Roundtable member Larry DiPaul in the Diocese of Camden is co-leading the the parish life retreat weekend described below. Each weekend promise to be a helpful time for parish, young adult, and youth ministers. Please share this information widely with the parish, young adult, and youth ministers in your diocese.

Last year, the Roundtable featured one of these events on our blog. You can read that article here.

Romero Center Ministries invites all professional ministers to participate in our upcoming service learning-based retreat opportunities.  Entitled ”Integrating Faith, Service & Justice”, these unique gatherings will allow you to recharge your batteries while adding to your ministerial toolkit!  Specifically, participants will:

• Network and share resources with people from various parishes and dioceses,
• Participate in service to the community and group theological reflection,
• Explore ways to integrate service and justice in ministerial life,
• Consider specific ways to engage people in your specific ministry
• Troubleshoot challenges to integrating faith, service, and justice into your ministry.

There are three sessions being offered this spring/summer, each with a particular ministry focus:

Integrating Faith, Service & Justice In Parish Life- Friday, May 4-Sunday, May 6, 2012

Integrating Faith, Service & Justice With Young Adults- Thursday, May 17-Sunday, May 21, 2012

Integrating Faith, Service & Justice With High School Youth- Sunday, Aug. 5-Thursday, Aug. 9, 2012

Early bird registration discounts are available!

“When you get an award for doing something you love so much, it’s confusing almost… It’s like being commended for eating chocolate.” Jan Benton, 2012 Roundtable Harry A. Fagan Award recipient, opened her address to nearly 100 Roundtable members and friends with a laugh.

Jan opened her talk with a reminder and a challenge to attendees: “[Persons with disabilities] aren’t exceptional or special. They’re just folks who want to live their lives. If you give them that box, you’re setting them aside with sentimentality. Rather than that, you need to be seeing the people behind the disability and appreciating them for who they are. They are people who want to have friends, want to work, and want to live a life of faith.”

“However, they do need protection from exploitation and abuse,” she continued, “and may need services to live independently. That’s where we come in.”

Jan recognized early on and throughout her address how important her community has been to her work. She was supported in person by her husband Martin and team of co-workers, who, Jan said, frequently stretch her to go outside her comfort zone. Joe Dunn, SFO, who entered the Secular Franciscan community with Jan in 1979, also joined her at the table. As she has recognized, and those who know her well can attest, her SFO family and vocation has been instrumental in forming, supporting and guiding her in ministry.

Jan shared her personal story that brought her to ministry and advocacy for and with people with disabilities. When she was in her 20s working in a nursing home, she came face to face with issues of elder abuse among very vulnerable people. Through the course of her work, she became friends with Gail, a woman with cerebral palsy, with whom she became very close. It was through this and other significant relationships that she began to understand her vocation in this work.

Jan also told the story of Debbie, a woman who called Jan to ask if she could volunteer in the CCD program at their parish, and let Jan know she had cerebral palsy. Jan said she was immediately open to Debbie’s participation because she had known Gail. Debbie admitted to Jan that “this was the hardest call [she] ever made,” because she was worried she would be told she couldn’t volunteer.
The story served as a reminder for all Award Banquet attendees to examine our own ministries to ensure they are inclusive as well as inviting for people with disabilities.

Later, Jan encouraged us, “Assume people with disabilities want to be involved in your meetings and events and plan accordingly.” She lifted up the example of the recent Catholic Charities USA Martin Luther King Day awards gathering in which, just days before the event, Jan requested interpretation services for a friend. Without a second’s hesitation, CCUSA staff members agreed to find someone to provide this service.

Jan also presented the many challenges to life and dignity with which we are currently confronted. She shared, “We are fighting for our very lives: the right to be born, the right to needed health care, the right to not be asked to donate our organs prematurely… and to die a natural death without the suggestion that suicide might be the ‘compassionate choice’ … which has been called the ‘ultimate elder abuse.’”
It is clear that we have our work cut out for us in advocating to protect life and promote dignity for all people throughout life, especially those made most vulnerable.

