Pray With & For The Poor

Stretch Out Your Hands

 
‘Let us love one another, as God loves us’

‘Stretch forth your hand to the poor’ 

(Book of Sirach 7:32)

On Sunday, November 15th, Pope Francis celebrated the 4th World Day of Prayer for the Poor.  His Message was, ‘Stretch Forth Your Hand to the Poor’. We read in his message:

Prayer to God and solidarity with the poor and suffering are inseparable. In order to perform an act of worship acceptable to the Lord, we have to recognize that each person, even the poorest and most contemptible, is made in the image of God. From this awareness comes the gift of God’s blessing, drawn by the generosity we show to the poor. Time devoted to prayer can never become an alibi for neglecting our neighbor in need. In fact, the very opposite is true: the Lord’s blessing descends upon us and prayer attains its goal when accompanied by service to the poor.

Encountering the poor and those in need constantly challenges us and forces us to think. How can we help to eliminate or at least alleviate their marginalization and suffering? How can we help them in their spiritual need? The Christian community is called to be involved in this kind of sharing and to recognize that it cannot be delegated to others. In order to help the poor, we ourselves need to live the experience of evangelical poverty. We cannot feel “alright” when any member of the human family is left behind and in the shadows. The silent cry of so many poor men, women and children should find the people of God at the forefront, always and everywhere, in efforts to give them a voice, to protect and support them in the face of hypocrisy and so many unfulfilled promises, and to invite them to share in the life of the community.

This pandemic arrived suddenly and caught us unprepared, sparking a powerful sense of bewilderment and helplessness. Yet hands never stopped reaching out to the poor. This has made us all the more aware of the presence of the poor in our midst and their need for help. Structures of charity, works of mercy, cannot be improvised. Constant organization and training is needed, based on the realization of our own need for an outstretched hand.

The ability to stretch forth our hand shows that we possess an innate capacity to act in ways that give meaning to life. How many outstretched hands do we see every day! A hand held out is a sign; a sign that immediately speaks of closeness, solidarity and love. 

In these months, when the whole world was prey to a virus that brought pain and death, despair and bewilderment, how many outstretched hands have we seen! The outstretched hands of physicians who cared about each patient and tried to find the right cure. The outstretched hands of nurses who worked overtime, for hours on end, to look after the sick. The outstretched hands of administrators who procured the means to save as many lives as possible. 

The outstretched hands of pharmacists who at personal risk responded to people’s pressing needs. The outstretched hands of priests whose hearts broke as they offered a blessing. The outstretched hands of volunteers who helped people living on the streets and those with a home yet nothing to eat. The outstretched hands of men and women who worked to provide essential services and security. We could continue to speak of so many other outstretched hands, all of which make up a great litany of good works. Those hands defied contagion and fear in order to offer support and consolation.

"In everything you do, remember your end” (Sir 7:36). These are the final words of this chapter of the book of Sirach. They can be understood in two ways. First, our lives will sooner or later come to an end. Remembering our common destiny can help lead to a life of concern for those poorer than ourselves or lacking the opportunities that were ours. But second, there is also an end or goal towards which each of us is tending. And this means that our lives are a project and a process. The “end” of all our actions can only be love.

Read Pope Francis’ Complete Message here:

http://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/messages/poveri/documents/papa-francesco_20200613_messaggio-iv-giornatamondiale-poveri-2020.html

World Day of the Poor: solidarity and closeness to those in need

Let Us Pray

Litany on the Millennium Development Goals

Leader: Let us pray for those who are poor, hungry, and neglected all over the world, that their cries for daily bread may inspire works of compassion and mercy among those to whom much has                            been given. 

Loving God, in your mercy, All: Hear our prayer. 

Leader: Let us pray for schools and centers of learning throughout the world, for those who lack access to basic education, and for the light of knowledge to blossom and shine in the lives of all God’s people. 

Loving God, in your mercy, All: Hear our prayer. 

Leader: Let us pray for an end to the divisions and inequalities that scar God’s creation, particularly the barriers to freedom faced by God’s children throughout the world because of gender; that all                    who have been formed in God’s image might have equality in pursuit of the blessings of creation. 

