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Social Justice Calendar - September 2000

Sat 2 Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation established, 1991
Sun 3 Fathers Day; Declaration of World War II, 1939

TUE 5 INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PEACE
The United Nations was born out of the ashes of World War II. One of its main aims was to help make the world a more peaceful place by working for justice and the development of peoples everywhere, as well as working more directly for peace. The opening of the regular session of the General Assembly each year has been declared as an International Day of Peace, devoted to strengthening the ideals of peace both within and among nations and peoples. In his 1998 address, the Secretary general appealed “to all leaders of nations in war, to set aside their own ambitions and think of their peoples, to resist the temptation to seek glory through conquest, and to recognise that peaceful statesmanship alone will bring them and their peoples the rewards they desire.” Can we say the same about our families, schools, workplaces and local communities?

WED 6 MOTHER TERESA
Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu was born in Albania in 1910. She entered the Order of the Sisters of Our Lady of Loreto in Ireland at the age of 18, and trained in Dublin and Darjeeling, India, before taking her religious vows in 1937. While principal of a Catholic high school in Calcutta, she was moved by the presence of the sick and dying on the city's streets. In 1948 she was granted permission to leave her post at the convent and begin a ministry among the sick. Mother Teresa and her associates became known as the Missionaries of Charity. Members of the congregation take four vows, the fourth vow pledging service to the poor, whom Mother Teresa described as the embodiment of Christ. She extended her work onto five continents. In recognition of her efforts she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979. She was forced to scale down her activities in 1990 because of declining health, and died on this day in 1997.

Wed 6 Child Protection Week commences
Thu 7 Last Tasmanian tiger in captivity dies in Hobart Zoo, 1936
Fri 8 Birthday of Mary; International Literacy Day
Sun 10 Jubilee Celebration for University Teachers

TUE 12 DEATH OF STEVE BIKO
Steve Biko was born in King Williams Town, South Africa in 1946. He spent some years working for the South African Student Association. He was arrested on September 6 1977 and beaten so badly that he died six days later.
ACTION: View and discuss the film Cry Freedom, which looks at the life and death of Steve Biko, and the oppression of apartheid in South Africa

Wed 13 Israel/Palestine Peace Agreement signed by Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat, 1993
Fri 15 Opening of International Marian Congress; Opening of 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney
Sun 17 Jubilee Celebration for Senior Citizens

MON 18 DEATH OF DAG HAMMARSKJOLD
Hammarskjold, born in Sweden in 1905, was Secretary General of the United Nations in the 1950s. He was deeply committed to working for world peace and his writings reveal a man who was keenly aware of the weaknesses and potential of the human condition. He died in a plane crash while on a mission of peace in Africa on September 18 1961.
REFLECTION: For all that has been, Thanks. To all that shall be, Yes.

Tue 19 International Day of Peace
Thu 21 Launch of Freedom from Hunger Campaign; Twelve new wilderness areas declared in NSW, 1996
Sat 23 Australian Consumers Association launched, 1959

SUN 24 SOCIAL JUSTICE SUNDAY
The last Sunday of September has been nominated by the Australian Catholic Bishops as Social Justice Sunday. It is a special day set aside to remind ourselves that every day is a social justice day, and that a commitment to social justice is an essential part of the Christian life. On this day each year, the Church issues a Social Justice Sunday Statement, reflecting on a social issue of contemporary importance. This year, the Statement is derived from the Report on the Participation of Women in the Catholic Church in Australia.
ACTION: Make sure that the Social Justice Sunday Statement is available in your parish and distributed after Mass. Organise a group to read and reflect on the Statement together.

WED 27 VINCENT DE PAUL
Vincent de Paul lived in France from 1581 to 1660. He devoted many years of his life to the sick and poor abandoned outcasts in the countryside and the cities. Vincent drew other people into his projects, establishing them as his co-workers. He is remembered today as the founder of two Congregations: the Vincentians, an order of priests and brothers, and the daughters of Charity. He is also the inspiration for the St Vincent de Paul Society.
REFLECTION: From Vincent, we can learn the value of simplicity of lifestyle and we can be challenged to an integrity of being where there is congruency between our words and our actions.
 Let us love God, but let it be through the service of others, with the strength of our arms and the sweat of our brow. We must pass from affective love to effective love. And that is a love which takes flesh in works of charity; service of the poor which is undertaken with joy, constancy and tender love.