At the root of Jan’s work is Catholic social teaching. “You can’t be in this work without a deep gratitude for Catholic social teaching because it gives us the understanding of the dignity of every human life. At the same time, it’s fighting for justice for dignity for people to live a life, and to have rights and responsibilities,” Jan shared.

She also said that she “grieves over the disconnect between life and justice communities” which represents lost opportunities to witness to our Catholic faith. She also, however, rejoices in the efforts in recent years to bridge this divide through the gift of our Catholic social teaching, and noted that the ministry of the National Catholic Partnership on Disabilities is a “clear bridge” in this work. She also encouraged participants to “imagine the force we can be, as Catholics, when we consistently witness to our beliefs and values.”

Jan offered that the Harry A. Fagan Award is an affirmation of the National Catholic Partnership on Disability and the strong disability advocates who fight each day for their rights and their lives. Jan’s inspiring personal story as well as her humility and steadfast commitment to justice stirred and encouraged the entire Roundtable community present.

Watch video clips from Jan’s address and Roundtable member Jerry Freewalt’s tribute to Jan.

Photos by Tom Hopkins.

Fr. Manuel Williams, C.R., Director of Resurrection Catholic Missions, offered the closing plenary session at the 2011 Social Action Summer Institute. His rousing commissioning of the attendees included honest truths, powerful storytelling, encouragement and even song. If you weren’t able to be with us, hear his presentations via the videos posted here.

By: Genevieve Jordan, Romero Center, Diocese of Camden

If we start with service, incorporate meaningful reflection on experience, and accommodate their state in life, we’ve begun well on the journey of integrating faith, service and justice in ministry with young adults.

About 30 people in ministry to young adults gathered from May 22-26, 2011, at Romero Center Ministries in Camden, NJ, for, “Integrating Faith, Service and Justice: Catholic Young Adult Ministry for the 21^st Century,” the National Catholic Young Adult Ministry Association’s Mid-Atlantic regional gathering.

Conference participants represented a variety of ministerial fields: campus ministry, parish ministry, diocesan directors, Catholic volunteer programs and Catholic non-profits that engage young adults in service and reflection. They gathered for professional development and renewal through prayer and reflection, service immersion, workshop presentations and facilitated discussions.

There was so much insight gleaned from the week, but below are just three practical takeaways that can help us to integrate faith, service and justice in Catholic young adult ministry.

1. Start with Service

A few months ago, I said to Patricia Slater, former Director of Romero Center Ministries and the Pastoral Associate for Peace and Justice Ministry at Christ Our Light Catholic Community in Cherry Hill, NJ, that service experience is the backdoor for engaging young adults.

“Gen,” she corrected me, “it’s the front door.”

Melissa Cidade, Director of Pastoral Assistance Surveys and Services Service for CARA (Center for Applied Research and the Apostolate) shared data with conference participants that suggests Slater is right. Cidade’s data showed that 90% of millennial Catholics (born between 1982 and 1990, age 18 to 26 in 2008, and make up 15% of adult Catholics according to CARA data) said that as Catholics, helping the poor is very important to them.

Anyone in ministry with young adults knows that many either disagree with the Church on some issues, or place so much value on certain issues that they neglect others. It is staggering that an overwhelming percentage of millennial Catholics agree that helping the poor is very important to being Catholic. (It’s also staggering that as ministers, we continue to miss this, though it’s one of the most definitive statistics we have about young adults and the Church!) This Fall 2010 article from St. Anthony’s Messenger also suggests that service is a Catholic value, second nature to millennials. In my own ministry, I hear repeatedly that Church teaching and values are irrelevant to the world and daily life; service is an exception.

While most Catholic young adults believe that helping the poor is important, significantly fewer connect service to justice and even fewer can articulate a theology about why helping the poor is essential to our faith. Cidade’s data showed that 55% of millennial Catholics think Church involvement in social justice activities is somewhat important and 31% of millennial Catholics think it is very important. Only 10% said they were very familiar with Catholic Social Teaching.

