During the season of Advent, the Peace and Justice Committee will offer an image for our reflection, in conjunction with the readings both at Sunday Mass and in the Food for Thought column.  We are invited to ...

The incidence of mental illness is a serious concern in the United States and around the world. One in 25 Adults will live with mental illness throughout life.  They need professional...

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) has helped to ensure health care coverage for millions of Americans. However, as of September, 2023, of Black Americans 10.4% had no health insurance compared to 6.5 white. Unfortunately...

Since we are in the timeframe of enrolling for Medicare Supplements and the Affordable Care Act (ACA) the following is information on the Uninsured.  In 2010,16% of all Americans were uninsured.  The ACA generated one of the largest expansions of health care in U.S. history. In the first three months of 2023, the number of Americans without health insurance dropped to a record low of 7.7%. An additional 24.3 million (7.2%) of the population are estimated to be ...

Were you aware of the inextricable link between housing and mental health?  Research by the Department of Housing and Urban Development has found that housing insecurity exposes ...

Solutions to homelessness must be grounded in individual rights, a pursuit of equity, and acknowledgment of our biases; all voices are necessary.  Such solutions require a diversity of demographics, culture, opinion and experience.  Further, we must embrace ...

More than 200 homes in the City of St. Louis have undergone much needed repair and renovation this year. In the Walnut Park East neighborhood, home values rarely exceed $20,000, making home equity loans difficult to...

Housing and health problems are intertwined. According to the nonpartisan Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, policy decisions like residential segregation and the failure of some states to expand Medicaid have created barriers to both stable housing and ...

Did you know? 6.8 million more affordable housing units are needed for extremely low-income families (those earning below the federal poverty level). 580,000+ people are experiencing homelessness on any given night. 70% of all extremely low-income families pay...

God of Our Wandering Ancestors God of our Wandering Ancestors, Long have we known That your heart is with the refugee. That you were born into time. In a family of refugees Fleeting violence in their....

Facts About Immigration • Human rights include family unity, access to just working conditions and freedom from discrimination on the basis of national origin for everyone. • Immigrants help improve the US. Economy, adding over $31.4 billion to the gross domestic product (GNP) each year. • Many people have no way to legally immigrate to the U.S. because there are very few visas for low-skill workers, and wait times for family members can stretch for decades. • By the second generation, nearly all immigrants know English. Source: “Giving the Facts a Fighting Chance: Addressing Common Questions on Immigration.” American Immigration Council, December 14, 2015. After reading these facts, one way I could educate myself is . . . Submitted by Lori Fick Interested in joining the Peace and Justice Ministry? Please call Lori at 314-691-9335

Imagine being incarcerated for decades! How would one find a sense of purpose to go on living? A program in the Missouri Department of Corrections, called RESTORATIVE JUSTICE is in place at various...

Matthew 24 :35:36   …….”I was……..in prison and you came to see me.” Last December, I was invited to attend the Christmas Mass and luncheon with the Catholic inmates incarcerated at Potosi Correctional Facility - a maximum security prison for men, most of whom are in prison for life, going through the appeals process or waiting to be executed if their appeal has been denied.  ...

Damon Thibodeaux spent 15 years in solitary confinement on death row for a murder he did not commit.  He was allowed out of his cell for one hour each day to sit in the hallway or walk in a yard the size of a dog pen!  In 2012, he became...

Any punishment administered in an arbitrary manner is unfair.  For example: if speeders driving yellow cars were consistently ticketed, but speeders who drove other colored cars were  not ticketed, this would be considered ...

Article 1 - The Death Penalty -   Food for Thought   The Catholic Church opposes the death penalty. Exceptions were made in the past that did allow for the death penalty.  How did this change come about? The Catholic Church teaches “every life is a precious gift from God (Gen 2:7, 21-23).  We are created in God’s image and redeemed by Jesus Christ.  When St. John Paul II presents the story of Cain and Able in “The Voice of Your Brother’s Blood Cries to Me from the Ground” (Gen 4:10), he reminds us that God did not take Cain’s life as punishment but ...

Some thoughts from Pope Francis and United States Catholic Bishops Conference “Can violence achieve any goal of lasting value? . . . Violence is not the cure for our broken world. Countering violence with violence leads at best to forced migrations and enormous suffering, because vast amounts of resources are diverted to military ends and away from the everyday needs of young people, families experiencing hardship, the elderly, the infirm and ...

M. Scott Peck, M.D. begins his book, The Road Less Traveled with a simple sentence. “Life is difficult.” And it is more difficult for those who have witnessed someone being shot or killed. Nightmares flashbacks, anger, frustration, anxiety and feelings that “no place is safe” will change ...

According to bradyunited.org, gun violence effects the American economy and cost at least $229 billion yearly. Everytownresearch.org places that cost at $557 billion a year. This comes in the form of lower housing values, admissions to hospitals, emergency room visits, lost wages for the employer and employee, criminal justice cost (paying public defenders, ...

In this part of Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si’, he reflects on the powerful impacts that climate change has had on our brothers and sisters who live in poverty.   “25. Climate change is a global problem with grave implications: environmental, social...