Loving God, in your mercy, All: Hear our prayer. 

Leader: Let us pray for the health of women, children and families around the world, especially for an end to maternal and child mortality, that in building healthy families, all God’s people may be empowered to strengthen their communities and repair the breaches which divide nations and peoples. 

Loving God, in your mercy, All: Hear our prayer. 

Leader: Let us pray for an end to pandemic disease throughout the world, particularly the scourges of HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis; that plagues of death may no longer fuel poverty, destabilize nations, and inhibit reconciliation and restoration throughout the world. 

Loving God, in your mercy, All: Hear our prayer. 

Leader: Let us pray for an end to the waste and desecration of God’s creation, for access to the fruits of creation to be shared equally among all people, and for communities and nations to find sustenance in the fruits of the earth and the water God has                            given us. 

Loving God, in your mercy, All: Hear our prayer. 

Leader: Let us pray for all nations and people who already enjoy the abundance of creation and the blessings of prosperity, that their hearts may be lifted up to the needs of the poor and afflicted, and partnerships between rich and poor for the reconciliation of the world may flourish and grow. 

Lord, in your mercy, All: Hear our prayer. 

Leader: God of the impossible, we pray for justice, peace and reconciliation. And when the challenges seem too many, remind us of your resurrection power and the miracles of your love that happen whenever injustice is dismantled and rebuilt with peace. Help us to hope that the impossible can happen and live as if it might do so today. 

All: Amen 

Nov. 11th Province Leadership Transition

Province Leadership Transition

 

Sisters of St. Joseph of Cluny

Province of the United States & Canada

As we celebrate with our Cluny Sisters throughout the world on the Feast of St. Martin of Tours, a Congregation feast, we rejoice and give thanks for the appointment of Sister Genevieve as our new Provincial. 

Welcome, Sister Genevieve!

Sister Genevieve, who has been the Local Leader in our Mary Star of the Sea Community in San Pedro, CA, will begin her mandate as Provincial in California and arrive in the Provincial House in Middletown, RI in December.

Sister Luke has served as Provincial November 11, 2012 - 2020.  She will remain in the Provincial House assisting with the transition until January 2021. 

Thank You, Sister Luke!

 

November Stop Trafficking Newsletter

 

Read the November Issue of Stop Trafficking

https://sistersagainsttrafficking.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/2020_11_Stop-Trafficking-EN.pdf

Headlines

 

• The Double Pandemics: Human Trafficking and COVID-19
• Increased Children's Risk to Trafficking
• Increase in Cybercrime
• Impact on Victims
• Challenges to Survivors
• Human Trafficking for Forced Labor
• COVID-19 in the Coffee Sector
• Anti-Trafficking Work in India
• Domestic Workers 

 

 

On the Pulse of the Morning

 

VOTE  2020  

Election Reflection

As members of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) in the United States we invite you to join us in our 2020 Election Reflection Process, Towards a More Perfect Union.  Each week until Election Day, November 3rd, we will highlight a reflection and dialogue theme.  This week’s Election Reflection is entitled, On the Pulse of the Morning.  Please pray, reflect and dialogue along with us.

Towards a More Perfect Union

On the Pulse of the Morning

Scripture

Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. (Joshua 1: 9)

 

Reflection 

Thank you for journeying with us through this election season. We hope these reflections and this time of contemplative dialogue have nourished our souls, stretched our minds, and opened our hearts. As we close our weeks- long exploration of the values that shape our democracy and the faith that guides our actions, we invite you to one more act of hope. On this election day 2020 let us pray for the soul of our nation and for the strength and courage to recommit our hearts and hands to building a more perfect union.

As we greet this new day, we invite you to listen to Maya Angelou read her poem, On the Pulse of Morning. You can find the text of the poem here.

 

Music

Gabriel’s Oboe (Ennio Morricone)

  

Closing Prayer

Let us pray . . .

For the world and its leaders, may all those in authority have the courage to walk the path of peace.

For our nation in this time of election and transition, may we be gifted with a spirit of reverence for what is right, charity for those with whom we disagree and concern for the common good.

For all who serve in our national and local governments, may they commit themselves to building a more perfect union.