The implication of this data for ministry is that service experience makes sense and is important to most millennial Catholics: so we should start there. Nothing can replace service in providing encounters with others that lead to personal reflection and transformation. Service experience ignites an interest in justice issues and the theology connected with a need for service.

2. Don’t Throw Out the Reflection

Reflection is an essential part of integrating faith, service and justice. Conference participants spent a few sessions reflecting on their own service experience through various models of theological reflection.

David Golembowski, board member of JustFaith Ministries and Associate Lobbyist for NETWORK, guided participants in theological reflection after the service they had done that day at sites in and near the city of Camden. He used resources from JustFaith’s program for college aged young adults, JusticeWalking. JusticeWalking’s model for reflection is great for young adults: it includes ritual, music, Scripture, and questions that relate directly to service experience and life.

After their second day of service, Patricia Slater led conference participants in reflection using the pastoral circle. The pastoral circle method of reflection leads with social analysis of the service experience. This model may be helpful when working with young adults who do not know each other or feel uncomfortable diving right into faith sharing, since social analysis allows folks to collectively troubleshoot an external issue. The conversation can’t stop there, however, and we shouldn’t be afraid to encourage young adults to move from social analysis into deeper conversations about where God is working and how they’re called to serve.

Conference participants and presenters alike voiced that unprocessed service experience may only encourage stereotypes or expectations of a particular community. It’s also a missed opportunity to connect the service experience with the life and call of the individual. Reflection should ideally take place directly after service experience, even if it’s only for a short period of time and sends folks with questions for the road. Though post-service reflection often feels uncomfortable or inconvenient, it is grounds for transformation. Don’t throw it out!

3. Accommodate Busy-ness and State in Life

If we want people to take part in our activities, we need to provide activities that accommodate their schedules. In my own listening through the conference week, I heard that young adults are incredibly busy.

A panel of five post-college young adults spoke to conference participants about how service and justice can bridge campus and parish life. Many of them were involved in service in college or completed a year of post-graduate service.

They represented a slice of the young adult population stretched thin with commitments but that still hopes to be involved with other young adults in faith-based opportunities. All of the panelists voiced interest in service experience, but didn’t want to commit to something too frequent or ongoing. One panelist said she appreciated when parishes offered young adult events every few weeks, as long as she could drop in without feeling pressure to show up every time.

Slater reminded us that service experience attracts young adults who are single or married without children. If we advertise an event for “young adults, single and married,” then we need to provide babysitting. Slater suggested that respecting the state in life of young adults with families might mean creating a session for families that simulates the kind of reflections one might have after a few hours of service, such as a hunger banquet or a short, relevant video.

We heard over and over again from conference participants that the young adults they minister with are overextended. We need to show young adults that we respect their commitments and busy-ness by providing opportunities that are one-time events and accommodate their state in life.

Genevieve Jordan is currently the Director of Young Adult Ministry at Romero Center Ministries and  transitioning to Executive Director this summer. She holds a Master’s degree in Theology through the University of Notre Dame’s Echo Faith Formation Leadership Program. She is a regional representative for the National Catholic Young Adult Ministry Association for the Mid-Atlantic region.

By Peter Denio, Standards for Excellence Project Manager

When Rob Gorman, Director of Catholic Charities in the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux, first decided to implement the Standards for Excellence in the organization his interests were financial. “I originally thought that by implementing the Standards for Excellence, Catholic Charities would be a better contender for grant funding from foundations,” he said. And while obtaining the Seal of Excellence may be an appealing indicator for foundations seeking to grant money to well-run Catholic organizations this was not the most immediately evident benefit from implementing the Standards. “I discovered that as we worked to implement the Standards for Excellence that the board members were more engaged than I could ever recall,” said Gorman. In fact Gorman explicitly recalls having 100% board attendance during the implementation process.

Greater participation from the laity is a common observation by dioceses, parishes, and Catholic nonprofits who have become Partners in Excellence, a title donned by those entities who commit themselves to the eight guiding principles of the Standards for Excellence.  The National Leadership Roundtable on Church Management, a national Catholic nonprofit customized the best management practices from the nonprofit sector to be in alignment with the Code of Canon Law for the Catholic sector. The eight guiding principles fall under the following categories:  Mission Statement and Ministry Programs, Governing Bodies, Conflict of Interest, Human Resources, Finance and Legal Issues, Openness, Fundraising, Public Life and Public Policy.

