W H A T W E D O

WHAT DO WE DO 2

KIVA 2

CFCA 2

ANNUAL COLLEC-

TIONS

3

LOCAL OPPORTUNI-

TIES

3

PARISHONERS HELP-

ING PARISHONERS

3

The Social Justice Commission is a group of con-cerned parishioners of Holy Trinity Parish who are commit-ted to the carrying out of the Seven Basic Tenets of Catholic Social Justice. Currently there are 12 members of this com-mission, as well as a parish staff member and a delegate from the Parish Council. This group meets on the second Thursday of every month to discuss ongoing projects as well as three annual projects conducted to help the poor in our community. Ad-ditionally, this group provides information and opportunities to assist the poor and needy in our area and the world. The purpose of this website is to assist and inform parishioners of the Catholic call to serve not only their own families, but the greater family of God. Anyone interested is invited to attend our meetings, offer ideas and support, and join us in our mission to spread the good news, “none of us are alone”.

The Annual Baby Bottle Collection supporting Preg-

nancy Resource Services wwasconducted in Sept/Oct, and

the preliminary amount collected was in excess of $2500.

Bottles are still coming in and The total amount will not be

known until December.

Thank you for your generosity.

W H A T I S T H E S O C I A L J U S T I C E C O M M I S S I O N ? S P E C I A L

P O I N T S O F

I N T E R E S T :

AN OVERVIEW OF THE

SOCIAL JUSTICE

COMMISSION AND

ITS ACTIVITIES

The 7 tenets of Cath-

olic Social Justice

Annual Programs and

Collections

Continuous Programs

Monthly donations

ANNUAL COLLECTIONS

HOLY T R INIT Y P ARIS H

SOCI AL JUST IC E

COMM IS S ION

The SJC meets every month to discuss ways to incorporate the 7 Tenets of Catholic Social Teaching into our parish life. These tenets in-clude options for and with the poor and vulner-able, global solidarity, the life and dignity of the human person and care for God’s Creation. A further explanation can be found a the website of the US Council of Catho-lic Bishops.

A quick slide show of

our activities can be seen

by clicking here.

Our activities include a

sleeping bag and blanket

collection in January, a

School supply collection

in August and the Baby

Bottle collection in No-

vember each year, as

well as continuous col-

lections of food, eye-

glasses, printer cartridg-

es, toiletries and cell

phones. These items go

to food banks, the lion’s

club, the YWCA, bat-

tered women’s shelters,

as well as the homeless.

Additionally, any change

put in the collection bas-

ket at mass goes into a

fund to support multiple

agencies in their efforts

to help the poor. Some

of these are explained

below.

4 or 5 times over the

past 20 years and over

300 sponsors have

signed up to support chil-

dren and aging, including

42 in October2014, by

donating $35 per month.

This sponsorship pro-

vides food, clothing and

education, as well as

skill training for the par-

ents of the children and

UNBOUND(formerly

the Christian Foundation

for Children and Aging

(CFCA)) was founded in

1981 by Catholic layper-

sons following Christ’s

call to support the poor.

Currently, 250,000 spon-

sors support over

300,000 people world-

wide. Holy Trinity par-

ish has had priests come

celebrations for birth-

days, Christmas and

Easter. For information

and a chance to become

a sponsor, visit

cfcausa.org.

WHAT DO WE DO?

UNBOUND(FORMERLY CFCA)

paid back. The total

amount loaned has been

$2775, For an opportuni-

ty to help someone you

will never meet, and to

extend the love of God to

all people, visit KI-

VA.COM

KIVA KIVA is an internet

based micro-lending

organization that was

created in 2005. Since

that time, over 1.3 mil-

lion lenders have loaned

over $774 million in 83

countries with a repay-

ment rate of 98.45%.

Beginning in June 2008,

the SJC has donated

$548 to make 106 loans

have been made, with 81

Page 2

Janet Groulik delivering

school supplies to St.

Joachim Parish on the

Lummi Reservation.

Jo Clark has been

a member of the

Social Justice

Commission for

more than 10

years and works

with StandUp for

“Injustice

anywhere is a

threat to justice

everywhere.”

Martin Luther King Jr.

Page 3 N E W S L E T T E R T I T L E

Sleeping bag and Blan-ket Collection Every January a collec-tion of these items, and cash, is taken up to help the homeless through the winter weather. This collection goes on for 3-4 weeks and the items collected are given to street ministries and StandUp for Kids.

School Supply Collec-tion. In late July and August a collection of paper, pens, crayons, backpacks, rul-ers, glue, scissors, etc., is taken up and the supplies delivered to the YWCA for distribution to fami-lies unable to buy these things for their children. In 2015 we collected and delivered over $900in school supplies delivered to the YWCA and St Joachim

Baby Bottle Collection In October and Novem-

ber each year we get

baby bottles from Preg-

nancy Resource Ser-

vices. These bottles are

offered to parishioners

who take them home, fill

them with donations and

return them. The money

collected is given to PRS

in support of their Pro-

Life work. The 2014

collection was in excess

of $3400.