For reconciliation among families and friends, may we learn to love each other not despite but because of our differences and may we focus fully on the work that continues beyond this election--the work of building God’s beloved community.

For those most affected by the choices we make, those who are made poor, those seeking safety in our land, those who are ill or without homes, those without food or meaningful work, and for all whose lives are undervalued, may they find welcome in our hearts and in our country.

Amen.

2020 National Elections

Prayer for Leadership

Election 2020

 

 

Give us, O God, leaders whose hearts are large enough

to match the breadth of our own souls

and give us souls strong enough

to follow leaders of vision and wisdom.

In seeking a leader,

let us seek more than development for ourselves–

though development we hope for–

more than security for our own land–

though security we need–

more than satisfaction for our wants–

though many things we desire.

Give us the hearts to choose the leader 

who will work with other leaders

to bring safety to the whole world.

Give us leaders who lead this nation to virtue

without seeking to impose our kind of virtue

on the virtue of others.

Give us a government that provides

for the advancement of this country

without taking resources from others to achieve it.

Give us insight enough ourselves

to choose as leaders those who can tell

strength from power, growth from greed,

leadership from dominance,

and real greatness from the trappings of grandiosity.

We trust you, Great God, to open our hearts to learn from

those to whom you speak in different tongues

and to respect the life and words of those to whom you

have entrusted the good of other parts of this globe.

We beg you, Great God, give us the vision as a people

to know where global leadership truly lies,

to pursue it diligently,

to require it to protect human rights for everyone everywhere.

We ask these things, Great God, with minds open to your word,

and hearts that trust in your eternal care. Amen.

- Joan Chittister, osb

“We The People of Faith” Voter Guide #2

Website

https://sistersagainsttrafficking.org/

Who We Are?

U.S. Catholic Sisters Against Human Trafficking is a collaborative, faith-based national network that offers education, supports access to survivor services, and engages in advocacy in an effort to eradicate modern-day slavery.  As a member of Talitha Kum International, we are connected to a global network of women religious working to end human trafficking

Getting Ready To Vote

 

The United States is facing a crucial election, the outcome of which has implications for every aspect of our national and international life including human trafficking. It is our job to make sure that candidates for office at all levels of government are aware that human trafficking is a reality in their jurisdictions whether that be city, county, state or the country as a whole, and that they have plans to eradicate this affront to human dignity.

U.S. Catholic Sisters Against Human Trafficking invites voters to spend time researching candidates for public office in their area.  Sources of information include the candidates’ websites which often include a list of town hall meetings and other events.  While these may be limited this year because of the coronavirus pandemic, it is expected that many candidates will be offering virtual gatherings. It is important to note too, that while candidates may not specifically address human trafficking their positions on other issues such as immigration, gender equity, poverty eradication and climate change impact the root causes of trafficking.

What Are Our Core Values?

As we evaluate candidates on the November ballot we are guided by values articulated in Catholic Social Teaching.  Pope Francis shows us clearly how these principles inform our efforts to combat and eliminate human trafficking.

Inherent Dignity of Every Human Person

“It is precisely on this level that we need to make a good examination of conscience - 

how many times have we permitted a human being to be seen as an object,

to be put on show in order to sell a product or satisfy an immoral desire?

The human person ought never to be sold or bought 

as if he or she were a commodity.”

 

Pope Francis (12/12/13)

Read More About These Core Values
On Our Voter’s Guide … 

Commitment to Those Who Are Poor and Vulnerable

Establishment of Right Relationships to

 Promote the Common Good

Defense of the Basic Rights of Workers

Solidarity with One Another and the 

Willingness to Enter into Another’s Joys

Care for Creation

Voters’ Guide

https://sistersagainsttrafficking.org/take-action/voters-guide/

Take Action!

• Use our Voter’s Guide to evaluate how candidates plan to address human trafficking and then make a plan how you will vote.
• Share our four policy papers with family, friends and coworkers.
• Share our Welcome Packet with newly elected officials after they take office
• Write a Letter to the Editor of your local paper about human trafficking and mention candidates running in your area

Website

https://sistersagainsttrafficking.org/

The Power of Love

 

VOTE  2020  

Election Reflection

As members of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) in the United States we invite you to join us in our 2020 Election Reflection Process, Towards a More Perfect Union.  Each week until Election Day, November 3rd, we will highlight a reflection and dialogue theme.  This week’s Election Reflection is entitled, The Power of Love.  Please pray, reflect and dialogue along with us.

