Catholic Commission for Social Justice
By Leela Ramdeen, Chair, CCSJ & Director, CREDI
The Dignity of Work is the theme for the 2019 Justice, Peace and Community Week, October 19–26. See the calendar of events and prayer supplement in next week’s Catholic News.
In T&T, many have lost their jobs or are underemployed. Many graduates and young people are unable to find gainful employment. This year’s theme aims to facilitate a conversation about the challenges we face. Is our society only concerned with profit/the bottom line?
CCSJ would like to thank all those who observed Justice, Peace and Community Week (Saturday, October 20 to Saturday 27) on the theme: Caring for Creation: 8th Work of Mercy.
The week was launched with a live one-hour programme on TCN in which Archbishop Jason Gordon and I shared information on the theme and encouraged the faithful to act (see video-link on CCSJ’s website).
Saturday October 20 – 27
Theme: Caring for Creation: 8th Work of Mercy
All Archdiocesan Departments, Catholic Schools and Catholic organizations are encouraged to plan activities to observe Justice, Peace and Community Week (JPCW). Please use the Prayer Supplement that will be published in Catholic News for JPCW.
CCSJ urges all parishes and Catholic institutions in the archdiocese to plan/attend some of the events for Justice, Peace and Community Week (JPCW) which will run from Saturday, October 21to 28. The theme for the week is A Catholic perspective on the development of peoples. The theme commemorates the 50th Anniversary of Blessed Pope Paul VI’s encyclical Populorum Progressio (On the Development of Peoples) which was published in 1967.
Inter alia, he said: “Development cannot be limited to mere economic growth. In order to be authentic, it must be complete: integral, that is, it has to promote the good of every person and of all humanity”.
We share with you Carissa Rudulfo’s contribution to the CCSJ’s and the Youth Commission’s Spoken Word Competition. She won third prize. Her piece reminded me of Pope Francis’s message to an Evangelical Christian gathering in the USA in July 2016. He said young people have a “restlessness” in their hearts, and Jesus is the answer: “Young men and women, I know there is something in your heart that moves you. And that makes you restless… I invite you to find the One who can give you an answer to your restlessness. And I assure you, you will not be frustrated. God does not leave anyone disillusioned. Jesus is waiting for you. He is the One who planted the seeds of restlessness in your heart. Give it a try! You don’t have anything to lose! Try it.”