“A Place at the Table”
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.
The Mission of the St. Mary’s Peace & Justice Council
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.
What is 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.
Why emphasize Catholic social teaching?
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.
Outreach opportunities
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.

