Parish Film Feature – “Blue Gold: World Water Wars” will be shown in Hofmann Center on Wednesday, October 14 from 7:00 – 9:00 pm.
How do the poor live? Experience their hardships and see what YOU can do to alleviate poverty. Saturday, Nov. 7, 10 am - 1:30 p.m. (Lunch included). Presbyterian Church of Los Gatos, 16575 Shannon Road, Los Gatos, CA 95032. Read more.
Peace & Justice Council seeks new members
To infuse the Peace and Justice Council with the continued energy and new ideas , we add new members each year. We invite you to consider becoming a member of the Council. Email Jane Ferguson or call (408) 354-4061 x123.
The St. Mary's Peace and Justice Council presents a series of reflections on peace, changing each month or so. Read a reflection by Martin Luther King.
Read St. Mary’s Parishioners Notes from the Field in Ecuador.
Read more about the latest outreach opportunities.
"If you want peace, work for justice." —Pope Paul VI
Catholic Legislative Network
How we organize our society directly affects human dignity and the capacity of individuals to grow in community. One fairly simple but highly effective way to participate is by letting your government representatives know your thoughts and opinions. Information on how to contact your representatives as well as legislation currently being considered is readily available from the Catholic Legislative Network.
Putting Catholic social teaching into action
Jesus welcomed all people to his table. When there was not enough food, he invited his disciples to share what they had. When they shared, there was plenty.
Catholic teaching affirms that all persons, even those on the margins of society, have basic human rights: the right to life and to those things that are necessary to the proper development of life, including faith and family, work and education, and a peaceful and healthy world.
St. Mary’s Peace & Justice Council puts Catholic social teaching into action by creating opportunities for parishioners to learn, advocate and contribute to a peaceful, loving and just world.
The council's vision is to build an organization, through lay leadership, to foster a community increasingly engaged in living the themes of Catholic social teaching.
Drawing on the gospel message of Jesus as well as the wisdom expressed by the popes and church leaders across many years, Catholic social teaching emphasizes the call to put faith into action on behalf of the poor, vulnerable, and powerless in our country and in our world. The U.S. Catholic Bishops have distilled the church's long tradition in this area into seven themes of Catholic social teaching; the St. Mary's Peace and Justice Council has adopted these themes as its focus.
The St. Mary's Parish mission statement focuses on the parish as a community centered on God's love. How is God's love concretely expressed in our world? Through our actions on behalf of the poor and vulnerable, through our work to build a more just society, and through our efforts to make peace take root in our world — in all of these ways, we express God's uncoditional love. These are the themes of Catholic social teaching. These themes call us not just to charitable giving, but also to advocating and working together to create a just and peaceful global community.
St. Mary’s Peace & Justice Council was formed eight years ago to help support the charitable activities of the parish and to encourage our growth as a parish to be advocates for peace and justice in the world. Our members serve a 3-year commitment on a rotating basis in which four members rotate off and four new members join each year. This year’s council includes Ali Miano, Bill Parkin, Sheryl Becker, Matt Kelsey, Mairead Donohue, Budianto Bong, Sue Fortune, Phil Grasser, Barbara Morrissey, Alan Grubb, Don Hand, Greg McKenna, and Jane Ferguson.
There are a wide variety of programs at St. Mary's to get involved in helping those in need. These programs are built on the efforts of individual parishioners who have answered the call to take action and address a specific issue or need. Read more about outreach opporutnities at St. Mary's.
"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord." — Luke 4:18-19