“With what attitude should we look to the New Year?” Pope Benedict XVI asks in the introductory paragraph of his 2012 World Day of Peace Message. He recalls the image of Ps 130:6, where the faithful wait for the Lord with hope “more than those who watch for the morning.” The Pope invites us “to look to 2012 with this attitude of confident trust.”

And so, amidst challenges in our work and the many crises that our world currently faces, we look toward the coming year with hope that our Lord, the light of the world, is so very near. This same Lord is calling all of us more deeply into the work of educating and advocating for justice and peace, and building up the Church through strengthening its social mission. What are your hopes for this coming year?

The National Catholic Partnership on Disability is a shining example of the hope offered in our world through creating more inclusive ministries that honor the dignity and gifts of each person.  NCPD carries out its important mission through consultation, resource development and training offered to bishops and their personnel, people with disabilities and their families, and others. You can learn more about NCPD and how your office can partner in their work in this issue of the Roundtable Report. We’re excited to honor executive director Jan Benton in February with the Harry A. Fagan Award!

We hope that you will join us at the 27^th Annual Roundtable Symposium February 11-12 titled The Constitution and Catholic Social Teaching: A Healthy Tension (Thanks be to God!). The 2nd registration deadline for the Symposium as well as the larger Catholic Social Ministry Gathering is January 20. You can register at www.catholicsocialministrygathering.org.

Also with us in February will be Dr. Dan Finn, along with Dr. Maryann Love and Fr. Bryan Hehir as presenters for the 27^th Annual Roundtable Symposium. In December, Dr. Finn published an article in Commonweal Magazine which discusses the morality of derivatives, the Pontifical Council on Justice and Peace’s October statement on the financial crisis, and the gap in social teaching around the morality of self-interest. Read the article here and begin to form your questions for Dr. Finn in February!

In January, throughout our communities and in Washington DC Respect Life activities abound, to mark the anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision. In order to enhance your work in human life and dignity, we’ve posted the video presentations from the 2011 Social Action Summer Institute. The session included a presentation from John Carr on the USCCB’s work promoting Human Life and Dignity, and a panel sharing the best practices in the formation of the Louisiana Life and Justice Committee.

We hope that you’ll watch these presentations and download the accompanying resource to enhance your own organizing work in this area. To further support this work, we hope you’ll join us on Jan. 25 (note this is a change of date) for a webinar on Building a Life and Dignity Movement. Stay tuned for more information!

The first two webinars of the Roundtable’s new webinar series have been a resounding success. In October, Jude Huntz presented on the Constitution and Catholic Social Teaching, and in November, Tony Stieritz and Pam Long presented on Capacity Building.  If you missed them, check out the articles reporting some of the webinar content, with links to the video recordings.

In February, along with the Symposium and Award Banquet, the Roundtable will host our annual Membership Meeting. At the meeting, you’ll have an opportunity to voice how the Roundtable can serve you better, amidst the greatest needs and challenges you face. The board will take this feedback to the strategic planning they will undergo this summer, so please don’t miss it! Several new board members will also be elected during this meeting; read more about how board members are elected.

Whether or not you can join us in February, we hope you’ll save the dates for the 2012 Social Action Summer Institute, which will take place July 29-Aug 1, 2012 at Bellarmine University in Louisville, Kentucky. We are delighted that JustFaith Ministries will be a major planning partner for the event. Our theme is international and domestic poverty, and JustFaith Ministries will lead a day on transformation and hope. More information about speakers and schedule will be coming soon.

As always, the Roundtable Roundup offers news of social action office transitions, the good work that you are doing, and upcoming initiatives from the Roundtable’s national partners. Check it out!

In order to continue all of the Roundtable’s work, we depend on your support. I recently sent out a request for 2012 dues from board chair Scott Cooper.

I look forward to seeing many of you in February. And if you’re not able to join us, I hope you’ll stay tuned for the content that we share here after the event.

Grace & Peace,

Jenn Svetlik
Roundtable Coordinator

In January, throughout our communities and in Washington DC Respect Life activities abound, to mark the anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision. In order to enhance diocesan directors work in human life and dignity, we’ve posted the video presentations from the 2011 Social Action Summer Institute. The Promoting Human Life and Dignity: Messages, Strategies and Common Action session was one of the most well-received.
The session was presented by John Carr, Director of the Department of Justice, Peace, and Human Development at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, along with Susan Stevenot Sullivan and Donna Grimes, also staff at USCCB-JPHD, and a panel of leaders of the Louisiana Life and Justice Committee.

