Home Capital Campaign Stewardship Contacts Mass Schedule Ministry Schedules Weekly Bulletin Peace And Justice History Links		PEACE AND JUSTICE Welcome to Blessed Sacrament’s Peace and Justice Committee’s Webpage. May Christ’s Peace be with you. The Peace and Justice Committee is a parish’s link both with the larger communities (local, national, and global) in which the parish is involved, and with the universal Church and its Catholic Social Teachings. Our work is pretty much “where the tire hits the pavement”. We apply Catholic Social Teachings in very concrete programs of service and education. Just take a look at what we have going on, and if you would like more information on any of these activities, please contact Bernadette at BlSacPandJ@aol.com OUR YEAR-ROUND ACTIVITIES: A Rosary for Peace, prayed every Wednesday at 5:00 p.m. in the Church. Please join us for our weekly rosary. If you would like to lead the rosary occasionally, please contact Bernadette at the above e-mail address. A Food Pantry servicing parishioners and agencies on behalf of their clients. The food is collected on the last weekend of each month, which we call Food to Share Weekend. Parishioners are invited to bring non-perishable food items, laundry or cleaning supplies, or personal hygiene items to Mass that weekend, and to leave them at any of at the Church entrances. Items that are needed are usually listed in the bulletin on the next to the last weekend of the month. In 2009, thanks to your generosity, our pantry served over 260 individuals (62 families). And some of these families, especially parish families received continued help. God bless all who are so faithful to this ministry. Bi-monthly parish coffees at which fair trade coffee is served. This fair trade coffee is also available for sale, as well as fair trade tea and chocolates. For more information on fair trade, you may go to www.crs.org/fairtrade. We would also encourage you to check out another crs (Catholic Relief Services) website - Catholics Confront Global Poverty at www.usccb.org/sdwp/globalpoverty/ A year-long commitment to some Peace effort is requested of our parishioners. Previously we have made the Family Pledge of Nonviolence our common commitment, but currently, we are inviting parishioners to choose from several works for Peace or develop their own. Paper doves with suggestions on them, and a space for your own ideas, are always available in the racks attached to the bookcase in the back of the Church, as are copies of the Family Pledge of Nonviolence. If you wish to participate in our Peace effort, just mark and sign the dove and drop it in the collection basket at any weekend Mass. Our Sister Parish, San Rafael Arcángel, located in Guatemala City, Guatemala. We send regular financial and prayer support to San Rafael, and share news of how our two parishes carry out our common faith. Unfortunately, violence is not uncommon in Guatemala, one sad legacy of years of war. Please continue to pray for a lessening of violence in Guatemala and for safety for our sisters and brothers of San Rafael. MARCH-APRIL Monday, March 22, will be our annual Lenten Soup Supper. We will begin at 6:00 p.m. in the Parish Center, with prayer. Supper consists of a simple vegetable soup, bread, milk and water, and this year, we will have a Bolivian stew to sample. This stew appeared in the Operation Rice Bowl Lenten calendar during the second week of Lent, which focused on Bolivia. After supper, Dr. Gary Carlton of our parish will speak about his recent medical trip to Bolivia. A free will offering opportunity will be available. GOOD FRIDAY (this year, April 2) is often used as an appropriate time to contemplate the use of capital punishment. For information on the Catholic Church in the United States' Campaign to End the Death Penalty, please go to www.usccb.org/death penalty/ Our next parish fair trade coffee and sale will be in the parish center on Saturday, April 24, after the 4:30 Mass, and after all Masses on Sunday, April 25. As spring finally becomes a reality, and you enjoy God's created world, can you find something you can do that you're not already doing to help protect or beautify it? It's a sign of respect for God's handiwork!