St. Martin of Tours Parish - San Jose, CA

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Peace and Justice Commission

The Peace and Justice Commission is involved in a number of social justice activities both within the parish and outside the parish boundaries.  Our mission is to provide information about current peace and justice issues at the local, national and international levels and to lead and suggest actions that individual parishioners can take regarding these issues.  The following are some of the areas in which we have been involved: 

	Fair Trade Sales	On the second Sunday of each month, Commission members offer a number of Fair Trade items for sale to parishioners after Mass. These items include Fair Trade coffees, teas, cocoa and chocolate. Items can be purchased during the week, throughout the month, at the Bailey House.
	Fair Trade Faire	For the past three years, the Commission has sponsored a Fair Trade Faire and invites Pachamama and Integrity Express to offer their wares outside the church after the Masses. In addition to our usual Fair Trade coffee, tea, cocoa and chocolate, their products include Fair Trade clothing, crafts, toys and houseware.
	Hotel Workers/Fair Wages	We have spoken at Masses and gathered signatures from parishioners in support of fair wages and humane working conditions for local hotel workers.
WORK FOR PEACE
	Peace Prayer	At various times throughout the year (usually during Advent and Lent) the Commission sponsors a special Evening Prayer for Peace in the Church. We are proud that we have been designated by the diocese as a 'Peace' parish and we try to live up to that name in everything we do.
	Peace Demonstrations Work to Stop Torture	The Commission has given our support and our presence to local groups that are against the war in Iraq and against the torture used by our government during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.  We have spoken at Masses about the torture issue and gathered names of parishioners in a petition-signing event against torture. During Lent, we showed a film by Amnesty International about the rendition program prior to the Evening Prayer for Peace.
	Darfur	We also have spoken at Masses about the need for our government to become more involved in the crisis in Darfur and have held petition-signing events after Mass on this issue.
POVERTY............
	Transitional Housing Meals	Once a year, the parish cooks meals for a week for the men participating in the Transitional Housing program while they are housed at Transfiguration Parish.
	Outreach	See information about the Food Box Program and Cloak Drive below.
EDUCATION......
	JustFaith,	The Commission has coordinated the JustFaith program in our parish for a number of years, in cooperation with a number of parishes in the Northwest Deanery. JustFaith is a national program, which offers parishes an intense program of study on justice-related issues in a small faith-sharing setting.
	Burbank Tutoring Program	The Commission has helped to coordinate parishioners participating in a special tutoring program at nearby Burbank Elementary School, which serves many under-privileged students.
	Educational and Action Activites	The Commission has arranged for speakers (Fr. Roy Bourgeois last year and Julie Coyne this year) who have presented excellent talks on economic and social justice issues.  We have presented videos, led discussion groups on death penalty issues and invited Norma Hammons of Birthright to speak after masses on abortion and the right to life.

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Other Justice-related Activities in the Parish:

• FOOD BOX PROGRAM : Parishioners are encouraged to bring unperishable food items to church, which they deposit in barrels in the entryways. Once a month, parishioners gather in the gym to sort the food and pack it into food boxes to be given to those in need. Special collections and donations are used to purchase perishable food items.
• CLOAK DRIVE: In honor of our patron saint, Martin of Tours, who shared his cloak with the poor, the parish has a yearly "Share Your Cloak" drive. Parishioners are encouraged to bring in warm coats and blankets, in good repair, to be distributed to the homeless and those in need. This year, the Girl Scouts helped to coordinate the drive.

We know we're not addressing every issue as there is much more to be done to correct the social injustices of our world.  We are looking for the energy that YOU have so that we can become an even better force for the human justice about which our Gospels speak and the Catholic Church teaches.  Please consider becoming a member of the Peace and Justice Commission.

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Peace and Justice Commission Meetings: We meet monthly, currently on the second Thursday of each month at 7:30 in the Community Room.  Our meetings are full of prayer, discussion and laughter as we try to find ways to make a difference in our parish and in our world.

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