MISSION STATEMENT of ST. BARTHOLOMEW
PEACE AND JUSTICE MINISTRY
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The Peace and Justice Ministry recognizes the Church as the Body of Christ.
- The goal of Peace and Justice Ministry is to provide leadership to St. Bartholomew parishioners to help them witness the Good News of Jesus Christ.
- Through education, prayer, reflection and direct communication, it helps parishioners to be effective in communities at local, national, and international levels, thereby enabling them to achieve meaningful and effective social action.
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May 2018 Events and Opportunities
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MEETING SCHEDULE AND PUBLICATION SCHEDULE
- Peace and Justice Meetings are the second Wednesday of each month, and as always all are welcome to attend.
- Peace and Justice Newsletter will publish mid-month, reflecting ministry news and reports from the meetings and presentations.
May 19-20 Fair Trade sales
- coffee, tea, chocolate
- after all four Masses
- benefits after school tutoring at St. Anne Parish, teacher salaries and snacks.
- June 16-17 next sale
June 13 Peace & Justice general and team meetings, 7 PM church lower level Room 2
- Meetings are scheduled for SECOND Wednesday of the month
- Teams: Programming, Communications, Finance and Grants
- All are welcome to attend and become involved!
May 26-27 Bread for the World Offering of Letters
Sundays Weekly Hot Meal Site 4 - 6 pm, Meal Site Teams
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Option for the Poor and Vulnerable
, by Rachel Rice
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Catholic Social Teaching (CST) is a dynamic element of our Catholic faith. The most basic ethical assessment of our society as a whole is to understand how the most vulnerable of our society are surviving. This principle involves an examination of personal, social and political decisions based on efforts to achieve the common good.
The CST principle of Option for the Poor and Vulnerable is one that is outwardly evident in many of our Scripture readings (“The Lord hears the cry of the poor” -Job 34:20-28; “Speak out in defense of the poor” –Proverbs 31:8-9; “Don’t delay giving to those in need” -Sirach 4:1-10; “Blessed are the poor, theirs is the kingdom of God” -Luke 6:20-23). It can also be seen in our everyday lives, giving thought to our Spotlight Ministry this month, Bread for the World's annual Offering of Letters.
Bread for the World’s Offering of Letters is a grass roots movement of writing letters to our elected officials in hopes of making a change in the world regarding hunger and poverty, here in the United States and around the world. This year’s theme is “For such a time is this” and is an opportunity to put your faith into action by helping struggling families put food on the table and ensuring that no one is forced to go to bed hungry.
You can see an opportunity around you everyday in our society to help the poor and vulnerable, and participating in Bread for the World’s Offering of Letters at St. Bartholomew Parish is just one more way to get your voice out there and make a difference for those who need it most. All it takes is a few minutes of your time before or after Mass to sign your name to a letter asking that the existing programs and funding for the poor and hungry of our country not be removed from the budget.
"Faced with a world today where so many people are suffering from want, the council asks individuals and governments to remember the saying of the Fathers: ‘Feed the people dying of hunger, because if you do not feed them you are killing them,’ and it urges them according to their ability to share and dispose of their goods to help others, above all by giving them aid which will enable them to help and develop themselves. (Second Vatican Council,
The Church in the Modern World
[Gaudium et Spes], no. 69)
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Ministry Spotlight on Bread for the World Offering of Letters, by Rachel Rice
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2018 Bread For The World Offering of Letters at Saint Bartholomew Church: For Such a Time as This.
What is the Offering of Letters?
Bread for the World’s annual Offering of Letters campaign engages churches, campuses, and other faith communities in writing letters to Congress. Each year, for the focus of the campaign, we choose specific legislation or a legislative emphasis that can make a real difference to people struggling with hunger and poverty. People write letters, usually as a group, and present them as an offering to God before mailing them to Congress. Hundreds of Offerings of Letters are held each year, resulting in tens of thousands of letters to Congress. Supported with prayer, these letters are a bold witness to God’s justice and mercy. They have, and continue to have, a significant impact on the decisions made in Congress.
From Bread’s Conducting an Event: “Each year, Bread for the World urges elected leaders in Washington, D.C., to enable people in our nation and our world to feed their families and move out of poverty. An Offering of Letters event—when people in your congregation, campus, or group sit down together to write personalized letters or emails to members of Congress on specific issues—is an effective tool that helps shape our government’s response to hunger.
