Slaves no more

“Slaves no more, but brothers and sisters” is the theme for the upcoming World Day of Peace on January 1, 2015.

From the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace: “To counter slavery effectively, the inviolable dignity of every person must be recognized above all. Moreover, this acceptance of dignity must be anchored solidly in fraternity. Fraternity requires us to reject any inequality which would allow one person to enslave another. It demands instead that we act everywhere with proximity and generosity, thus leading to liberation and inclusion for everyone.” Read more…

Reach out to members of the Black Community to reflect on how you would like to respond to the issue of Slavery and Human Trafficking.

By Cândido Portinari ; photo by Thomás ; edition by Eugenio Hansen, OFS (, Prayer of Saint Franics) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)%5D, via Wikimedia Commons

Promising Practices for September

JESUS MAFA. Prodigal Son, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=54662 [retrieved August 24, 2014].

Reach out to invite members of the Black Community to celebrate Catechetical Sunday by “Teaching About God’s Gift of Forgiveness.”

Reach out to invite members of the Black Community to a prayer vigil/day of prayer to pray for an end of violence in our community, our nation, and our world.

Reach out to members of the Black Community to plan and coordinate a Cultural Reading Group to read about people from various cultures who have made significant contributions to the advancement of people everywhere.

Reach out to people in the Black Community to encourage them to let their need for affordable housing be known. Invite a representative from Habitat for Humanity to explore the possibility of building new homes in your parish community.

Reach out to work with area churches to organize a community-wide voter registration drive.