Over time, Gorman completed the circle between greater lay involvement and the financial funding that originally started him on this quest. During the implementation of the Standards for Excellence Gorman and his board discovered that the codes encourage the active involvement of those in an advisory capacity [such as boards, pastoral and finance councils, leadership committees] in the activities of the organization. “One board member, through his participation in one of our programs, became so excited about what was happening that he not only invited his entire extended family to volunteer with our child development center but he started a family foundation that was dedicated to supporting well-run nonprofits in the community,” Gorman explains. “Now,” he says, “Catholic Charities is one of the beneficiaries of this family foundation.”

But the benefits and involvement did not stop there. Gorman found that with the implementation of the Standards for Excellence, programs and ministries essential to the mission of the organization were better evaluated and more effectively managed. “While evaluating our organization’s efforts our board determined that our micro-enterprise program was not properly staffed. By using the impact measures provided by the Standards for Excellence we were able to clearly determine that this mission-critical program was being underserved and the board decided to add additional staff. Now the program is flourishing,” Gorman says.

Catholic Charities of Houma-Thibodaux is one of a number of Catholic Charities in the United States to become a Partner in Excellence and commit to implementing the Standards. The Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Harrisburg and the Diocese of Wilmington have both signed on as Partners in Excellence. Richelle Vible, Executive Director of Catholic Charities in Wilmington committed the organization as a Partner in Excellence to learn from other organizations that are working towards best practices. “I found I needed a supportive network to help me think through some of the challenges our organization is facing,” Vible explains. Vible joined over 300 Partners in Excellence of the Leadership Roundtable, including six dioceses, 19 Catholic nonprofits, and about 30 parishes from 20 different dioceses that are all a part of an online forum where challenging scenarios can be worked through and best practices can be shared.

If you are a Social Action Director of a diocese but not a director of a Catholic Charities, you can certainly benefit from the Standards for Excellence by your agency or diocese becoming a Partner in Excellence. “Good human resource practices, strong financial controls, and transparent communications are equally issues of justice and stewardship.  Any Social Action Director can get behind these best practices in the diocese by advocating for their implementation within the diocesan structure,” Gorman acknowledges.

For more information on how you can implement the Standards for Excellence in your parish, diocese, or Catholic organization please visit www.CatholicStandardsForExcellence.org or call me at 201-335-0315.

For more information, download the Standards for Excellence Sell Sheet.

This August, Roundtable members joined Fr. Daniel Groody for a Summer Book Discussion on his 2007 book Globalization, Spirituality, and Justice. This was the first book selected through an online vote by the whole membership.

Fr. Groody, a Holy Cross priest, scholar, and professor at the University of Notre Dame is director of the Center for Latino Spirituality and Culture. He has written extensively on issues related to immigration, theology, Latino spirituality, Catholic social teaching, and globalization.

Globalization, Spirituality, and Justice is a text written as a journey tracing themes in the Catholic tradition related to the intersection of these three issues. Fr. Daniel’s focus is the spirituality of right relationships within the context of an increasingly globalized world. He was attracted to this idea of right relationships because he found it free of the anger he sometimes encountered when advocating for social justice through protesting and other means and closer to the biblical vision of justice.

During the writing process, Fr. Daniel participated in a JustFaith class because he wanted to relearn the foundations of justice and Catholic social teaching from the ground up. He attributes much of the shaping of the book to his JustFaith classmates. For Fr. Daniel, the book was an opportunity to take the themes of liberation theology and rework them in the context of current issues related to globalization.

Groody begins the text with the current reality of our world through globalization. The rest of the book examines what scripture, the Church Fathers and early texts, and the principles that emerged from that teaching have to say about this current reality. The following chapters discuss how Catholic social teaching dialogues with other religions, how we can look to icons of justice who share a common hope for liberation, and how the liturgy and sacraments lead us to deeper spirituality and to action.

