Kathy Saile, director of domestic policy for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, delivers a keynote presentation on the bishops’ document “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship” at the JustFaith graduation last Friday at St. Mary of Sorrows Church in Fairfax. (GRETCHEN R. CROWE | CATHOLIC HERALD)
They’re done.
After months of reading, discussing, listening, exploring and sharing, students
in the JustFaith program graduated last Friday night, putting a long and sometimes
difficult course behind them.
But though the participants from eight diocesan parishes received congratulatory
pendants and buttons that entice others to “Ask me about JustFaith,” their
work is far from complete.
“JustFaith does not stop with the closing retreat,” said David Horvath,
director of the national program’s graduate ministries, who spoke to the
gathered participants at St. Mary of Sorrows Parish last weekend. “Our
work continues as individuals and communities.”
Founded by Jack Jezreel, JustFaith is a social justice course that, according
to its mission statement, “strives to provide faith formation processes
and resources that emphasize the Gospel message of peace and justice, Catholic
social teaching and the intersection of spirituality and action.”
Active in more than 900 parishes throughout the United States, JustFaith has
been present in the Arlington Diocese since 2003. The course delves into the
issues of poverty, racism, solidarity and nonviolence through books, videos,
talks, discussion, prayer, retreats and immersion experiences. Participating
parishes included St. Mary of Sorrows, Good Shepherd in Alexandria, Our Lady
Queen of Peace and St. Charles in Arlington, All Saints in Manassas, St. Francis
de Sales in Purcellville, St. John Neumann in Reston and Christ the Redeemer
in Sterling.
During the graduation, keynote speaker Kathy Saile, director of domestic policy
for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), took advantage of the “lens
of justice” — the new viewpoint acquired from the class — now
worn by JustFaith graduates and presented the bishops’ 2007 document “Forming
Consciences for Faithful Citizenship.”
Saile encouraged those gathered to use the “official political responsibility
document of the USCCB” as a tool while preparing for the upcoming presidential
election.
“It’s really going to call you to make your own judgment and develop
your own conscience,” she said.
Though the graduates technically have finished their course, Horvath, a member
of the first JustFaith class in 1989, encouraged them to continue meeting together — and
not only for book clubs or potlucks.
“It must be outward focused,” he said, adding that the participants
must make a commitment to prayer and be attentive to the need for ongoing spiritual
development. “Justice formation and education is a long haul and a lifelong
process,” he said.
Kay Sempel, a parishioner of St. Mary of Sorrows and a member of the JustFaith
advisory council, has taken the call for ongoing commitment to justice to heart,
along with several members of her JustFaith group who graduated five years ago.
They continue to meet every other week since completing the course.
“We just love one another,” Sempel said.
And though the group members laugh about how they like to come together to share
meals, they are serious about maintaining a mission-based focus and supporting
one another as they work for justice.
That co-dependency is part of the focus of JustFaith, said Jeannine Curtin, a
parishioner of Blessed Sacrament and another member of the advisory council. “There’s
such a common bond that we share — all ages, people of the same commitment,” she
said.
Fostering that commitment through continuously meeting in small groups is imperative,
Horvath said.
“As graduates of JustFaith we do share a vision and a movement, but we
have to gather in groups, big and small, to sustain it,” he said.
Gretchen R. Crowe can be reached at gcrowe@catholicherald.com.
On the Web
Justfaith.org