In the videos that follow, the panel shares their process and best practices in planning a retreat dialogue that brought together Respect Life and Social Action leaders. John Carr shares about the USCCB’s current work to promote life and dignity.

Dear Roundtable,

Last month, the U.S. Census Bureau announced that the number of people in the U.S. living in poverty in 2010 constituted more than 15% of the population, the largest number of Americans in poverty in at least 52 years. Internationally, too, people in poverty face even greater challenges amidst climate-related disasters like the Horn of Africa’s current drought and resulting famine, yet there may be deadly cuts in the  federal budget to poverty-focused development assistance.

Bishop Blaire, Chairman of the Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development reminded us all in the recent 2011 Labor Day Statement, “These are not just economic problems, but also human tragedies, moral challenges, and tests of our faith.” As diocesan social action directors, Roundtable members are in a unique position to educate about these moral challenges and move hearts toward the action of building up a society more reflective of the Kingdom of God.

The challenges in dioceses across the country take form not only in the need for new ways of educating around Catholic values in teachings, but also in the real, everyday needs of so many sisters and brothers, in our own dioceses and around the world. Catholic Charities members are not surprised by the recent Census Bureau announcement, and have been working for years on a broad approach to poverty reduction – the recent announcement only makes the need for reform more urgent. CCUSA’s National Opportunity and Community Renewal Act was recently reintroduced in the Senate and they also hosted the first annual National Poverty Summit in Ft. Worth last month; read more about how CCUSA is responding to economic challenges on a structural level to reduce poverty.

And internationally as well as in the U.S., signs of hope can be found in good formation work in Catholic social teaching– the Roundtable Report offers a story featuring graduates from Trinidad, West Indies in the University of Dayton’s Certificate in Social Justice Program. Their cap-and-gown graduation included attendance by the Archbishop and Bishop-elect, and their post-graduation follow-up plan shepherded by the local diocesan social action director can serve as a model for dioceses here in the U.S.

In other good news, we had a great 25^th Annual Social Action Summer Institute this July – it was wonderful to see many of you gathered there to discuss Catholic social teaching on the dignity of work & how to support workers today. In this Roundtable Report, you’ll find a number of follow-up pieces from the gathering, including videos of presentations by Bishop Zavala, Abdulrahman Zeitoun, and Fr. Williams.
There is also a reflection from a first-time SASI attendee, as well as highlights from participants, and photos from the event.

Following SASI, the Roundtable board met in-person for part two of a two-part summer meeting. The meeting focused on the future of diocesan social action and how to strengthen the Roundtable as a result of changing diocesan realities. In addition to planning for the upcoming year’s activities, the board brainstormed about how to make the Virtual Roundtable an even more effective information sharing tool, as well as a place for pastoral support among Roundtable members.

While brainstorming & planning for the upcoming year, the board also agreed to engage in a strategic planning process within a year to more intentionally plan for the future and respond even more effectively to the needs of diocesan social action directors. As the board embarks on this process in the coming year, we welcome your feedback – how can the Roundtable serve you better? What are the greatest needs and challenges in your work? How can our national membership organization serve you more effectively?

As a result of board planning, the Communications Committee has also developed a webinar series to enhance the Education and Formation opportunities provided by the Roundtable. There are a number of webinars forthcoming on the last Thursday of selected months on the topics consistently of most interest to Roundtable members. We hope you’ll mark your calendar today!

The most meaningful times for education & formation are often the times we can come together face-to-face. Our next opportunity to gather as an organization will be February 11-12, 2012 for the 27^th Annual Roundtable Symposium, titled “The Constitution & Catholic Social Teaching: A Healthy Tension (Thanks be to God!).” The Symposium will feature Catholic University of America political science professor Dr. Maryann Cusimano Love, along with a panel of academics and practitioners to discuss the implications of these ideas for our diocesan work.

And while you have your calendar open, save the dates for the 2012 Social Action Summer Institute, which will take place July 29-Aug 1, 2012 at Bellarmine University in Louisville, Kentucky. We are delighted that JustFaith Ministries will be a major planning partner for the event.

As always, the Roundtable Roundup offers news of social action office transitions, the good work that you are doing, and upcoming initiatives. Check it out!

In order to continue all of the Roundtable’s work, we depend on your support. Many of you have opted to wait until the start of a new fiscal year to pay your 2011 membership dues. If the new fiscal year has begun, please don’t hesitate – mail in your membership form and dues payment today!

