Office for Service and Justice expected soon

By LAUREEN McMAHON

“The unbreakable bond between love of God and love of neighbour ... is so closely connected ... that to say that we love God becomes a lie if we are closed to our neighbour or hate Him altogether.

Love of neighbour is a path that leads to the encounter with God; closing our eyes to our neighbour also blinds us to God,” wrote Pope Benedict XVI in Deus Caritas Est (God is Love), #16.

Proposition 15, one of 50 propositions to come out of the recently-concluded Vancouver Archdiocesan Synod, urges the Catholic community in Vancouver to “expand the scope of Catholic Charities to include the entire social apostolate (e.g. social justice issues, human rights advocacy, and corporal and spiritual works of mercy).

To facilitate the goals of Proposition 15 and help the Church in Vancouver create a more responsive climate of justice and serve the needs of our most marginalized citizens, a new Office of Justice and Service will be established in the near future.

“It’s tremendous news,” said Shirley Brown, Interim Director of Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Vancouver, “and a great opportunity for each of us to become more involved in the needs facing our community.”

Brown said she expects the new office to help mobilize Catholics to commit to social justice at the parish level.

Concerning the wider community, she said, it will provide a great opportunity to influence our leaders to make wiser and more just decisions for the benefit of all.

Stewardship, something on everyone’s lips these days, Brown added, should be a goal for all.

“Caring for the environment and meeting the needs of those who most deserve our Christian concern lies at the heart of the matter. Our responsibility is to use God’s gifts, including the resources of our planet, more wisely.

“As Pope Benedict XVI wrote in God is Love, despite the great advances made in science and technology, each day we see how

much suffering there is in the world due to poverty, both material and spiritual. We must be ready to assist our neighbours in need.”

Mary MacDougall, Executive Director of Catholic Family Services and the archdiocese’s liaison for the Catholic Charities Mens’ Hostel and The Door is Open drop-in-centre on Cordova Street, said she expects the newly created Office for Service and Justice “to broaden and focus our faith community resources to carry forward the adamant and clear words of Christ found in the Gospel of St. Matthew.”

In the Gospel, explained MacDougall, “Christ instructs us to care for those in need by doing corporal works of mercy, but more important, to include and act upon the spiritual works of mercy which are often more difficult to carry out because of the nature of the distress to be addressed.”

Catholic Charities, added MacDougall, already operates many programs designed to meet the needs of families and individuals in crisis and those who are suffering from emotional distress, “but the needs are growing all the time.”

Both Brown and MacDougall hope that the expansion of the Church’s social apostolate will result in closer relationships with other churches, charitable organizations, and community leaders.

“Perhaps,” said Brown, “that was what Pope Paul VI was calling for when he emphasized that the building of a better world would require Christians to speak with a united voice in teaching

‘respect for the rights and needs of everyone, especially the poor ... and the defenseless.’”

Brown, who will retire from Catholic Charities in the near future, added, “Our Prayer for Respect for Life summons the conscience of all Christians to have respect for human life from conception to its natural end. The new Office of Justice and Service will strengthen the Church’s response to the needs of the poor, the deprived, and the alienated in our faith communities.”