JUSTICE JOTTINGS

JULY 2026

MSJC UPDATES & EVENTS

Welcoming Our Incoming Steering Committee Chair!

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We are thrilled to announce that Brian Halderman has been selected as the next Chair of the Marianist Social Justice Collaborative's Steering Committee! Following a months-long process of nominations, prayerful discernment, and consensus-building involving our Steering Committee and the Marianist Family Council of North America, Brian has begun shadowing current Chair Marge Cavanaugh and will officially begin his three-year term in January.

Brian brings decades of Marianist leadership, a deep commitment to Catholic social justice, and a remarkable record of building communities rooted in belonging and action. From helping launch MSJC's Death Penalty Abolition & Restorative Justice Team to leading the LGBTQ+ Initiative and helping bring the Imago Dei Assembly to life, Brian has faithfully embodied our mission. We are so excited to see him transition into this new role at MSJC!

Attending the MLC-NA Assembly?

If you'll be joining us at the MLC-NA Assembly in Louisville next week, we'd love to connect with you! Stop by MSJC's exhibit table to pick up resources, learn more about our Justice Teams, upcoming programs, and ways to get involved.

We're also offering three workshops during the Assembly:

• Continuing the Walk: Answering the Call to Become an Antiracist Marianist Family — Explore how Marianist spirituality calls us to antiracism as essential to authentic community, with updates on MSJC's equity journey and our collective next steps.
• Prophetic Witness With Mary: Advocacy as Marianist Community Building — Rooted in Mary's Magnificat, explore advocacy as a Marianist expression of prophetic love and gain tools to advocate alongside the national Marianist Family for justice and peace.
• Welcoming the Stranger: Why & How We Can Help Our Immigrant Sisters & Brothers — Address immigration myths and threats through video, panel discussion, and dialogue, equipping Lay Marianists to advocate, educate, and accompany immigrant neighbors.

Come join the conversation, deepen your commitment to justice, and explore how Marianists are putting faith into action together!

MSJC REFLECTIONS, RESOURCES,

AND CALLS TO ACTION

IMMIGRANT JUSTICE

Our Immigration Crisis: What Can I Do?

Two of the major issues we face in addressing this crisis is the lack of accurate information and the amount on misinformation which exists on immigrants and refugees. One way to address this issue is to ask the social justice ministry of your parish or school to get involved by sponsoring an educational program on this topic. One such program comes from Just Faith:

LGBTQ+ INITIATIVE

Pride, Faith, and Belonging

Reflection by Team Member Jen Morin-Williamson

After participating in MSJC's Pride Month watch party, Jen Morin-Williamson reflects on the journey of our LGBTQ+ Initiative, and wider Marianist Family, since the release of Living Our Marianist Charism: Embracing the LGBTQ+ Community in 2020. Jen offers reflections on the power of listening to LGBTQ+ voices and the tangibility of authentic belonging. Watch our video and read her reflection below.

WOMEN & JUSTICE

Celebrate the Feast of St. Mary of Magdalene

July 22 is the Feast of St. Mary Magdalene. Last month Philip Crawford wrote a movie review about her that we recommend that you watch. It’s titled Mary Magdalene, was directed by Garth Davis, and can be found on many streaming services. In the meantime, take time to contemplate Mary’s story. We offer the prayer below and icon to the right (Art by Laura James).

Beloved Mary Magdalene,

Apostle to the Apostles and first witness of the Risen One,

You who walked closely with Jesus and understood the radical power of love,

We call upon your enduring spirit. 

You bore witness to a message that transcended boundaries of status, gender, and tradition.

You remained steadfast at the foot of the cross when others fled in fear.

We pray for your courage to stand with the marginalized,

To speak truth to power,

And to dismantle systems of oppression in our modern world. 

Help us to see the divine spark within ourselves and in every human being.

Free us from the weight of shame, rigid dogma, and societal judgment.

Guide us to live into the "better part"—

A life rooted in compassion, mystical connection, and active justice.

Teach us to share the Good News of radical inclusion and grace,

Just as you were commissioned to do in the garden. 

May your companioning presence inspire us to be bold healers, peacemakers, and seekers of truth. Amen.

DEATH PENALTY ABOLITION AND RESTORATIVE JUSTICE

A Call to Action for Death Penalty Abolition!

There are three important items in this month’s update from the Death Penalty Abolition and Restorative Justice (DP-RJ) team.

1) As noted last month, Ohio Governor DeWine called for abolition of the death penalty! All of us—and especially those in Ohio—are asked to write to urge him to use his executive powers to commute all death sentences in Ohio before leaving office. Please consider the following actions suggested by Ohioans to Stop Executions (OTSE):

• If in Ohio, email your legislators using this link
• Handwritten letters to DeWine (consider even hosting a letter writing party)
• Sign OTSE petition below:

2) For those attending this month’s MLC-NA Assembly in Louisville, please stop by the MSJC table to pick up a yard sign designed by our team! The signs are related to a campaign to raise awareness about executions.

3) DP-RJ members took part in the 33rd annual Fast & Vigil to Abolish the Death Penalty outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, DC. More than 100 people from 28 states were involved during the four days from June 29 to July 2. These start and end dates are the anniversaries of important Supreme Court decisions in the past; July 2 marked 50 years since the Gregg v. Georgia decision in 1976 which brought back executions in the U.S.

This year’s Fast & Vigil event had record-breaking attendance and participation, even without the in-person presence of several regulars who were attending the 9th World Congress Against the Death Penalty that happened to be over the same dates in France. It was great to be joined in DC by a group of young people with Amnesty International, some of whom came from California. For the second year in a row, an MSJC DP-RJ team member spoke during one of the nightly ‘Abolition Teach-Ins.’ These teach-ins feature murder victim families, death row families, exonerees, state-level advocates, national organizers, faith leaders, and more. Please plan to join us next year!