In addition, our archdiocese has requested that the offering coordinate so that all letters from all participating churches may be blessed and delivered at the same time, making an even greater impact than any of us can accomplish alone.
Bread For The World, which we support as a church, addresses the root causes of food insecurity, including the fairness of farm bills, SNAP programs, aid for families and children in our country and internationally. Unfortunately, these programs rely on our federal budget, created by representatives we elect as a free people. The process of proposing and approving the national budget, which is a moral document, is by necessity an activity of advocacy for those less fortunate.
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"We support Bread because it magnifies our voice on behalf of hungry people."
Father James Fetscher,
St. Louis Catholic Church, Miami
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We Are The Peace & Justice Ministry
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- Chairman David Harpenau
- Programming Team: Steve Audretch and David Harpenau
- Grants & Finance Team: David Harpenau
- Communications Team: Jan Banister
- Blood Drive: Greg Scherschel, coordinator
- Next drive Fall 2018
- Voter Registration: Steve Audretch coordinator
- Next drive Fall 2018
- Ecumenical Assembly: Rebecca Reeck
- Pro-Life: Kelley Snoddy
- Giving Tree: Theresa Westerfeld, coordinator
- Meal Site: Susan Chandler,
- Sundays 4-6 PM
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- Friends of Haiti: Judy Harpenau, liaison
- Bread for the World Offering of Letters: Rachel Rice coordinator
- Next campaign April/May 2018.
- Bread for the World, Fr. Marty Peter, Convener
- Second Tuesdays 7 PM at First Presbyterian Church
- Abolition Coalition: Donna Keogh, liaison
- St. Vincent de Paul: David and Hilary Baker, liaisons
- Women's Jail Ministry: Sevy Badgley, liasion
- Family Self Sufficiency: Jan Banister coordinator, December 8, 2018
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Peace & Justice Ministry Reports
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Friends of Haiti Ministry Report
for May 2018
As of April 19, Lenten carton contributions totaled $7,538.63. Proceeds from the cartons provide food, milk, Medika Manba, medical services and more for 75 children in two Nutrition Centers in Limonade and Jede.
New screen doors to control flies have been installed in the Limonade Nutrition Center. The pit latrine of the Limonade Nutrition Center is no longer useable or serviceable. Members of Friends of Haiti are exploring option of a SOIL toilet or another form of sanitation for the Nutrition Center.
Pere Gelin would like to send 4 youth from Limonade to World Youth Day in Panama in January 2019. Pere Gelin would accompany
the youth. Pope Francis will be present at the event. Expenses amount to $1,000 for each youth or $4,000 for all four.
Haiti Sunday weekend, celebrating 26 years
of twinning with St. Anne Parish, is July 21
and 22.
The Parish Twinning Program is sponsoring a National Conference in Nashville, Tennessee August 24-26. Additional information is available on the website of the Parish Twinning Program of the Americas.
In upcoming trips to Haiti
a large Youth Group be will going to Limonade in early July, another group in September, and a group of teachers in October.
Submitted:
Judy Harpenau
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Offering of Letters:
Please consider writing a personal letter to each of your Senators and Representative and submitting them during the weekend Masses of May 26th and 27th.
Senators Joe Donnelly and Todd Young, Representative Luke Messer or Trey Hollingsworth. Include your name and address. A sample letter is shown below.
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Dear ________,
As Congress works on the fiscal year 2019 budget and spending bills, I ask you to invest in and protect key programs that will reduce hunger and poverty.
Our country and the world have made progress against hunger and poverty in recent decades. I want you to continue to invest in programs like SNAP and tax credits for low-income workers. Continued funding for programs that reduce hunger and poverty around the world are also important to me.
My faith calls me to urge you to make public investments that will move us toward the end of hunger. Our church, St. Bartholomew in Columbus, Indiana, currently supports numerous organizations that provide food and relief to our brothers and sisters locally through our Ecumenical Assembly of churches, and globally through involvement at our twin parish in Limonade Haiti, and support through Catholic Relief Services and Bread for the World, as examples.
Our national budget is a moral document, which is critical to this work. Will you join us?
Sincerely,
Name_________________________________
Address_______________________________
City, State, Zip__________________________
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St. Vincent de Paul Society
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David and Hilary Baker reported that a car was donated to the society, which was sold with the proceeds helping to continue their work.
Unneeded cars or trucks, even those long past their prime, can become a charitable donation to the Society to aid in local efforts. Please contact the Bakers at:
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