Towards a More Perfect Union

The Power of Love 

Scripture

May they all be one as You are in me and I am in You; may they be one in us... (John 17:21)

Reflection 

“I do not think of political power as an end. Neither do I think of economic power as an end. They are ingredients in the objective that we seek in life,” wrote Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., “Our goal is to create a Beloved Community and this will require a qualitative change in our souls as well as a quantitative change in our lives.

According to The King Center, for Dr. King the Beloved Community was not a lofty utopian ideal… Rather, the Beloved Community was for him a realistic, achievable goal...

Dr. King’s Beloved Community is a global vision, in which all people can share in the wealth of the [E]arth. In the Beloved Community, poverty, hunger and homelessness will not be tolerated. Racism and all forms of discrimination, bigotry and prejudice will be replaced by an all-inclusive spirit of sisterhood and brotherhood...Love and trust will triumph over fear and hatred. Peace with justice will prevail...

The core value of the quest for Dr. King’s Beloved Community was agape love...which he described as “understanding, redeeming goodwill for all,” an “overflowing love which is purely spontaneous, unmotivated, groundless and creative”…”the love of God operating in the human heart.” He said that “Agape does not begin by discriminating between worthy and unworthy people…It begins by loving others for their sakes” and “makes no distinction between a friend and enemy; it is directed toward both… Agape is love seeking to preserve and create community.”

(The King Center, “The King Philosophy,” downloaded 8/28/20.)

Music

I Am Willing (Holly Near) (Lyrics)

Questions for Reflection and Dialogue

Think about a social movement that has unfolded during your lifetime--the civil rights movement, the women’s rights movement, etc. To what extent have I experienced these movements as fueled by “the power of love”?

What kinds of “qualitative change in our souls as well as a quantitative change in our lives” are necessary if we are to build King’s Beloved Community and enflesh God’s dream that all might be one?

  

Closing Prayer

God of all, in this year of election, in these days of discernment, IGNITE us with fire of your love. ENFLAME our hearts with courage to embrace dialogue that transforms and truth that frees. KINDLE our love with kindness to heal divisions and reconcile relationships. LIGHT our imaginations with insight to envision and create a world where all are one. STIR our actions with justice and peace to engage critical concerns and cherish all of life. FIRE our lives with audacity and hope to risk all for God’s mission. -- Roxanne Schares, SSND

‘We The People of Faith’ Voter Guide

NUNS ON THE BUS

FOCUSES ON BEING 

A MULTI-ISSUE VOTER

Faith does not fit into politics neatly.   

Still we are called to engage.

Pope Francis and Catholic Social Justice are clear about the sacred issues that voters must bring with them into the voting booth!  We are called to defend, promote, and protect the sacredness of human life in every way.

To be true to this call, we cannot be single-issue voters.  NETWORK's Equally Sacred Scorecard demonstrates just that.

 

 

https://networklobby.org/

 

For too long, there's been a one-dimensional understanding of faith in politics. NETWORK knows that faith touches every aspect of our shared life here in the United States. All of these issues are connected, and they are integral to promoting a society and economy of inclusion.

In our Nuns on the Bus Town Hall meetings, people from all across the country have shared their experiences of our economy of exclusion, how the elderly are exposed to covert euthanasia, and how racism and xenophobia are openly displayed and promoted by President Trump.

EQUALLY SACRED PRIORITIES

We invite you to consider this information prayerfully.  Our defense of the innocent unborn, for example, needs to be clear, firm and passionate, for at stake is the dignity of a human life, which is always sacred and demands love for each person, regardless of his or her stage of development. Equally sacred, are the lives of the poor, those already born. 

Take Time To Reflect

On Your Vote

download your copy of the Equally Sacred scorecard, if you haven't already.