I look forward to working with you this fall in order to continue to strengthen the Roundtable and ensure that our community continues to support your work even more effectively.

Grace & Peace,

Jenn Svetlik
Roundtable Coordinator

The Roundtable seeks to provide you with relevant formation and professional development opportunities to enhance your work in the midst of a changing world. To this end, we’ve developed a series of education and formation opportunities that respond to the greatest needs and interests that you’ve expressed over the past year.

We hope you’ll join us (nearly) monthly in a Virtual Roundtable discussion around the topics listed below, culminating in a conference call or webinar on a particular issue or skillsbuilding topic, typically the last Thursday of the month. Mark your calendars!

Roundtable Education & Formation Series 2011-12

October: The Constitution & Catholic Social Teaching – Tools for Teaching Faithful Citizenship
Oct. 27, 2011 – 10AM PT / 1PM ET

November: Capacity Building for your Office
December 1, 2011 – 10AM PT / 1PM ET (different date due to Thanksgiving)

January: Building a Life & Dignity Movement
Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012 – 10AM PT / 1PM ET

February: The 27th Annual Roundtable Symposium - The Constitution & Catholic Social Teaching: A Healthy Tension (Thanks be to God!) Feb. 11-12, 2012 in Washington, D.C.

March: Strategic Planning for your Office
Friday, March 30, 2012 – 10AM PT / 1PM ET
Featuring Jeff Korgen, Executive Director of Diocesan Pastoral Planning, Diocese of Metuchen

May: Creating Community & Developing Leadership in your Diocese
May 31, 2012 – 10AM PT / 1PM ET

July/Aug: 26th Annual Social Action Summer Institute with JustFaith Ministries & national sponsoring organizations.
Jul. 29-Aug. 1, 2012 at Bellarmine University in Louisville, KY.

Have ideas about how to make these education & formation opportunities even more helpful to your work? Contact me with your suggestions. We look forward to these opportunities for training & conversation!

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.

This summer at the 2011 Social Action Summer Institute, Abdulrahman Zeitoun offered an evening plenary address on his experiences during Hurricane Katrina (chronicled in the book Zeitoun by Dave Eggers).

Abdulrahman Zeitoun was born in Syria and settled in New Orleans with his wife Kathy, a New Orleans native, in 1994. They have five children and own Zeitoun A. Painting Contractors. They seek to promote tolerance, understanding, and respect for all cultures and religions. In 2009, author Dave Eggers published Zeitoun, which tells the family’s story after Hurricane Katrina, when Abdulrahman remained in New Orleans during the storm and helped rescue various neighbors. Zeitoun was arrested without charge and detained at a correctional center for 20 days, without having stood trial. During this time he was denied medical attention and the opportunity to call his family.

At long last, the video footage of his address at SASI 2011 has been posted so that you can listen to the presentation if you weren’t able to attend. His story of courage and goodwill in the face of unfathomable injustice is sure to inspire.

This summer at the 2011 Social Action Summer Institute, Bishop Gabino Zavala offered the opening address on the Theological Foundations of the Dignity of Work. At long last, the video footage of his address has been posted so that you can listen to the presentation if you weren’t able to attend. His words both challenged and affirmed the social action directors present, while providing a theological, reflective rootedness for the training that took place during the duration of the institute. Enjoy!

(If you’re more of a visual learner, you can also read his address).

This week, the Clarion Herald published an article featuring the July 2011 Social Action Summer Institute evening plenary session with Abdulrahman Zeitoun, the protagonist of the bestselling book Zeitoun.

Read the article below, or see it originally on the Clarion Herald website.

Hero painter jailed after Katrina holds no grudges

By Peter Finney, Clarion Herald staff

Not that citizens of the Greater New Orleans area need any encouragement to reflect again on a life-changing event, but the sixth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina will arrive later this month – Aug. 29. The hope is it will arrive uneventfully and leave with little more than a whimper.

At the recent Social Action Summer Institute at Loyola University, Abdulrahman Zeitoun, a Syrian-born New Orleans house painter, transfixed his audience by relating his incredible odyssey in the days and months after Katrina.

As chronicled in “Zeitoun” by Dave Eggers – which now has been translated into 20 languages – Zeitoun had spent the days after Katrina rowing his canoe through flooded Uptown streets and rescuing stranded neighbors.
In a classic case of “no good deed going unpunished,” military personnel arrested Zeitoun a few days after Katrina while protecting his own home near Claiborne and Napoleon avenues.

