JUSTICE JOTTINGS

June 2025: Special Edition

2025 MSJC Volunteer Awards

Dear Friends of MSJC,

Volunteers are the heart and soul of our organization. Their dedication and passion keep our mission alive and make our collaborative a vibrant presence in our Church and world. We currently have over 80 active volunteers from 18 states across the country. They selflessly show up time and time again, bringing their creativity, expertise and experience to the table - helping to build a more just, inclusive and faith filled world.

This year, for the first time in a very long time, MSJC awarded some of these dedicated individuals with much deserved recognition. Truly, we could have given an award to each and every volunteer. These awards honor longtime volunteers who have shaped MSJC from its earliest days, rising stars who are just beginning their journey with us, and every type of justice-seeker in between. You’ll read about individuals who have led tirelessly, prayed fervently, organized boldly, and loved radically. We invite you to join us in celebrating their accomplishments and the profound impact they make. As an organization, we will continue to honor the extraordinary gifts of some of our many incredible volunteers as we move forward into the future.

It is with great pride that we announce the recipients of this year’s MSJC Volunteer Awards:

• Lifetime Achievement Award: Fr. Ted Cassidy & Sr. Leanne Jablonski
• Rising Star Award: Cecilia Meadors
• Dedication Award: Mary Beaudoin
• Community Impact Award: Rich and Arlene Sroczynski
• Social Justice Champion Award: Tiffany Hunsinger
• Heart in Action Award: Imago Dei Planning Team

Please take some time to explore our 2025 Volunteer Awards document, which highlights each of our 2025 awardees and their amazing work at MSJC!

With Gratitude,

A FEW MSJC UPDATES & OPPORTUNITIES

STAND WITH THE USCCB & MSJC: Contact your Senators!

As a national Catholic social justice organization rooted in the Marianist tradition, MSJC joins with other Catholic partners and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) in urging the U.S. Senate to reject harmful budget proposals in the Fiscal Year 2025 budget reconciliation bill (aka "One Big Beautiful Bill Act") and instead prioritize human dignity, equity, and care for the poor and our Earth. Programs that support low-income families, immigrants, workers, and environmental protections are at risk under this bill.

The USCCB's recent letter to Congress asked them to amend "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" to reflect moral values rooted in Catholic teaching. Read the full USCCB letter here.

We echo their call, informed by our Marianist identity:

• We participate in the mission of the Church to stand up for the poor and marginalized and work for the common good.
• We build community in a way that fosters inclusivity, belonging, and empowerment of all members.
• We are informed by Mary's life as a model, including her yes to God in what may have seemed like an impossible situation. We can say yes to working for justice in our lives and to confronting systems and structures that cause injustice.

TAKE ACTION RIGHT NOW: Contact your U.S. Senators today and urge them to vote for a just and compassionate budget.

JUNETEENTH

The National Museum of African American History and Culture's Early Childhood Education Initiative Team developed a resource for sharing with children about both understanding and celebrating Juneteenth. We encourage families and Marianist communities to consider this resource and to continue to celebrate this holiday into the weekend. Particularly with families of little ones, additional resources can be found online through Sesame Street, too. Discover the links below!

• NMAAHC Kids: Understanding & Celebrating Juneteenth
• Sesame Street: Race, Ethnicity, and Culture Resources
• A Marianist Prayer for Juneteenth

A PRAYER FOR PRIDE MONTH

A Prayer for my LGBTQ+ Kin by Megan Rohrer (Adapted)

Shepherding God,

Be palpably present with us when we dance,

                                snuggle,

                                    and enjoy the sensations

                                      of the creation you declare good.

Help us to name, define, redefine, deconstruct, claim, and properly pronoun our fabulousness. We commit to properly naming and pronouncing the fabulousness of others.

Dwell with us,

  both when we are able to articulate our pride for ourselves and others

  and when we get stuck in a cacophony of negativity, bodily shame, or unjust laws...

When we have all that we need to live fully, help us to share with others who lack...

When we cannot hear you,

  scream louder,

  love more tangibly

  silence violent voices of opposition

  whip advocates into a frenzy

  fill us with memories of times when we felt closer to you

  and love us anyway

     as we were

     as we are

     as we are becoming

     as we wish we could be in a safer time and place

     as you know us

     as we seek to know ourselves.

Remind us of the victories our ancestors won,

  with their storytelling and coming out,

  with their lobbying and work from the inside,

  with bricks and sugar shakers thrown through windows of oppression...

Make us plumbers,

  capable of unclogging all the places

  where the ever-flowing stream of justice has been dammed up or clogged.

Shepherding God,

Be palpably present with us when we dance,

                                snuggle,

                                   and enjoy the sensations

                                      of the creation you declare good.