A Call to Contemplative Action

 

VOTE  2020  

Election Reflection

As members of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) in the United States we invite you to join us in our 2020 Election Reflection Process, Towards a More Perfect Union.  Each week until Election Day, November 3rd, we will highlight a reflection and dialogue theme.  This week’s Election Reflection is entitled, A Call to Contemplative Action.  Please pray, reflect and dialogue along with us.

Towards a More Perfect Union

A Call to Contemplative Action 

Scripture

Be still before the Lord, wait for God. (Psalm 37:7)

Reflection 

I believe that the combination of human action from a contemplative center is the greatest art form, one that takes our whole lives to master. When action and contemplation are united, we have beauty, symmetry, and transformation — lives and actions that heal the world by their very presence.

...The contemplative side of the soul will reveal itself when we begin to ask, “How can I listen for God and learn God’s voice? How can I use my words and actions to expand and not to contract? How can I keep my heart, mind, and soul open, even ‘in hell’?”

...True contemplation is really quite down to earth and practical...Contemplation builds on the hard bottom of reality—as it is—without ideology, denial, the contemporary mood, or fantasy. 

The reason why the true contemplative-in-action is still somewhat rare is that most of us are experts in dualistic thinking. And then we try to use this limited thinking tool for prayer, problems, and relationships. It cannot get us very far. We cannot grow in the great art form of action and contemplation without a strong tolerance for ambiguity, an ability to allow, forgive, and contain a certain degree of anxiety, and a willingness to not know—and not even need to know. This is how we allow and encounter Mystery. 

(Richard Rohr, Dancing Standing Still: Healing the World from a Place of Prayer, Paulist Press: 2014.)

Questions for Reflection and Dialogue

Our faith and all that we desire for our world calls us to be contemplatives-in-action. What does that mean? What practices might help us to become true contemplative activists?

How might the practice of contemplative action inform our decisions in the 2020 election and our actions in the public square?

Music

World Peace Prayer (Marty Haugen and Marc Anderson)

  

Closing Prayer

God of all, in this year of election, in these days of discernment, IGNITE us with fire of your love. ENFLAME our hearts with courage to embrace dialogue that transforms and truth that frees. KINDLE our love with kindness to heal divisions and reconcile relationships. LIGHT our imaginations with insight to envision and create a world where all are one. STIR our actions with justice and peace to engage critical concerns and cherish all of life. FIRE our lives with audacity and hope to risk all for God’s mission.

-- Roxanne Schares, SSND

Beatification Day

 Blessed Anne Marie Javouhey 

October 15, 1950 

Painting capturing St. Teresa’s Vision of the Children of many Races

On October 15, 1950, Anne Marie Javouhey, Founder of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Cluny, was beatified in Rome, by Pope Pius XII.  This feast of  St. Teresa of Avila was chosen for Anne Marie’s Beatification Day as St. Teresa revealed to Anne Marie in a vision, children of all races that God was entrusting to Anne Marie and the Congregation she would found in 1807.

St. Teresa is said to have appeared to the young Anne Marie, a postulant at the Convent of Charity in Besançon, during a time when Anne Marie was struggling to know God’s Will for her. St. Teresa appeared to her and showed her many children of diverse races saying, “These are the children God is giving you.”  She told Anne Marie that she was to found a new congregation that would care for these children. The Church celebrates the feast of St. Teresa on October 15th. St. Teresa teaches us to seek God in all things and to unite contemplation and action.

The Sisters of St. Joseph of Cluny are an international missionary and apostolic religious congregation of 2,600 Cluny Sisters in 57 countries across 5 continents, working in education, health care, evangelization and social action.  

Early in the life of the new congregation, St. Teresa of Avila was named one of our Patrons. On her feast day, October 15th we honor St. Teresa and we renew our missionary discipleship to ‘go wherever there is good to be done’.  We place great emphasis on our availability - to go wherever there is need; on contemplatives in action - in service of Jesus’ Mission; on discerning the Will of God -  reading the signs of our times today.

Today, we especially remember and give thanks for the Beatification of Anne Marie Javouhey and we pray that all our Cluny Patron Saints, Sisters, Affiliates, Associates and those we serve and collaborate in mission, to intercede for us and join us throughout this special year of prayer for the canonization of this great missionary woman.