Because he couldn’t produce ownership papers on the spot – even though his driver’s license backed up his claim he owned the home where he was staying – he was shuffled off to prison and spent weeks imprisoned, including time at Hunt Correctional Center in St. Gabriel, La. His pleas to make one phone call to clear up what should have been an open-and-shut case went unheeded for weeks.
“For three days we had no blankets – nothing,” Zeitoun recalled. “We were hanging on the overhead pipes like monkeys to take the pressure off our feet. I was being called ‘Al Qaeda’ and ‘Taliban.’”

Finally, Zeitoun’s wife Kathy, who had evacuated to Arizona with their children, was able to crawl back into their house through a window and find mortgage papers to prove her husband’s story. No, he was not a terrorist or a member of the Taliban, but an American citizen.

Zeitoun said he hoped telling his story through Eggers would prevent similar travesties of justice in the future. He said he would rescue people again if he has the chance. “Thank God I had a canoe, because one lady who was calling to me had a very soft voice,” Zeitoun said. “That’s the reason I could hear her. It was very quiet. The other boats were too noisy.”

Zeitoun holds no hard feelings.

“It is positive to let people know what happened because it should not happen again,” Zeitoun said. “I hope it doesn’t happen again in the future. If it happens, we should be prepared differently. I just did what each one of us should do.”

A portion of the proceeds of the book has been earmarked for the Zeitoun Foundation to aid in the rebuilding an ongoing health of the city of New Orleans and to ensure the human rights of all Americans. Thus far the foundation has distributed $200,000 in grants.

“I have wonderful neighbors, friends and customers,” Zeitoun said. “I look to America the same way my family looks to America. It’s a wonderful country. This was like a dream that never happened.”

At the 2011 Social Action Summer Institute, which offered the theme Focus on the Worker: “New Things” in Labor 120 years after Rerum Novarum, Bishop Gabino Zavala offered the opening address. His words both challenged and affirmed the social action directors present, while providing a theological, reflective rootedness for the training that took place during the duration of the institute. You can read the address in its entirety here!

Opening Plenary: The Dignity of Work: Theological Foundations
Bishop Gabino Zavala, Archdiocese of Los Angeles

I. Introduction and Invitation to Reflection

I want to welcome all of you to this Social Action Summer Institute. This is a wonderful opportunity for personal growth, renewing your commitment to your work, building relationships and enjoying this wonderful city. I am very grateful for your invitation to share some of my own thoughts with you. I am privileged to be with all of you.  Thank you for all the work you do in service to the Church and the bishops. Your work gives the People of God a wonderful context in living out the Gospel in our daily lives.

You are all well aware of the timeliness of this topic on the dignity of work.  The situation in Wisconsin with public sector workers that has spread to Ohio, Indiana, Michigan and other states has challenged us to examine once again our teachings on labor, unions and the common good.  In the latest Legatus Magazine we are told that “most Catholics, including bishops and priests, are relatively uninformed about the social doctrine of the Church, its themes and development.”  The article goes on to say that this is the case because most young priests are not interested in these issues and many older priests have failed to update themselves on these issues.  This may well be true. If it is, you have a lot of work to do!  Finally, they state that the times and circumstances have changed since Rerum Novarum and so we need to look at these present cases in light of the changing context of catholic social teaching.  Some use this argument as an opportunity to deny workers their basic rights.

In response to the Wisconsin situation Archbishop Jerome Listecki of Milwaukee  issued a statement on Feb. 16 that came down in favor of workers’ rights.  “Hard times do not nullify the moral obligation each of us has to respect the legitimate rights of workers… Every union, like every economic actor, is called to work for the common good, to make sacrifices when required and to adjust to new economic realities.  However, it is equally a mistake to marginalize or dismiss unions as impediments to economic growth.”

I raise this just so that we can see how timely our work is today.

Do most of you remember the first paying job you had? I remember my first job.  My first job besides doing household chores at home was to sell newspapers.  When I was 11 years old I got this job which required me to stand on a corner selling newspapers after school.  I would sell the evening edition of the newspaper to people as they went home from work.  If I sold 30 papers at $0.10 a piece I took home $1.05.  It may not seem like much by today’s standards.  But we are talking about the early 60’s.  On my way home I could buy a small cheese pizza for $0.95 or a small bag of fries for $0.25.  Or I could save my money for something else.  I enjoyed my job.  It made me feel good.  It gave me a sense that I was getting something for my hard work.

