Contents are :
History
"Journey to Justice"
Mission Statement
Goals - Communicate / Educate / Act
Accomplishments
On-Going Projects
In 1998 a group of Our Lady of Fatima (OLF) volunteers came together to form OLF’s Social Justice Committee. The name has since been changed to Social Justice Ministry (SJM) to better reflect the work at hand.
For many years OLF has been a member congregation of Schenectady Inner City Ministry (SICM). OLF’s social justice actions were accomplished through its membership with SICM. SICM was formed in 1967 as an ecumenical partnership of a handful of city churches. SICM now consists of 58 congregations throughout the city and surrounding suburbs, representing 15 denominations, working together to address the needs of low and moderate income residents of Schenectady County.
SICM promotes four types of social concerns:
1. social service
2. social education
3. social witness
4. social action
From its inception the major goals of OLF’s Social Justice Ministry have been to communicate, educate and act upon the Church teachings on social justice. SJM accomplishes this major goal by looking at ways to address social justice problems beyond charitable works and direct service (i.e., distributing food, clothing, money, etc.) to educate others about the root causes and advocacy for the marginalized. The ministry has also engaged guest speakers, visited various inner city sites, and studied the doctrines of the Catholic Popes, Bishops and other Church authorities to gain further insight and share that information with others.
"JOURNEY to JUSTICE" :
At the outset SJM members believed it was imperative to educate themselves about the Church’s teachings on social justice. For starters, SJM members participated in a weekend retreat held March, 1999. This retreat was sponsored by Catholic Charities and called “Journey to Justice”. The program covered eight reflection / action sessions, took its participants on a journey of transformation to study the root causes of domestic poverty, and considered what actions could be taken to bring awareness to others of the “cry of the poor”. Scripture readings, interactive discussions and guest speakers helped SJM to complete this journey.
Both the Mission Statement and Goals of OLF’s Social Justice Ministry were formulated as a result of the tools shared during the “Journey to Justice” retreat. SJM held later educational retreats, including speakers from City Mission of Schenectady and Schenectady Inner City Ministry.
With the above in mind, SJM continues to work jointly with SICM to promote SICM programs, e.g., Food Pantry; JOBS, Etc.; Damien Center and Summer Lunch Program.
The Social Justice Ministry of Our Lady of Fatima works to bring awareness of the Church’s social teachings to our parish, and to communicate opportunities for actions to promote peace and justice for all people.
Goals:
1. COMMUNICATE social justice issues to the parish.
2. EDUCATE thru informational programs on social justice issues.
3. ACT by publicizing and supporting social justice legislation that furthers the Church’s positions and by participating in other social justice advocacy activities.
........ACCOMPLISHMENTS........
· Participated in Catholic Charities’ “Journey to Justice” retreat.
· Pat Obrecht of SICM-Food Pantry gave presentation on poverty, which included participation by OLF Youth Ministry students.
· Diocesan review of SJM’s progress from “Journey to Justice” retreat with focus on future directions.
· Hosted SICM’s December meeting with Fr. Joseph Girzone (Joshua author) as guest speaker.
· Attended a get acquainted pot luck dinner hosted by OLF’s Parish Council.
· Hosted “Prayers for Peace” at OLF after 11 a.m. Sunday Mass in light of impending war with Iraq.
· Engaged guest speakers on social justice topics (e.g., Pat Obrecht-SICM and Pastor Al of Schenectady City Mission, for the “Hunger No More” program and David Kaczinski for New Yorkers against the Death Penalty.
· Sponsored post card writing sent by OLF parishioners to local legislators for the Empire State Economic Security Campaign (ES2).
· Held bottled water sale with proceeds going to OLF’s sister parish, Mision San Augustien.
· Organized OLF’s participation in SICM’s Summer Lunch Program.
· Held T-shirt sale as OLF’s 50th anniversary event with proceeds sent to it’s sister parish, Mision San Augustien.
· Arranged for parishioners to tour local facilities that work on a daily basis to combat hunger and homelessness (e.g., City Mission, SICM and Bethesda House sites).
........ON-GOING PROJECTS........
® Inform parishioners of service opportunities and social justice issues within our community through church bulletin inserts and SJM Bulletin Board notices.
® Lead parish in Bread for the World and Hunger Action Network of NY letter writing campaigns. These campaigns are directed to advocate to our senators and representatives in Congress for specific legislation to end hunger and the cycle of poverty both at home and abroad.
® Hold Blanket Drive for Home Furnishings to help those in need.
® Be informed thru New York’s Catholic Conference Public Policy Awareness as matters of social justice relevance come to the table.
See also: Helping Neighbors links and Related links.
