, background information, resources
for learning, prayer, and advocacy or action.
How to use them:
On Monday
pastors were mailed: a letter from our chancellor, three weeks of sample
materials, a campaign brochure, and information on the MDGs. Schools may
also want to use these materials for teachers and families.
Parishes can choose to use only the bulletin summary – a shorter
paragraph that refers people to the web. The plus on this is that it saves
paper and people who see the web can see it in color with active web links.
Or you can reproduce the bulletin insert in color (25 cents or more per copy !) or
in black and white. If you reproduce it in black and white you might use an
ivory or light color paper. This should be inserted in your bulletin.
Or, you can also put the bulletin summary in the text
of your bulletin with copies of the insert on a table for those who don’t
have internet access.
There is also a prayer of intercession and a pulpit
announcement for each week.
Weeks One to Three were just posted on our web page:
http://www.oakdiocese.org/pastoral/SocialJustice/
Check them out! Download them for printing… share
them with interested friends.
Using Rice Bowl
Traditionally Operation Rice Bowl is a great way to
focus on global solidarity work in Lent. While our campaign is educational
and policy oriented, the ORB program is a daily Lenten practice of prayer,
fasting, and almsgiving.
The materials for this go directly to parishes and
schools and can be announced and distributed next week. A calendar with
stories and recipes, and a Rice Bowl for donations can go home with each parishioner
or student on Ash Wednesday. These materials are produced in English and
Spanish. We also have a Rice Bowl Prayer in Spanish, Vietnamese, and
Chinese. Please email Mary for those prayers. mdoyle@oakdiocese.org
There are good materials on the ORB web page:
English: http://orb.crs.org/
Spanish: http://orb.crs.org/espanol/
Your mission, should you choose to accept it…
- If you are in the Oakland
Diocese, please encourage your parish to use the Global Poverty materials
if appropriate.
- This campaign also connects to
the Justice for Immigrants campaign in that it addresses many of the
causes of migration.
- If you are not in our diocese,
feel free to use the materials.
Contact mdoyle@oakdiocese.org for
documents you can adapt for your parish.
This
is the start of this campaign
and will hopefully be used by many parishes. Look for articles in the
Catholic Voice paper which will support this effort.
THANK YOU to the individuals and groups that worked on this
and to Melissa Hyatt in this office who produced the final copies and manages
the web. If you see materials that would be good for this effort, please pass
them on.
Washington
Update:
The
annual Catholic Social Ministry meeting took place last week in Washington, DC.
It
brought together diocesan and parish leaders from around the country. We had
workshops and meetings and visited our legislators and staff on Capitol Hill
(in the snow, by the way…)
We
spoke with them about four issues:
- The urgency of immigration
reform
- Reworking the farm bill this
year
- A responsible transition in Iraq
- Funding for Global HIV/AIDS
Gwen
Watson from Christ the King, Philip Arca from St. Vincent de Paul, Alameda County, and Mary
Doyle attended from this diocese. Please take a moment to
review the position papers/Hill Notes at http://www.usccb.org/sdwp/projects/csmg2007.htm
The
Senate is looking at initiating a bill on immigration in March-April. We
shared concerns with them about the recent raids by ICE in our communities.
Talks to parish groups :
Mary Doyle is available to talk with parish
groups about her recent trip to Africa.
Contact her at mdoyle@oakdiocese.org
Also,
the DVD Dying to Live and a new DVD Strangers no Longer are
available to borrow from the social justice office. Both would be good for
Lent.
Darfur
Go
to www.savedarfur.org for another
message to President Bush.
Divestment as a response to genocide:
There
is a campaign for investors like us to review our mutual funds and IRAs for
Petro China and other
stocks doing business in Sudan.
Just as many colleges and states have divested in order to pressure the
government of Sudan to
protect the people of Darfur, individuals
can review their own investments and make better choices.
Sources of information: http://www.sudandivestment.org/home.asp
http://money.cnn.com/2007/01/29/news/companies/pluggedin_gunther_sudan.fortune/index.htm
Congratulations!
Best Practices:
St.
Leo Social Justice Committee recently held a contest at the school promoting
non-violence. They engaged the students in this important discussion and
expression through art and writing. See the beautiful story and art at: http://www.catholicvoiceoakland.org/inthisissue.htm
First Friday at
St. Joseph the Worker
Friday, March
2, 2007 at 7:00 PM
St. Joseph the Worker School
Marian Hall (2nd floor)
2125 Jefferson St.
Berkeley
(Located
just behind St. Joseph the Worker Church;
Parking available in school lot at Grant
St.) Please
note that this venue is not wheelchair accessible.
The
Fr. Bill O’Donnell Social Justice Committee welcomes Robert Lassalle-Klein, Ph.D. Associate Professor of
Theology and Philosophy and Director of Pastoral Ministries at Holy Names
University, Oakland. who will read from
and discuss 'Love That Produces Hope:
The Thought of Ignacia Ellacuria' which he co-edited with Fr.
Kevin Burke, S.J., Ph.D. In the month we remember Archbishop Oscar
Romero, we explore the life of his close friend and collaborator,
besides visionary theologian and university president. Ellacuria was the
primary target of the shocking 11/16/89 assassinations of six Jesuit
priests and two women by government troops at the University of Central
America (UCA) which ultimately turned the tide of the decade long civil
war. Lasalle-Klein will sign copies of 'Love That Produces Hope,' with
proceeds going to the Archbishop Oscar Romero Pastoral Center, El
Salvador
Fair Trade:
Do you want to learn more about coffee, fair
trade, and Ethiopia?
Come meet up with other Oxfam America supporters in the Berkeley area at a screening of "Black
Gold." This powerful documentary will be shown at 8:50pm on February 23rd at the Pacific
Film Archive in Berkeley.
This compelling movie uses personal stories to show how poor countries
struggle to benefit from global trade. Oxfam America is helping to promote the
movie and provide viewers with opportunities to take action. Come watch the
movie, and find out how you can help poor coffee farmers in Ethiopia and
around the world.
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