Participants posed questions around finding hope in our current realities, and within the questions there was a significant focus on the liturgy; members talked about how the Eucharist can be an act of liberation and freedom, and how mass can be an example of right relationships -  “If no one is asking for papers at the door and we’re celebrating Eucharist together, what does mean about our relationship with each other?” one participant asked.

The book is designed to be used by students or for a small group study and includes discussion questions with each chapter. Several members expressed their intention to use this book for study with their global solidarity committees or with new priests.

Throughout the conversations, members offered additional resources that can further instruct around issues raised in this book. Participants recognized Education for Justice for having good resources on the relationship between liturgy and justice. Additionally, the JustFaith Ministries’ Engaging Spirituality and immigration module were lifted up. Groody’s film Dying to Live was also recommended by members as being a very moving DVD teaching tool.

Our next book discussion will take place this fall. If you have suggestions for an upcoming discussion, please email them to coordinator@catholicroundtable.org.

By Taylor Kingston, Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry, Archdiocese of Santa Fe

I recently attended the 24^th annual Social Action Summer Institute (SASI) at Santa Clara University in San Jose, CA for parish and diocesan social ministry.  The theme for this year’s SASI was Peacebuilding for the 21^st Century. Seven representatives from the Archdiocese of Santa Fe attended including Anne Avellone, Director of Social Justice and Respect Life, Bunny Miller, theology teacher at St. Pius, Susan Tomita from St. Bernadette, Emmet Garrity from Newman Center, Christina Benitez from Holy Rosary and UNM student, Joseph Montiel from Holy Rosary and UNM student, and myself, Taylor Kingston from St. Charles, UNM student and office aide for the Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry.

The 4-day conference focused on how Catholic leaders could be peacemakers in these times of conflict in our world and was packed with prayer, workshops, and speakers from around the world.  SASI was a great opportunity to learn about social issues across the globe and how Catholics are called to respond.  I learned about how social justice is rooted in Scripture and about the basics of Catholic social teaching.  I heard about great work being done in parishes, in dioceses and organizations such as the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), Catholic Relief Services (CRS), Catholic Charities USA, and JustFaith Ministries.

Like many young people, I knew that social justice is about respect for human life, service to the poor, and aiding those who have been through natural disasters.  While these are all important parts of our faith, I learned that social justice is all those things and more!  For instance, one presenter told a story of how young people wanted a skate park in their community so they could have a safe place to skate.  Community organizing members from parishes in this community trained these young people in leadership and gave them the tools to advocate for themselves.  They approached city officials, presented their reasoning for a skate park and in the end received it.  Giving those who do not have a voice the tools to speak for themselves is a part of social justice that I am excited to put into action throughout our diocese.

I also learned new ideas for other ministries in which I am involved.  For example, there was a wonderful workshop Hispanics and Social Ministry: Time for a New Conversation? with Fr. Eduardo Fernandez and Ms. Anne Grycz, Diocese of San Jose.  These speakers talked about how they have been successful with Hispanic Ministry in their diocese, what challenges they faced and how they overcame them.

Another workshop was a panel on the state of social action and included Greg Kepferle, Catholic Charities of Santa Clara County, Ralph McCloud, USCCB/CCHD, Joan Rosenhauer, CRS, Kath Saile, USCCB/JPHD and others. Panel members were asked various questions about their organizations and about social justice issues.  One question raised was about how young people fit into social justice ministry and what is being done to help these young people stay involved.  Panelists mentioned that young people need to have opportunities to do service for others, that we need to encourage them to ask questions, to reflect on their service and to give them tools to speak for themselves.  In the end the best advocates for young people are in fact young people.

As a first-time attendee, I found SASI very helpful, educational, spiritual and fun.  The Archdiocese of Santa Fe Young Adult Advisory Team is looking to grow in numbers, spiritually, educationally and now in social justice ministry.  Through this conference I learned there are many resources and organizations that will be able to help the young adults implement plans in the area of charity and justice.  I am looking forward to working with others on social justice issues and helping build from the strong social justice communities the Archdiocese of Santa Fe has in place.

