Justice: Parishioner Reflections on the Jubilee

...we can express our solidarity with our ecumenical family in many ways...

"In his providence, God had given the earth to humanity, that meant that he had given it to everyone. Therefore, the riches of creation were to be considered as a common good of the whole of humanity. Those who possessed these goods as personal property were really only stewards, ministers charged with working in the name of God, who remains the sole owner in the full sense, since it is God's will that created good should serve everyone in a just way. The Jubilee year was meant to restore this social justice."

In his words, Pope John Paul II challenges each of us to heed the call to reach out to our brothers and sisters in need, wherever they may live.

Perhaps this year, the "Jubilee Year," we are called more than ever to be one, ecumenical family that reaches out to help one another live and grow in Christ; whether that be the person down the street or across the globe. It seems when John Paul proclaimed "The Jubilee year was meant to restore this social justice," he had in mind those areas marked by poverty, repressed by injustice or submerged in cyclical poverty and authoritarian rule. In response to John Paul's challenge, we can express our solidarity with our ecumenical family in many ways, including: a concerted awareness of social injustices (locally and internationally) praying for those less fortunate, and reaching out to the poor and disadvantaged through acts of charity, and through advocacy and political responsibility.

Prayer:
Give us, O God, a new awareness of what you mean by Justice.

Jeff Gervy

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Revised/reviewed September 5, 2000