Tag Archives: Catholic Social Justice

Lent Week Six: We Rise Up Together

Lent Week Six: We Rise Up Together

NETWORK Staff
March 20, 2024

Reflection: As we enter Holy Week this Sunday with Palm Sunday, we read the familiar passion narrative from the Gospels. In many Catholic communities, all the congregants will participate in reading aloud this story — because it’s a story of all of us, together.

In this Gospel reading, the people together urge Pilate to execute Jesus, saying: “Crucify him!” It’s a devastating reflection of the harm we can do when we collectively exclude and condemn our neighbors. It reflects how the existence of injustices like poverty, racism, mass incarceration, and the abuse of immigrants is a collective, societal failure. When we let exclusionary attitudes get the better of us, and cooperate with exclusion, structures of sin and injustice keep going.

But Easter is also a collective reality—something we experience in community—and an invitation to something new, for all of us. In Eastern Christianity, we have the image of the Resurrection depicted as not only Jesus springing from his tomb alone, but of leading others to God communally. We are raised up together. As this week’s prayer from NETWORK Lobby Board Chair Sr. Catherine Ferguson, SNJM expresses:

We are grateful, O Christ,
that you chose not to rise alone but
to lead all of us together to resurrection
and new life.

Jesus promises that the new life of resurrection is one of solidarity, justice, and peace. It is a transformation of all the structures and systems that keep our communities from having what we need and deserve to thrive. Resurrection gives us a hope that says: things can be different. God invites us to new life, not only at the “end of time” but also here on Earth, now!

But we only move into the new life of the resurrection together. No matter our age, where we were born, where we live, or what we look like, we are raised up together. Together, we can create change, and join in building that new life of justice and peace—as we and our ancestors have done before in struggling for greater justice and freedom. We can make a collective choice to step into the new life to which we are called.

That collective choice starts with each of us, and a commitment. Take the Pope Francis Voter Pledge below and join in building anew a country where all of us can thrive, together!

Lenten Prayer

Easter Prayer by NETWORK Lobby Board Chair Sr. Catherine Ferguson, SNJM

Easter is here!
Christ is risen from the dead
– and we are grateful, O Christ,
that you chose not to rise alone but
to lead all of us together to resurrection
and new life.
Our hearts rejoice in this resurrection
which releases us from the fear of death.
We pray that our living your resurrection this Easter
may reveal and guide us
in your vision for the common good,
embodying solidarity and compassion.
We pray for the commitment to make the necessary choices
in our politics and in our policies
to bring about the Beloved Community
in a flourishing, renewed society.
May Easter be lived by all of us together!
This we pray in the name of Jesus.

Amen.

Take Action

Sign the Pope Francis Voter Pledge-Event Image-1200x630

Take the Pledge!

Will you pledge to be a Pope Francis Voter?

When you pledge to be a Pope Francis Voter, you commit to vote for candidates who uphold everyone’s freedom to:

Be Healthy
Care for Ourselves and Our Families
Live on a Healthy Planet
Participate in a Vibrant Democracy
Live Free from Harm
Live in a Welcoming Country that Values Dignity and Human Rights

This year, Pope Francis Voters are called to be informed, engaged, and committed multi-issue voters and to participate in the public life so that we all have what we need to thrive. Pledge to be a Pope Francis Voter today!

Lent Week Five: Show Up With Your Whole Self

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Lent Week Five: Show Up With Your Whole Self

NETWORK Staff
March 13, 2024

Scripture: Fifth Sunday of Lent

Reflection: In the Gospel this week, Jesus speaks about what it means to bear fruit. He proclaims that “unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies,” it will not bear fruit. This troubles us in our work of seeking justice and a better tomorrow in which every person can flourish. What exactly needs to die in us?

As we look ahead to the stark choice we face in the 2024 election, it becomes clear that what needs to die in us is apathy, despair, and all the hatred, anger, and us-versus-them mindsets that keep us from solidarity with our neighbor. All of these things–the division and disengagement–help the wealthy and powerful amass power and resources, while hard-working people in our communities are deprived of the resources needed to live the dignified life we all deserve.

When we “die” to despair and division, our most whole and resilient self can emerge. This is the self we need to meet the challenges of this year, in order to together build a future for everyone.

We all know that policy affects our lives–all of our lives. Bad policy sustains unjust structures that perpetuate poverty, racism, and all forms of exclusion. Good policy, on the other hand, like the expanded Child Tax Credit, food assistance programs, workers’ protections, and more, can actualize the freedoms we need to care for ourselves and our loved ones, to be healthy, to live in safety, and to participate in democracy.

Elections are always a choice, but the 2024 election poses a stark choice, with particularly high stakes. White Christian nationalism threatens our democracy and deteriorates our public processes. Politicians use racial scapegoating, especially against immigrants seeking safety, to consolidate power and divide us. And the wealthy few continue to hoard astronomical wealth, while the rest of us struggle to put food on the table or pay the rent.

The politicians seeking to consolidate power and resources want us to give up on elections–to sit the elections out. They sow confusion, chaos, and division in the hopes of disenchanting and disengaging us. But we know better, and we choose engagement. We choose multi-issue voting. We choose a future for all of us, no exceptions — echoing the words of Pope Francis, whose 11th anniversary as pope we celebrate today, a future for “todos, todos, todos!”