On August 1, the Social Action Summer Institute opened with liturgy celebrated by Bishop Patrick J. McGrath at the Mission Church at Santa Clara University.  In case you missed it, check out his homily below (originally posted at the Diocese of San Jose’s website).
Ecclesiastes 1:2; 2:21-23 | Colossians 3:1-5, 9-11 | Luke 12:13-21

For those of us who work tirelessly for “peace and justice” in a world so often consumed by greed, these readings, are in a sense, “preaching to the choir.” We see all too well the futility of our consumerist culture where the gospel proclaimed is of “individual prosperity” rather than care for the “common good” and whose greatest commandment is “Look out for yourself” instead of “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Yet all of us, I think, are sometimes a little like the rich man in today’s Gospel. At some point in our lives, we are afraid of losing something—whether it’s something we worked hard for or, like an especially good harvest or something unearned, like a family inheritance.

When I was appointed Auxiliary Bishop in San Francisco I was the Pastor of St. Mary’s Cathedral. The Cathedral Parish was made up of about Six Hundred PEOPLE, not Families, but they were my people. I told Archbishop Quinn that I was afraid of loosing my “ family”. He said “Oh P.J. you will have the whole Diocese”. Yes and No. I still miss them 21 years later.

In our daily interactions as people attuned to the needs of others, we have witnessed this “fear of loss” in very sobering ways: we see it in the eyes of struggling families about to lose homes to foreclosure; in the homeless man afraid to lose his place in line for a bed at the shelter; in the single mother who lost her job and her children’s health insurance; in the friend losing his battle with cancer. As recently happened to me.
In our own ministries, we, too, have our fears. Will we lose funding? Will our programs be eliminated? Will there be enough volunteers? Can I get enough petitions? Will I have enough energy? Will I lose my faith “in the goodness” of people? Will I lose heart in the work I do?

There is so much work to do and so much at stake, and there never seems to be enough to go around.
Yet our very presence here proclaims that this “myth” of scarcity is a lie. Your presence here at this conference professes that God’s imagination is always more than enough. From the beginning, God’s imagination created everything, blessing it abundantly and calling it good—very good in fact. Out of God’s imagination, we were created—in God’s image—not to be fearful but to stand in wonder and awe of God’s irrational, overflowing, almost embarrassing love for humankind.

Your effort to be with one another here, in support, encouragement, learning, and conversation about the “ways of peace” reminds all of us that God called us, from the beginning, to be in right relationship—with our Creator, with creation, with ourselves, and with each other.

When we allow the fear of scarcity to obscure the original grace of God’s abundance, (present from the beginning of time), we grab and we hoard. We seize control in an attempt to secure our own outcome. The sin of the rich man was not that he was rich but that he was in relationship only with himself—speaking only to himself, planning for only himself, keeping the blessings he received only for himself.
When we are afraid that there will not be enough, we disconnect ourselves from God who gives us everything we have, from each other for whom we are called to share the gifts given to us, and even from ourselves. For when we are afraid, we are not our true selves; we are not the image of the God in whose image we were created. The fearful “old self” is what died at our baptism, and the new creation, free from anxiety, joyful in God’s abundance is what we are now.

Every Sunday is a sabbath-time when we recall who we truly are. It is a time when we let go of anxiety and acknowledge that we are not in control (for only those who truly believe in God’s abundance would take a day off from work). Every Sunday is a time when we let go of our fear and we taste and see God’s utter goodness. Here we offer back to God what is only on loan to us: the fruit of our labor and the gift of our lives. Here we feast on the Body and Blood of Christ, given to us without cost, without fear of not having enough or not being good enough. Here, in this Eucharist, the wood of the Cross becomes the “bridge of peace” between those who once were enemies, wood transformed into the altar of God’s overflowing abundance.

Here, we reject the anxiety which leads to futile toil and embrace again the “dignity of labor” and the privilege of being co-creators with God. Here, we confront the fear which leads to greed and recommit ourselves to being a “living parable” of God’s abundance in these times of scarcity. Here we refuse to continue the lie that there is not enough and we feast on the manna from heaven, given freely, given daily, and given that we may share it with all.

