JUSTICE JOTTINGS

December 2024

From all of us here at the Marianist Social Justice Collaborative, may the miracle of Christmas

fill your heart with joy and peace!

MSJC EVENTS & OPPORTUNITIES

Join MSJC's Steering Committee in San Antonio

MSJC's Steering Committee will be gathering in San Antonio, Texas, from January 17-20, 2025, and we’re excited to invite local folks to connect with us during two special “open” events. You’re welcome to attend one or both using the registration link below.

Saturday, January 18th: Social at Brian Halderman’s

• Join us for a casual social gathering with local Marianists and the MSJC team. Enjoy drinks, snacks, and great conversation!

Monday, January 20th: MLK March

• Walk with MSJC in the 38th annual Martin Luther King Jr. March and Celebration, honoring Dr. King’s legacy of justice and peace.

Registered participants will receive an email with event location details closer to the date of each event. We look forward to connecting with you in San Antonio!

DEATH PENALTY ABOLITION AND RESTORATIVE JUSTICE

We Don't Have to Kill: Urgent Call to Action!

Momentum is growing as more and more Catholics and others – through letters, phone calls, petition sign-ons, and emails – urge President Biden to commute the sentences of the 40 men on federal death row. This effort is urgent. There is only one month before Biden leaves office. Recall that in the last six months of the previous Trump administration, 13 people on federal death row were executed. Before that there had not been any federal executions for more than 17 years. 

In a recent interview about the 10th anniversary of his best-selling book, Just Mercy, author Bryan Stevenson speaks about our need to show mercy. He notes that the criminal legal system isn’t just about the people we prosecute; it’s about us.  What kind of people, what kind of nation do we want to be? “We can harness the power of grace and mercy and show the world something better than just condemnation.”  

Killing people who kill people to show that killing people is wrong is barbarous.  Commuting their death penalty sentences to life in prison without the possibility of parole is a serious and appropriate punishment for those convicted of horrible crimes and/or posing a danger to our community. They will be held accountable in a very real way and will themselves die in prison.  They will also have the possibility of remorse and redemption.

As followers of Jesus, we are called to be merciful, called to be peacemakers. “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy” (Matthew 5:7). What does mercy look like in response to horrible crimes? Mercy certainly rules out revenge and creating another grieving family (the family of the condemned).  The Catechism of the Catholic Church #2267 states that “the death penalty is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person.”Pope Francis asks for prayers for these inmates on the U.S. federal death row, appealing that their sentences be commuted. 

Stevenson remarks, “The power of just mercy is that it belongs to the undeserving. It’s when mercy is least expected that it’s most potent.”  

Please take a few minutes right now to:

1. Sign the Catholic Mobilizing Network petition.
2. Call the White House: The White House phone lines are open Tuesday - Thursday from 11am to 3pm ET.  Please call the President at 202-456-1111 or 202-456-1414 and ask him to "commute all federal and military death sentences now, and demolish the death house at the federal prison at Terre Haute."
3. Write a letter to President Biden: Sample letter here.
4. Send an email to the White House: Submission page here.

We don’t have to kill. Mercy and justice are possible.

MSJC REFLECTIONS & RESOURCES

Advent, Christmas, and Justice

Reflection by Team Member Andrew Buchanan

The holiday season is upon us, as is winter where I am, after a whirlwind of a year of conflict and strife across our world. An election happened just a month ago. Conflicts in Eastern Europe and the Middle East have continued. However you feel about what is going on in our world, in our country, in our own cities and neighborhoods, this Advent season is a time to pause, reflect, and prepare.

One of the many blessings I have received from working in an all-boys middle school in the heart of North Omaha is that I get to teach students about how Jesus came to Earth in the humblest way imaginable: a newborn child. The God we believe in, pray to, and thank for our very existence fulfilled the promises to countless generations of faithful followers in the most vulnerable and reliant way possible for a human. It is truly a wonder to reflect on. 

This newborn baby Jesus then grows up to become one of the most important people in all human history. Jesus, who taught peace, showed how to love, and acted in service to all. This is whom we prepare to receive during Advent. These are also the things I believe are some of the most important to remember as we observe the signs of our times. We are preparing for Jesus to be born into our lives today, here and now. We remember that Jesus, who loved without ceasing, calls us into service. Jesus calls us to act with justice. Every year we invite Jesus to be born again into our lives and we await His coming at the end of time. In the same way, let us recall the unceasing need for justice in our world, large and small. Prayer and action.

I leave you with scripture that I find to be an invitation and challenge to build community as well as a prayer that I start my day with at school which, again, is an invitation and challenge:

“For the Ruler of all shows no partiality,

nor does he fear greatness,

Because he himself made the great as well as the small,

and provides for all alike…” Wisdom 6:7

Ignatian Prayer for Generosity

Lord, teach me to be generous. 

Teach me to serve you as you deserve; 

to give and not to count the cost, 

to fight and not to heed the wounds, 

to toil and not to seek for rest, 

to labor and not to ask for reward, 

except that of knowing that I do your will. Amen.



God’s work of justice and building the Kingdom isn’t easy. But Jesus walks with us every step of the way. I pray blessings over everyone this holiday season. 

INTEGRAL ECOLOGY

Marianist Meatless Mondays

Enjoy 5 new meatless recipes below :)

In our January Justice Jottings, we will include 5 more recipes, bringing the total for the past year to 52. If you have been intending to submit your favorite vegetarian or vegan dish and just haven’t gotten around to it, this is the moment! Please send it to us at info@marianistsjc.net. by January 7, 2025. We intend to compile the recipes after that so that a full year will be easily available.

LGBTQ+ INITIATIVE

Staying Grounded

Reflection by Team Member Bradley Leger

Fear and anxiety were palpable in the room. “We’ve got to have a PLAN B,” said a transgender adult. “I’ve updated my passport.” I could sense it in the eyes, body language, and voices of members of the support group which I recently attended for LGBTQ+ persons, families, and allies. The comments went further: “We’re looking at Canada and Mexico.” “We need to protect our child.” “Will established protections for members of our community be further eroded?” A sense of unease and heaviness welled within me as I listened to these companions on the journey voice their concerns in the wake of the results of the recent Presidential election. The parents in attendance wondered aloud what will happen to their beloved children as the upcoming administration – an administration with an anti-LGBTQ+ track record and threatens to resume such policies - will soon retake office. Their levels of concern were also exacerbated with the reality of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation (particularly affecting trans children) continuing to sweep across the country in state legislatures with its corresponding negative effects on their loved ones’ health and overall safety. These concerns are well backed-up with research, such as that from the “2024 U.S. National Survey on the Mental Health of LGBTQ+ Young People” released by the Trevor Project which informs us that,

• The overwhelming majority (90%) of LGBTQ+ young people said their well-being was negatively impacted due to recent politics. Over half (53%) said their well-being was negatively impacted by politics a lot.
• Nearly 2 in 5 (39%) LGBTQ+ young people said that they or their family have considered moving to a different state because of anti-LGBTQ+ politics and laws.
• Nearly half (45%) of transgender and nonbinary youth reported that they or their family have considered moving to a different state due to anti-LGBTQ+ politics and laws.

For those of us who are anxious or afraid now, what can we do as individuals and a community to stay grounded? Honestly, I have been doing some of my own searching for some guidance in this area...

[To read the rest of Brad's reflection and to find out how he is staying grounded click here!]