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Current Justice & Peace Initiatives
The guarantee of one’s prayers is not saying a lot
of words
The guarantee of one’s petition is very
easy to know How I treat the poor Because that’s
where God is.
—Archbishop Oscar Romero
PACT Defined.
St. Francis of Assisi has formed a People Acting in Community
Together (PACT) Local Organizing Committee
(LOC). This group is
chartered with establishing relationships within our communities as
well as with civic leaders in order to bring positive change to our
neighborhoods. We are looking for leaders who are interested in
learning about city politics and want to make a difference. The group
meets the second Wednesday of every month in one of the Gathering
Space conference rooms. Please join us in responding to the civic
concerns of our fellow parishioners and neighbors. For more information, parish office,
223-1562 or Vivian
Miranda at (408) 270-1194.
In response to "View from the
Pew," PACT provided an excellent description of who they
are.
DayWorkers:
Bicycles —The St.
Joseph the Worker Dayworker Center on Story Road is
seeking used bicycles for the workers. For many workers,
a bicycle is the primary means of transportation from
home to the center, or the center to places of
employment. If you have an adult size bicycle (male or
female) that is not being used, the Dayworker Center
would certainly welcome it. Bicycles can be left at the
Pastoral Center. Thank you for sharing your gifts.
Lord, when did we see you hungry?—Why do
we collect food at Mass every Sunday? Whom do we collect
for? The answers are simple. We are trying to help our
community partners feed those who are hungry. And
Yes!, there are hungry people in San Jose. Our food is
distributed to the Outreach Ministries at the Cathedral
which serves the downtown poor, our neighboring parish,
Most Holy Trinity's food pantry, and the Dayworkers at
the Story Road complex. If each parishioner could
pick-up an extra food item when they shop, or small bag
once a month, we could keep the pantry shelves
stocked. Please help us keep the Spirit of Francis alive
in our parish by remembering those in need.
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St. Francis of
Assisi’s Community Partners
—San Jose Family Shelter. Casa
de Clara
—Evergreen Schools, Cathedral, Outreach Ministries
—John XXIII Center, St. Joseph Dayworker Center
—Neighboring Parishes: Christ the King, Most Holy
Trinity and
St. Maria Goretti
—Most Holy Trinity and St. Maria Goretti
Initiatives
—Weekly food collections . . .
and toiletry drives
—Serving meals and volunteering at Family Shelter
—Making sandwiches for downtown homeless
—PACT community organizing initiatives
—FIND: helping Families in Need
—Rehabilitating homes—Rebuilding Together
—Bread project with Leboulanger—day old bread to
partners
—Support Evergreen schools—Back to School Drive
—Annual blood drive; support Handicapables group
—Voter registration—promoting Faithful Citizenship
—Support Fair Trade– concern on human trafficking
—Thanksgiving SCRIP– for hungry/neighboring parishes
—Support School of the Americas protest
—Christmas Giving Trees—shelter and Dayworkers
—Adopt families for Christmas
—Towels, sheets and blankets drive
—Layette drive for St. Juan Diego Society
—Education/support for justice initiatives—e.g., peace
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Peace
Initiatives—
 Crises in
our World
-- For additional information
on the crisis in go to
http://www.catholicrelief.org. Thank you for your
generosity.
Social Development & World Peace
Several links brought to you by the US Conference of
Catholic Bishops.
Click here.
Faithful
Citizenship—"Building peace, combating
poverty and despair, and protecting freedom and human
rights are not only moral imperatives; they are wise
national priorities. Given its enormous power and
influence in world affairs, the United States has a
special responsibility to ensure that it is a force for
justice and peace beyond its borders. 'Liberty and
justice for all' is not only a profound national pledge;
it is a worthy goal for our nation in its role as world
leader." —US Conference of Catholic Bishops:
Faithful Citizenship (Page 28)
How to Talk
to Children About War—The
National Center for Children Exposed to Violence has an
excellent article on their website called,
A
Parents’ Guide for Talking to Their Children about War.
For those of you who would like to read the article, you
can find it by going to
www.nccev.org.
For more info
about Cities for Peace,
click here.
In the spirit of our patron, Francis, our
community is continues to participate in peace efforts
locally. We join with Pope John Paul II, the Bishops of
the US, our own Bishop McGrath, and people of faith over
the world who seek peace.
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Help with Self
Sufficiency — Each year, the Society of St.
Vincent de Paul (SVdP) helps 50,000 working poor
residents of Santa Clara County. Emergency financial
aid, food, clothing, furniture and referrals to other
resources are provided. SVdP also maintains two Day
Worker Employment and Support Centers, which offer
“English-as-a-Second Language” (ESL) classes.
Donations may be sent to SVdP, 749
Story Road, or call 298-7280 x17.
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Where do my donations in the yellow envelopes go?”
In case you’ve ever wondered
about this, be assured that your donations are helping so many people in
so many ways. Your generosity not only helps people here locally, but some
of it goes to people in other parts of the world, to help support our
religious, and to help victims of disaster.
Every Ecclesial Community has a
representative on the Social Justice Team who oversees the proper
allocation of every dollar we raise for the care of others. Recently, we
approved donations to Loaves and Fishes Family Kitchen, to Rebuilding
America for materials to help rebuild homes of those who aren’t able to do
so on their own, and to the Casa de Clara Homeless Women’s Shelter to help
them build a backyard playground for their children! We constantly assess
where these donations can be used to make the greatest impact.
Francis Fund— Your
generosity in supporting the Francis Fund (yellow envelopes) has enabled
us to support Casa de Clara, the local Catholic Worker House. This small
shelter for women and children was in dire need of a vacuum cleaner and
gardening tools, so that they could maintain a warm, supportive home
environment.
We are grateful to all of the parishioners who
support the partnerships that we enjoy with organizations serving
those in need. The spirit of Francis is evidenced in our faith
community by your generous sharing with the San Jose Family Shelter,
the Dayworkers, St. Vincent de Paul, Cathedral Outreach Ministries,
Casa de Clara, the Catholic Worker House, John XXIII Center, Dove Hill
School, and our neighboring parishes, Christ the King, St. Maria
Goretti and the Santee Mission, and Most Holy Trinity. God’s
blessings are upon you.
about our "yellow envelopes."
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