May we strive always to be rich in what matters to God.

Dear Social Action Summer Institute Participants,

Please allow me to welcome you to the 2010 Social Action Summer Institute. I am very pleased that the Diocese of San Jose is able to host this important national event at Santa Clara University. Our Church, locally, nationally, and internationally is truly blessed by your presence here and honored to collaborate with the partner organizations that are sponsoring this event: Catholic Charities USA, Catholic Relief Services, JustFaith Ministries, The Roundtable Association of Catholic Diocesan Social Action Directors, USCCB Catholic Campaign for Human Development, and USCCB Justice, Peace & Human Development.

I would like to thank and commend these organizations—as well as those who are attending the conference—for their commitment to justice. The call to justice has never been without challenges, but I believe that in today’s world, these challenges are even greater.

It is my hope that these days of the conference will provide us with the opportunity to be renewed in mind and spirit so that each of us may be an effective and credible witness of the Kingdom in which justice and peace will flourish.

Once again, thank you for all that you do in your many efforts to make our world and our communities better places for all.

With every best wish and kind regard, I remain,

Patrick J. McGrath

Bishop of San Jose

By Deacon Jim Merle

Clarity of purpose in understanding the need for social justice was not always a paramount idea in my life. It wasn’t until I was 14 in Quigley’s Minor Preparatory Seminary in Chicago that I was face-to-face with a black person who shared many of the same ideas I had that I began to understand equality or lack thereof in any form. A few short years later I was a reporter/writer for the Chicago Tribune and my mantra was “Don’t Trust Anyone,” if you want the ‘real truth.’ After 11½  years, such cynicism in the newspaper business provided me with insights that brought me 180 degrees toward an ideology that took a foothold to help me clarify why I believe in social justice: God wants us to take care of those in need because He created us to love one another as He loves us.

Ordained as a deacon on April 30, 2005, it wasn’t until I entered into formation in 2000 that I began understand the difference between charity and social justice. What I had been doing since my awakening some 35 years before then was to reach out to others in charitable ways that might help them for a short period of time but would never give them a solution to overcome the problem for the remainder of their lives. I wore a mask of delusion not to obfuscate their plight, but to spread a bit of hollow joy to a situation I didn’t understand so I could cope with and have my conscience soothed for the disaster at hand.

Formation taught me a valuable lesson: Nothing will change for me unless I become a proactive minister in addressing social injustice for those who are unable to do so on their own for whatever reason. Ordination to proclaiming the Gospel and serving at the altar is hollow without working in the trenches with those who suffer the indignities of man’s indifference towards life. The Diaconate must be a living, breathing organism that practices the servant attitude that Christ taught us while He ministered to us on earth.

For me that was spending five years in detention ministry with the incarcerated and working in hospitals and nursing homes with the sick and dying and with the homeless, hungry and poor at Catholic Worker. It is making sure that all of my homilies touch on the plight of those who are disenfranchised from society as we know it and to meet with parish groups to make sure they consider social justice as part of their ministry.

More than six years ago I was invited by the diaconate director to join the local board of the Catholic Campaign for Human Development which has as its primary purpose to empower those in poverty. Three years ago I was named the chairperson and until recently I have fought an uphill battle with the members to help them understand the difference between charity and justice. All of the board members have been replaced since I became the chair. With national and local criticisms of CCHD’s process and of those in charge, it has been a difficult, uphill struggle to work towards institutional changes.

Fifty one years ago, as a young seminarian studying for the priesthood, I came face-to-face with God’s purpose for me as I met a young man of color from the south side ghettos of Chicago who taught me about the love God has for all His creation. Today, God has given me the opportunity to serve Him in my Diocese of Orange California as the Diocesan Director of CCHD and as deacon living my ordination as His servant. I have been exceedingly blessed and hope that I will continue to have the courage, strength, wisdom, understanding, peace, joy and grace to be obedient to His will as I strive to be one with the Lord in thought, word and deed in my love of Him and of all His creation.