Lenten Prayer

Prayer by NETWORK Executive Director Mary J. Novak:

Merciful and loving God, we come before you in need of care and assurance
In need of your assistance in mustering the courage so necessary for resilience
We journey today, aware of the challenges and perils before us, but struggling for hope
We journey ready to give of ourselves, but fearful of the possible cost
Help us to move forward to do what it ours to do in building Beloved Community
Help us remember that you are with us in the depths of every earthly struggle
Help us to be open to the possibilities of your goodness, grace, and surprises
For all things are possible with you, and that is the greatest assurance of all.

Amen.

Take Action

As we embark upon the 2024 election, it is important that we seek to educate one another and strive to be informed, faithful voters. This is why NETWORK is offering a four-part 2024 Election Training Series: Informed, Engaged, Committed.

Join NETWORK Advocates from across the country to dig deeper into what it means to be a multi-issue Catholic voter, learn strategies to engage people in challenging conversations and build hope-filled narratives that inspire people to care about important issues, and explore concrete actions you can take to influence the election.

Sign up here!

Week 1: Multi-Issue Voting
April 9 or April 13
Our social teachings and tradition provide us with a framework for living responsibly and building a just society. In an election year, this includes being a multi-issue voter. Join us to learn more deeply about what it means, as Catholics, to be multi-issue voters, and what that looks like this election year. Using NETWORK’s Equally Sacred Checklist as a guide, we will discern ways you can be an informed, engaged, and committed voter this year.

Week 2: Breaking Through the Election Noise, Part One
April 16, April 18, or April 20
Conversations are hard in a world as divided as ours, and yet they’re critical to advancing the world that we want to build together. Join us to discuss the barriers to transformation and develop the skills needed to break down those barriers and advance justice through transforming those in our own circles, during this election season and beyond.

Week 3: Breaking Through the Election Noise, Part Two
April 23, April 25, or April 27
So-called commonsense narratives often define what people believe. The secret to believability is crafting a narrative that people can understand and repeat easily. Join us to learn the principles of Race Class Narrative and how it helps to build an effective narrative that invites people into the work of justice without watering down our goals.

Week 4: Act to Impact
April 30, May 2, or May 4
We all know that this year’s election is incredibly important; however, figuring out how to engage most strategically can be confusing and even overwhelming. This training will explore a variety of concrete ways you can prepare yourself and your community for the upcoming election. Participants will learn more about how to develop a voting plan, coordinate a voter registration drive, volunteer at the polls, and much more!

You’ll notice that each workshop session has multiple time slots. You only need to sign up for one since the content will be repeated. You do not have to sign up for the same time slot each week. We hope that you can attend all four workshops in the series, but we will welcome your participation in any!

Lent Week Four: Show Mercy Through Your Politics

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Lent Week Four: Show Mercy Through Your Politics

NETWORK Staff
March 6, 2024

Scripture: Fourth Sunday of Lent

Reflection: Lent week four readings focus on God’s mercy, even in the face of so much gone awry in the world due to human wickedness. Today, that wickedness shows up most fully in our society in racism, poverty, and all forms of oppression, exclusion, and alienation.

As we enter the fourth week of Lent, we turn to our deep need to both accept God’s mercy and extend mercy to others. To show mercy to others (and to oneself!) means joining in God’s merciful, broad, and inclusive invitation to work together for the common good, and to transform our structures of racial, economic, and social injustice.

We can only do this together. In this week’s Gospel, Jesus says, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.” This Lent, let us condemn injustice, not each other.

With mercy, we can interrupt the cycles of violence and exclusion that characterize our politics and many of our social systems. With mercy, we can renew our politics, and our world. With mercy, we can build the Beloved Community, and create a society in which every person—with no exceptions—has what they need to thrive.

How will you add mercy to your Lenten practice? What does it mean to you to show mercy in your politics?

in this week’s first reading, we hear the lament of the Israelites in Babylon–which is much like the laments of the justice-seekers of our time. They warn us again and again about what white Christian nationalism will do — and is already doing — to tear apart the fabric of democracy in this country. We are warned, for example, by Fr. Bryan Massingale, Dr. Robbie P. Jones, and other experts in NETWORK’s White Supremacy and American Christianity series. Will we ignore their warnings, like the people in this Sunday’s first reading? Or, will we engage in the 2024 election as a critical opportunity to root our politics in mercy, and begin to transform the wickedness of racism, Christian nationalism, and more?

Lenten Prayer

Prayer by Seattle-based spiritual writer Cameron Bellm:

Tune our ears to hear your messengers of mercy, O God,
The ones who call us to lead with loving kindness,
The ones who encourage us to lay down the arms of vengeance,
To embrace not retaliation but reconciliation.
Guide our hearts to be ever watchful for the lost sheep.
Turn our eyes to seek the forgotten and the mistreated,
Not resting until we bring them home.
Bless our hands to build better structures,
A nation that nurtures, a society that is safe for all.
Transform us with your rich mercy, O God,
Until it is the only language we can speak.

