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Patricia Puglis, former social justice director at St. Charles        “I will be forever grateful that I had the opportunity to be part of a parish that is similar to those started by Saint Paul.”

Towards the Kingdom

By Patricia Puglis

Reprinted with permission from the Catholic Charities USA newsletter, Koinonia, Summer 2006 (Vol. 8, No. 2)

I love doing charity. I have done it at church, at school and even for two years in Guatemala. Charity projects are often of the "roll up your sleeves and hunker down to work" nature that leave one exhausted, but pleasantly fulfilled. Like most humans, I'm energized by being able to stand back and gaze upon my accomplishments, count the funds collected or the meals I delivered. Lately though, the pure satisfaction of such work has become overshadowed by the realization that doing charity without also promoting justice is only doing half the job.

I can no longer give clothes to the working poor without also lobbying for just wages. Nor can I feed the homeless and do nothing to promote a affordable housing. I can't enjoy speaking Spanish without also marching for immigrant rights. I have had the great blessing to be part of a parish with very broad and far-reaching vision. At St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church in Arlington, Virginia, there are thirty-?ve ministries that fall under the rubric of Social Justice. Sixteen of these ministries are focused on doing charity, while nineteen work for local and global justice. Needs grow and change and so the parish grows and engages in new, diverse issues. These ministries provide parishioners with opportunities for awareness, understanding and participation in myriad social issues. Organizing the meetings, events, fund-raisers and promotions generated by so many ministries can be a challenge.

Additionally, organizing the social justice ministries is not the only challenge that St. Charles faces. All parish life must flow to re?ect the Church calendar, the national calendar (e.g., National AIDS Awareness month, St. Patrick's Day), liturgical themes, and diocesan promotions (e.g. Bishop's Lenten Appeal). These ministries must operate within the context of Catholic social teaching as well as within the parish ministries and activities. The liturgy committee must know what the ministries are planning so the liturgy can be supportive. This requires that all the ministries, including the social justice ministries, do a great deal of communicating and cooperating.

The Social Justice Committee works to support the communication needs of the social justice ministries. While the committee is responsible for facilitating special events (e.g., Lenten Soup Suppers, semi-annual social justice ministry conferences), its primary functions are to establish and maintain lines of communication with and between the social justice ministries and to help the ministry leaders define their ministry within the large, complex whole and to learn to function accordingly.

While the Social Justice Committee is crucial to leader training and cross-ministry communications, they too work within the broader context of the parish and therefore cooperate with other individuals and groups who have accepted responsibilities for coordination and communication. These combined efforts provide the parish an extensive and informative website, an ever growing bulletin, a comprehensive monthly calendar, weekly mini-ministry fairs, a degree of coordination of events, and a liturgy that supports and enhances the efforts of the parish community. Importantly, these tools help empower the parish to focus outward towards the needs of local and global communities, thus demonstrating ever more clearly that the Church is mission.

The great news, the gospel that Jesus brought to us, is that God did not finish creating the world and then step back to just watch. God is always continuing the creation with and through us. We have hope because we have been told that we are part of the creation of the Kingdom that is here now and yet to come. We have responsibility because we have heard this good news and know we must participate in its fruition. During St. Paul's missionary journeys he planted churches by working with and building up the sense of community in the people to whom he preached. He did not encourage competition or individualism because as a united community reaching out to others they not only exemplified the Kingdom but they also demonstrated participation in its creation. Yes, I love the immediate and private gratification of putting band aids on the wounded, but I will be forever grateful that I had the opportunity to be part of a parish that is similar to those started by St. Paul. St. Charles is a parish that tends to today's needy but also works to harmonize and direct the strengths of all of its members towards God 's ultimate Kingdom, where the participation and cooperation of all peoples with our Triune God will enable love and justice to flow like milk and honey.

Patricia is a former director of social justice at St. Charles

Published here on July 1, 2006.