Take a moment to reflect on your first job: What was it? What work were you doing? Why did you take the job? What did you do with your compensation?  How did it make you feel?

Because to work is so significant, to be compensated for what we do makes us feel valued.  It causes us to look beyond ourselves.  Even as a child or a teenager, it leaves a lasting impression.

II. Foundations of the inherent dignity of work

The Church has a rich tradition on work and the rights of the worker. It doesn’t matter if it is the labor of a paper boy, factory worker, or white collar worker.  Central to this teaching is the belief that work has an inherent dignity. And it seems that to an extent, every Pope from Leo XIII in Rerum Novarum to Benedict XVI in Caritas In Veritate have talked about the dignity of work.  In fact all of us, as we talk about work and labor, stipulate to work’s inherent dignity. We assume it. It’s axiomatic.  It is something that we just take for granted.

Why? Why do we believe so deeply that work has inherent dignity?

We need to go back to the very beginning.  Let’s look at the Book of Genesis.  The narrative on creation gives us two thoughts.  First of all we see that Man and Woman are  created in the image and likeness of God.  God’s labor is central to our existence.  God didn’t merely will the world or us into existence.  It wasn’t done with a flick of the wrist or a snap of the fingers. The creation of the world was work.  Hard work that required rest.

Secondly, Man and Woman are put in Eden to cultivate and care for it. This is to be understood as an exercise of human creativity and a participation in God’s ongoing creation of the world.

In the Old Testament writers had very strong words for those who abused laborers and poor people, for those who withheld wages.  In the book of Deuteronomy the author tells us “do not cheat poor and needy hired servants, whether they are Israelites or foreigners living in one of your towns.  Each day before sunset pay them for that days’ work; they need the money and have counted on getting it.  If you do not pay them, they will cry out to the Lord and you will be guilty of sin.”  The prophet Jeremiah proclaims: “Doomed is the one who builds his house by injustice and enlarges it by dishonesty: who makes his people work for nothing and does not pay their wages.”
Clearly this speaks to today’s concern about wage theft!

As we know, Jesus echoes these sentiments and frequently used the dynamics of labor and work to teach in parables.  We have the familiar examples of the Workers in the Vineyard [Mt 20:1-16]; the Barren Fig Tree [Lk 13: 6-9] in addition to today’s gospel (Parable of the Sower).

And Jesus even tells us why he does it–because that’s how we come to understand.
Of all the analogies or themes he could use, he repeatedly relies on work because that’s the easiest for us to understand. We are all engaged in it!

Not only are we all engaged in it, to some degree people want to define us by it.  How often when meeting someone for the first time are we asked the question, “What do you DO?”  As if what we DO, defines who we are.  Jesus himself is frequently identified by his vocation.  He is a carpenter.  While the question is limiting because it doesn’t encapsulate all we are, as Catholics, the hope is that our work DOES reflect who we are and what we believe to be true, what we know to be of value.  And if we look at the etymology of vocation, we know that the word ‘vocation’ comes from the Latin “to call”–i.e. our labor, properly understood, can be seen as a divine calling.

Work allows us to share with Jesus in creation. In work, we carry out our Gospel mandate to care, feed, clothe, visit our sisters and brothers [Mt 25]. In work, we bring forth the Kingdom of God here on Earth.

Today the Scriptures and teachings of Jesus continue in the Wisdom of the Church.
The Second Vatican Council reiterates the value of work and its transformative potential.

“For all their works, prayers, and apostolic undertakings, family and married life, daily work, relaxation of mind and body, if they are accomplished in the Spirit—indeed even the hardships of life if patiently borne—all these become spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. During the celebration of the Eucharist these sacrifices are most lovingly offered to the Father along with the Lord’s body. … the lay faithful consecrate the world itself to God” (Lumen Gentium, 34).

III. The goal of dignified work

It is in understanding the nature of dignified work, that we can understand the goals of our labor; that is, what our labor ought to accomplish.

Work ought to promote the common good.  Our work needs to contribute to society.  Our work should enhance who we are as human beings.  It should help us celebrate our humanity, be ever faithful stewards of creation, protecting the vulnerable and providing for those who cannot work.

Our work should be supportive of the worker and the worker’s family.  Work should provide a wage sufficient to allow everyone to achieve their personal, spiritual, emotional, and intellectual fulfillment.  Work should allow for realization and self-awareness in each worker.  Every worker should experience the same level of pride and accomplishment as that very first job selling newspapers.