Prayer for the Canonization

of

Blessed Anne Marie Javouhey

Lord our God,

You enabled Blessed Anne Marie

to consecrate herself to the carrying out

of Your Holy Will in all things and to

be ever attentive to Your calls as

manifested through the poorest of her

brothers and sisters.

Grant that we, in the Church of our day,

may zealously continue the work

you confided to her.

Through her intercession hear the

prayers we address to You….

In Your goodness grant us the favor of

her canonization for Your glory and to

promote Your reign of love, justice,

and peace.   Amen.

Courage and the Common Good

 

VOTE  2020  

Election Reflection

As members of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) in the United States we invite you to join us in our 2020 Election Reflection Process, Towards a More Perfect Union.  Each week until Election Day, November 3rd, we will highlight a reflection and dialogue theme.  This week’s Election Reflection is entitled, Courage and the Common Good.  Please pray, reflect and dialogue along with us.

Towards a More Perfect Union

Courage and the Common Good 

Scripture

Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. (Joshua 1: 9)

Reflection 

And now -- now we must look to the future. Let us heed the voice of the people and recognize their common sense. If we do not, we not only blaspheme our political heritage, we ignore the common ties that bind all Americans. Many fear the future. Many are distrustful of their leaders, and believe that their voices are never heard. Many seek only to satisfy their private work -- wants; to satisfy their private interests. But this is the great danger America faces -- that we will cease to be one nation and become instead a collection of interest groups: city against suburb, region against region, individual against individual; each seeking to satisfy private wants. If that happens, who then will speak for America? Who then will speak for the common good?

(The Honorable Barbara Jordan, Democratic National Convention Keynote Address, July 12, 1976, NY.)

Questions for Reflection and Dialogue

At a practical level, how might we step out in faith, look fear in the face and meet the challenges of today and the weeks ahead?

What does uncommon courage look like today?

Music

You’ll Never Walk Alone (Rogers and Hammerstein)

  

Closing Prayer

God of all, in this year of election, in these days of discernment, IGNITE us with fire of your love. ENFLAME our hearts with courage to embrace dialogue that transforms and truth that frees. KINDLE our love with kindness to heal divisions and reconcile relationships. LIGHT our imaginations with insight to envision and create a world where all are one. STIR our actions with justice and peace to engage critical concerns and cherish all of life. FIRE our lives with audacity and hope to risk all for God’s mission. -- Roxanne

Schares, SSND

Canada Thanksgiving Day!

 

An annual Canadian holiday, Thanksgiving Day occurs on the second Monday in October,  celebrating the harvest and other blessings of the past year.  Thanksgiving in Canada began as a religious holiday but it’s now a time to relax and eat some food with family.

Cluny  Sisters Wish…

 

All our Cluny Sisters, Affiliates, Associates, 

Donors and Friends,

a Blessed and Joyous Thanksgiving.

Happy Thanksgiving Day!

Season of Creation Thank You!

Thank you!  During the Season of Creation, you and thousands of your Catholic sisters and brothers provided hope and inspiration to the world’s 2.4 billion Christians.  Thank You. 

This is what a Spirit-filled movement looks like:

• Thousands of Catholics uniting with the global Christian family
• More than 1,300 hope-providing events around the world
• 243 Catholic partners leading their communities
• 1 inspirational Pope Francis showing the way

As the Season of Creation month concluded, Catholics everywhere united to pray and reflect on the season on Sunday, the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi. But this is hardly the end. Below you’ll find videos and stories that inspire and show how Catholics on six continents have committed to radically new ways of living with creation.

Watch how thousands of Catholics Cared

for our Common Home during

the Season of Creation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8I4VjeVHY-k&feature=youtu.be&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=rejoicing_for_the_season_of_creation_pope_francis_new_encyclical&utm_term=2020-10-06

Keep taking care of our planet 

and each other together beyond the Season

https://catholicclimatemovement.global/

Join the 

Global Catholic Climate Movement

Together we will

Hear the Cry of the Earth

And the Cry of the Poor

October Stop Trafficking Newsletter

 

Human Trafficking in Native American Communities

 

Columbus wrote in his journals, a hundred castellanos are as easily obtained for a woman as for a farm, and it is very general and there are plenty of dealers who go about looking for girls; those from nine to ten are now in demand.

