JUSTICE JOTTINGS

May 2024

MSJC EVENTS & OPPORTUNITIES

Experience a Restorative Justice Community Building Circle

What: Join members of MSJC's Death Penalty Abolition-Restorative Justice Team for a circle experience on Saturday June 8th at 2pm-3:45pm ET. Current team members will use this time to share a bit about the team's work to abolish the death penalty and promote restorative justice. Come and experience this restorative practice with us! 

When & Where: Saturday, June 8 at from 2-3:45 PM ET at the Madeleine Room at the Chaminade Center on the grounds of Mount St. John (4435 E. Patterson Rd., Beavercreek, OH). Here is a map for reference.

An MSJC Celebration Event in Dayton

ll are welcome to join us in celebrating two of MSJC's most dedicated volunteers: Sr. Grace Walle, FMI and Bob Stoughton of the Death Penalty Abolition and Restorative Justice (DP-RJ) Issue Team. They have each dedicated 20+ years of service to MSJC, and both are transitioning off the DP-RJ team this year. Come honor them and hang out with Marianists in the Dayton area. This event will include snacks and drinks.

When & Where: Saturday, June 8 at 7 PM ET at the Madeleine Room in the Chaminade Center/NACMS Building on Mount St. John's Property. Directions and map are available on the event page and will be sent to participants in their confirmation email. RSVP below!

Imago Dei Assembly

When: June 27 - 30, 2024 at the Bergamo Center in Dayton, OH

What: MSJC's LGBTQ+ Initiative is delighted to host Imago Dei: Embracing the Dignity of LGBTQ+ Persons, an assembly for the Catholic LGBTQ+ community.

You can read more about this assembly, check out our amazing plenary and concurrent session speakers, see a schedule-at-a-glace, and request scholarship support at our website.

There are less than 10 spots left for this assembly so make your plan to register today! If we reach capacity, we will share a waitlist for folks still interested.

MSJC REFLECTIONS & RESOURCES

RACIAL JUSTICE

Racial Justice, Jesus, & Young People

Reflection by Team Member Andrew Buchanan

When I share with people that I teach in an all-boys middle school, I get a variety of responses and reactions ranging from astonishment to slight confusion (and sometimes fear). I work with 75 amazing young men in the heart of historically underserved North Omaha every day and have the privilege of teaching them about Jesus in religion class. It is an adventure every day. I have been asked just about every question under the sun about God. I have friends and family spread out all over who ask me What is the question you get most often? Without a doubt, my kids ask me most: “Was Jesus black?” This also elicits a range of facial expressions. I am sure the first few times I was asked this question by my kids at school, I had the same reaction. It makes people uncomfortable. If you are anything like me, I grew up around images of a Jesus that looked like me— from European art to wood and stone sculptures. It wasn’t until my later years in high school and undergrad that I began to discover the rich landscape of diverse cultural interpretations of Christ (see image above as an example), along with Mary and the saints. [Read the rest of this thoughtful reflection here...]

INTEGRAL ECOLOGY

Marianist Meatless Mondays

Team member, Tony Garascia, shares with us a beautiful reflection on the meals of Jesus' time, and birthplace, and how we can learn from them:

As part of our Meatless Mondays effort it is sometimes good to ask ourselves how people in first century Palestine ate. We know that they did not eat a Western diet full of a lot of red meat. So here is a quick look at the foods available to Jesus and his family.

Bread was the main staple, with wheat and barley being the principal grains...(Please read the rest of this thoughtful piece at the link below.)

Additionally, here are 4 new recipes to try in the next month including lentil and barley stew, mushroom stroganoff, bao, and pita flatbreads! Would you like to share a recipe? Send it to info@marianistsjc.net. You can still sign up to participate in Meatless Mondays here.

Resources - Laudato si Week - May 19 - 26, 2024

"To contemplate is to grant oneself the time to be silent, to pray, to restore harmony to the soul, the healthy balance between head, heart and hands, between thoughts, feelings and action." - Pope Francis. 

Seeds of Hope is the theme for the upcoming International Laudato si week. The resource is available in 6 languages and has 8 short units with reflections, education and actions on living Integral Ecology including:

• Encountering Nature
• Sustainable Transportation
• Sustainable Food
• Waste Reduction
• Water Conservation
• Integral Ecology Catechesis/Education
• Renewing our Commitment.

Join in spirit by praying with Creation on Pentecost Sunday (May 19), and considering using Ecological Spirituality from our Marianist Spirituality series.

The Integral Ecology Team’s monthly meeting - Wed May 29 from 8-915 PM ET | 7CT | 5PT | 2 HT will focus on sharing our responses to these resources. All are welcome. Email Sr. Leanne Jablonski FMI for the zoom info.

LGBTQ+ INITIATIVE

In this Washington Post article, we learn from Stefano Pitrelli and Anthony Failoa that Pope Francis is reaching out to transgender sex workers in a radical gesture of love and hospitality. It's a demonstration of the huge heart of our amazing pope.

BEYOND MSJC OPPORTUNITIES