IV. Our challenge, then, is twofold:

In conclusion, what are the challenges for us?  We need to ask ourselves: how do I personally discern, develop or nurture my own vocation? How do I continue to find work that contributes to the common good, allows me to support myself and my family, and helps me fulfill my role as co-creator? How do I challenge myself and find support for my work?

Second, but no less important; How do I invite others to discern, develop or nurture their vocation? How do I deprive, by my choices and behavior, my human brothers and sisters of their right to decent, dignified work? How can I live in solidarity with my brothers and sisters in my community and around the world in their quest for dignified work?

Solidarity means going that extra mile to shop in stores that treat their workers with dignity. Solidarity means standing with farm workers, hotel workers, janitors, car washers, meat processors, and restaurant employees who just want a decent wage. Solidarity is helping workers whose wages have been stolen to find justice.  And we can all think of so many more examples.

The work you do is tough. It is demanding. We need to celebrate what we do.  It is so important.  And we need support networks to give us the strength to carry on.

Thank you all once more for the work you do, for your persistence and tenacity, and for your commitment to the common good.

In July, I attended the annual Social Action Summer Institute in New Orleans and was asked to reflect on my experiences there. While I feel like I’m strong academic and advocacy writer, I am not as comfortable writing emotively about experiences. The SASI conference was such a great experience for me that I agreed to write this reflection anyway. That’s proof right there that it was a powerful and important event for me!

My first experience at SASI set the tone for the whole event. I attended the energizing, spiritual and upbeat first Mass. While my church in Minnesota has a wonderful music director and musicians, there was something special about hearing a saxophone solo of Louis Armstrong’s What a Wonderful World reverberating through a beautiful church in New Orleans.

I arrived at SASI knowing one other participant. Typically I would have introduced myself to people milling about before Mass, but I was exhausted from an early flight. I sat in an empty pew, feeling too tired to meet anyone. Not two minutes after I sat down, people reached out and started introducing themselves to me, genuinely interested in who I was. I met SASI veterans who throughout the conference introduced me to people they knew. The SASI conference was full of great people, and there was time for excellent, engaging discussions at evening socials, meals and during coffee breaks.

At one table discussion I heard colleagues’ reflections on work they had done – Days at the Capitol, Life and Justice Committees, Action Alerts, etc. This gave me a chance to reflect on my own work and inspired some ideas for future projects.  I saw the unique issues of our diverse dioceses, from the diocese of Salt Lake City, which encompasses all 84,900 square miles of Utah and has 63 Catholic parishes, to the 108 parishes of the Archdiocese of New Orleans, which is a mere 4,208 square miles.

I especially appreciated Tricia Hoyt’s presentation on Biblical Justice. The piece that resonated most with me as I approach my advocacy work was the reminder of who was meant by the terms “widow,” “orphan” and “alien” in the Bible. Deuteronomy 10: 17-19 reminds us:

For the Lord, your God, is the God of gods, the Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who has no favorites, accepts no bribes; who executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and befriends the alien, feeding and clothing him. So you too must befriend the alien, for you were once aliens yourselves in the land of Egypt.

I was reminded that the word “widow” at the time Deuteronomy was written did not simply mean a woman whose husband has died. Rather, the widow was a person who was utterly powerless and had no voice in the public arena.  A widow’s husband had died, and she had no son, or brother, or father. She had lost any man who could speak to her interest in the public forum, and so needed protection from society as a whole. The same is true for the orphan and the alien – they had no one to speak for their interests, so the community needed to look out for them. At SASI I was able to explore this concept in more depth than I had before, with people who do similar advocacy work, and I brought back renewed passion in my work for giving voice to those not allowed a voice.

Upon return to work where I occasionally listen to webinars that are not particularly engaging, I’ve appreciated the seminars at SASI even more. Every session was interesting and energizing, and caused me to  learn and grow. The bar is set high for future conferences and events!

My experience at SASI will be useful in my professional life for a few reasons: I built a network of people I can ask questions and to continue to grow and learn with, and I developed a better background of biblical justice and Catholic social teaching that I can apply to my advocacy work. Finally, I am energized and renewed for the challenges ahead. I am grateful for my time at SASI.

Marie Reigstad is Public Policy Manager at the Catholic Charities Office for Social Justice in St. Paul, Minnesota, She represents the office at the state Capitol and mobilizes parishoners on select public policy issues. She is a licensed attorney who previously worked as Leadership Assistant for the Minnesota State Senate.

Photos by Pat Dougherty, Archdiocese of St. Louis.