“The biblical call to charity, justice and peace claims not only each believer,
but each community.”

In 1994, the Catholic Bishops of the Unites States wrote,

The parish is where the Church lives. Parishes are communities of faith, of action, and of hope. They are where the gospel is proclaimed and celebrated, where believers are formed and sent to renew the earth. Parishes are the home of the Christian community; they are the heart of our Church. Parishes are the place where God’s people meet Jesus in word and sacrament and come in touch with the source of the Church’s life.

One of the most encouraging signs of the gospel at work in our midst is the vitality and quality of social justice ministries in our parishes. Across the country, countless local communities of faith are serving those in need, working for justice, and sharing our social teaching as never before. Millions of parishioners are applying the gospel and church teaching in their own families, work, and communities. More and more, the social justice dimensions of our faith are moving from the fringes of parishes to become an integral part of local Catholic life.

We welcome and applaud this growing recognition of and action on the social mission of the parish. We offer these brief reflections to affirm and support pastors and parish leaders in this essential task and to encourage all parishes to take up this challenge with renewed commitment, creativity, and urgency.

The document continues here, if you want to read it.

But, since Lent is coming up, I just wanted to connect you with their excellent online resources on Prayer, Outreach, Learning and Action called “We Are Salt and Light”

The whole Prayer resource is here, and there’s a great one for Lent call “9 Ways to Pray“.

They use google translate to make it possible to find their resources in Spanish. Not great, but functional. For instance, here’s the Spanish version of “9 Ways to Pray.”

The main page of the site is here, where you can find lots more resources!