In our Parish family there are many who need help, and many who are willing to provide it.

The problem is to connect these groups of people.

Those advancing in years may have lost the abilities we all take for granted, or, through no

fault of their own they may have fallen on hard times like so many in our society. Simple

acts like driving them to church, helping them shop, even changing a light bulb, or just

making a phone call to let them know you are thinking about them, can do wonders to the

life in our parish.

Some people are sleeping on the floor because they have no beds, while others have beds

in the garage they haven’t take away. The Bulletin Board mentioned above will soon be a

clearing house for these actions. Please keep an eye on it.

ANNUAL COLLECTIONS

PARISHONERS HELPING PARISHONERS

Habitat for Humanity

builds houses for low in-

come families and can

always use both builders

and admin volunteers.

They can be found here.

St. Vincent De Paul needs

volunteers in Bremerton

and can be contacted at

360-377-2929.

There are several notices

for volunteers on the So-

cial Justice Bulletin Board

across from the Re-

strooms in the Education

Wing. Many have to do

with feeding the hungry,

clothing the naked, shel-

tering the homeless, and

caring for God’s people.

Take a look at the opportu-

nities and pick one. You

will receive much more

than you give.

LOCAL OPPORTUNITIES

There are several opportu-

nities for people to move

beyond the boundaries of

our parish to help those in

need.

Benedict house is a facility

managed by Catholic Com-

munity services to shelter

men. Information can be

found here.

CCS has needs for volun-

teers in many areas and

can be found here.

“whatsoever you

do for the least of

my brethren you do

unto me”

YOU ARE SUPPORTING A NOVITIATE

Page 4 V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 1

For the past 14 years, Holy Trinity Parish as been sponsoring and supporting either a seminarian or a postulate in Central America through the Christian Foundation for Children and Aging (now UN-BOUND). In November, 2011, our first seminarian was ordained in Guatemala and no longer needed our support. Three months later we received the name and information of Mirna Del Carmen Rivas Garcia and agreed, as a parish, to financially and spiritually support her in her journey to final vows, presently scheduled for 2016. Mirna Was born March 30, 1984 in El Salvador, the youngest of 5 children. Her parents were farmers who worked hard so their chil-dren could go to school. So, when Mirna graduated from high school her education ended because of finances. She joined a group associat-ed with the church in El Salvador and worked with the poor until she decided to enter the congregation of Franciscan Sisters of the Immacu-late Conception as a postulate in 2006 and completed her novitiate in 2008, when she took her seasonal vows. She began her education in computer science but, due to the financial situation of her order, could not continue at the time we be-gan supporting her. She has since started studying again and has been moved from San Salvador to a smaller city where she works with chil-dren in addition to going to school. Every month a member of the Social Justice Commission

writes to her, sending our prayers and support, and she has been send-

ing us letters about every 2 months with information about her journey

and gratitude for your support. We will continue support for her ef-

forts.

HOLY TRINITY INTERNATIONAL OUTREACH As a parish, Holy Trinity has a tremendous international effect. Several hundred families have sponsored chil-dren and the elderly through the Christian Foundation for Children and Aging (CFCA) over the years, and, as noted on pages 4 and 5, we have sponsored both a man in training for the priesthood in Guatemala and a postulate preparing for the sisterhood in El Salvador. Several families support individual charities (orphanages, churches, peace and justice organizations, etc.) in vari-ous parts of the world, as well as loaning money through organizations like KIVA. Some also support international groups like Maryknoll, Heifer International, Catholic Relief, the Red Cross, etc., who are working in hundreds of countries at any one time. One additional aspect of outreach is through student exchange. I your child has gone to another country to study, they have taken Holy Trinity with them. And any child you have hosted for even a short time will take the spirit of our parish with them. We would like this information also. To provide a visual picture of your impact, a large map of the world is now installed on the North Wall of the Social Hall with a legend providing number and stickers showing the breadth of our service, as far as we know it. After the map was installed, we had one weekend where we asked parishioners who previously or currently sup-port these charities, but the response was less than we hoped. If you have not provided this information to the SJC, please let us know how you are supporting these charities by contacting Mike Dougherty at mddougherty@comcast.net. We only need to know what you support and in what countries. This will give all of us a better picture of our parish outreach.

Page 5 V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 1

FR. RONALD EDUARDO GARCIA RAMIREZ

OUR MAN IN ROME

Fr. Ronald was ordained in Guatemala on December 8, 2010, after being sponsored by Holy Trinity Parish as a seminarian through the Christian Foundation for Children and Aging (CFCA) for 10 years. During the following 20 months we heard nothing as he assumed his duties in his diocese. Then, on September 17th, 2012, we received an email, with photos, that showed that he had been selected by his Bishop to attend the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome for 4 years. This would not have been possible without our support. Please continue to offer your prayers for his studies and wellbeing. We have made a major impact on his life and the life of the Church in Guatemala.