(letter of Columbus to the Nurse of Prince John, American Journey's Collection)

The October Stop Trafficking Newsletter places a spotlight on Human Trafficking and Native American AND Indigenous  Communities in Canada, the U.S.A., and Globally.

Commenting on this issue of Human Trafficking and the Native Peoples experience, J.M.  Shashone-Bannock Tribal Member said the following: 

‘I was embarrassed to tell anyone, I didn’t want to shame my family, I wanted to die.  I eventually escaped and now work fighting trafficking.  I never want anyone to go through what I went through.  It’s important to know the signs and have the tools to protect yourself.  Hold events, movie screens, and talk to your friends and family about human trafficking.  If you see something suspicious report it.  You can save a life and make a difference in your community.”

 

Read the October Issue of Stop Trafficking

https://sistersagainsttrafficking.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/2020_10_Stop-Trafficking-EN.pdf

Headlines

 

• Trafficking of Indigenous Women and Girls in Canada
• Who are Indigenous Peoples
• Impact of Trafficking on Native Americans
• Trafficking Indigenous People Globally
• Advocacy:  What is Being Done
• Action:  Responding to Human Trafficking
• Preventing Human Trafficking of Native Youth

Watch

Families Demand Action after Dozens of Native American Women and Girls Mysteriously Disappear

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yj-VqTNibF8

Native Women Talk Sex Trafficking

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyeJuEfXA7w

The Search for Murdered and Missing American Native Women

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXZkdCaKSTA

Stitching the Seamless Garment

VOTE  2020  

Election Reflection

As members of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) in the United States we invite you to join us in our 2020 Election Reflection Process, Towards a More Perfect Union.  Each week until Election Day, November 3rd, we will highlight a reflection and dialogue theme.  This week’s Election Reflection is entitled, Stitching the Seamless Garment.  Please pray, reflect and dialogue along with us.

Towards a More Perfect Union

Stitching the Seamless Garment 

Scripture

Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me. (Matthew 25:40)

Reflection 

In  response to a question from a group of 

young Catholics about how our faith should inform our politics and our voting decisions Cardinal Blase Cupich points to Pope Francis: “Our defense of the innocent unborn, for example, needs to be clear, firm and passionate, for at stake is the dignity of a human life, which is always sacred and demands love for each person, regardless of his or her stage of development. Equally sacred, however, are the lives of the poor, those already born, the destitute, the abandoned and the underprivileged, the vulnerable infirm and elderly exposed to covert euthanasia, the victims of human trafficking, new forms of slavery, and every form of rejection.”

What the Holy Father is urging is that we attend to the interconnection of moral issues. I reminded the audience that Cardinal Joseph Bernardin made the same point decades ago when he pressed for a consistent ethic of life. “The purpose of proposing a consistent ethic of life is to argue that success on any one of the issues threatening life requires a concern for the broader attitude in society about respect for human life … the viability of [this] principle depends upon the consistency of its application.”

The point is that Catholic social teaching cannot be neatly fitted into the partisan political framework that governs American public life, then or now. MORE

(Cardinal, Blase Cupich “The Call to Holiness in an Election Year,” ChicagoCatholic, 11/20/19)

 

Music

Room at the Table (Carrie Newcomer)

Questions for Reflection and Dialogue

How consistent are you in your application of Catholic Social Teaching tothe critical issues of the day? Are there seams in your own garment?

How can our faith help us discern those choices that are most consistent with gospel values?

Closing Prayer

God of all, in this year of election, in these days of discernment, IGNITE us with fire of your love. ENFLAME our hearts with courage to embrace dialogue that transforms and truth that frees. KINDLE our love with kindness to heal divisions and reconcile relationships. LIGHT our imaginations with insight to envision and create a world where all are one. STIR our actions with justice and peace to engage critical concerns and cherish all of life. FIRE our lives with audacity and hope to risk all for God’s mission. -- Roxanne Schares, SSND