Amen.

Take Action — Register for White Supremacy and American Christianity: Moving Towards Beloved Community

Register here!

Online event
Saturday, April 6
Noon Eastern / 9:00 AM Pacific
If you are unable to attend live, please register to receive a link to the recording.

What could it look like to overcome the wickedness of racism and Christian nationalism, and build a society rooted in the mercy we explored in today’s reflection? This is exactly the topic of the fourth installation of our White Supremacy and American Christianity series, happening on April 6.

So far in NETWORK’s White Supremacy and American Christianity series, we have explored the roots of white supremacy and its connection to Christianity in the United States. We took a deep dive into how it continues to manifest in our churches, our society, and our politics. We also looked at how this consistent ethic of hate poses an existential threat to democracy.

Now, in White Supremacy and American Christianity: Moving Towards Beloved Community, we will look to the future and explore how we can move beyond white Christian nationalism in the U.S. and promote a vibrant, multi-faith, multi-racial democracy where every person can thrive, without exception.

We will dialogue once more with Fr. Bryan Massingale, the James and Nancy Buckman Chair in Applied Christian Ethics at Fordham University; Dr. Robert P. Jones, President and Founder of the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI); and Joan F. Neal, Deputy Executive Director and Chief Equity Officer at NETWORK. We will hear what it means — especially in this election year — to build a better tomorrow by eradicating the structures and attitudes of racism that perpetuate harm in our society. We will also meet young adults who are actively building the beloved community, who will share with us how their faith guides their work and how they are engaging in the 2024 Election.

Register now for the event, and join us in building a Beloved Community!

Lent Week 3: Find Freedom in the Equally Sacred

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Lent Week 3: Find Freedom in the Equally Sacred

NETWORK Staff
February 28, 2024

Scripture: Third Sunday of Lent

Reflection: The beauty of God’s creation is that everything within it shares the sacredness of being created by God. This inherent dignity binds all of us, and everything, together. And in the Incarnation, God fully descends into the entirety of human experience and all of our problems. Everything is touched and transformed. This is why the law, delivered in the first reading, is multi-issue, touching on numerous facets of life under the umbrellas of love of God and love of neighbor.

What does it mean when someone takes only part of the law, or creation, or a political issue and sets it up over and above all the rest? At NETWORK, we would understand this as an injustice – literally not in “right relationship” with how we understand the rest of creation. We witness this distortion in the practice of single-issue voting. Some politicians seek to consolidate power by making us believe that there is one issue that is more important than all the rest, and that we can sacrifice the wellbeing of our families and neighbors — especially our economically and racially marginalized neighbors — for the sake of this one issue. Many U.S. Catholics have accepted this approach, playing right into the hands of politicians who pass policies that limit our ability to care for ourselves and our families and to live in peace and safety. We are called to dismantle this injustice, with the moral clarity of Jesus in the Gospel, and nonviolently overturn the tables that distort the role of faith in politics.

In his 2024 Lent message, Pope Francis proclaims that “through the desert, God leads us to freedom.” This hope-filled claim resonates deeply with us at NETWORK, because we know bad policy, policy that ignores solidarity, often robs us of our freedom to flourish in our daily lives. Pope Francis offers, “In Lent, we find new criteria of justice and a community with which we can press forward on a road not yet taken.”

We have seen the destructive choices that people of faith make when they believe the importance of all other issues can be dismissed. May we embrace the new criteria of all that is “equally sacred” in God’s creation.

Lenten Prayer

Prayer by NETWORK Advocates for Catholic Social Justice Board Chair Leslye Colvin:

Holy Triune God, you infinitely model for us what it is to dwell in right relationship.

We are in awe as we witness your unfolding in the mysteries and wonders before, beyond, and within us.
May this same awe compel us to faithfully pursue and establish right relationships in our society by participating in our local, state, and federal electoral systems.
May curiosity about the unknown lead us to explore, study, and ponder the vast range of issues facing our society, the world, and creation.
May we engage in dialogue to clarify and expand our understanding of those who have lived experiences different than our own.
May courage empower us to embrace the painful discomfort of our past, and how it impacts the lived experiences of our neighbors who dwell on the margins.
May we freely and intentionally apply the gifts of faith and reason to discern a path illumined by your compassion and mercy.
May we dare to humbly venture into the newly illumined areas of suffering with gratitude for what we see anew.
May we question quick and simple answers that neglect human suffering and our ability to faithfully form our conscience.
May we acknowledge the complexity we witness, and affirm that we cannot turn our back on it by focusing on a single issue.
May we move towards inclusion as nuance softens the hardline of dualism that simplifies reality and threatens community.
Model of Right Relationship, your servant, Francis told the people of the United States, “Each son or daughter of a given country has a mission, a personal and social responsibility.”

Help us to discern what is a personal responsibility, and what is a social responsibility. Amen.

Take Action

This week, familiarize yourself with the 2024 Equally Sacred Checklist, NETWORK’s primary resource for this year’s elections. Rooted in the teaching that Catholics have a responsibility to be multi-issue voters, the checklist illuminates these issues by focusing on six freedoms:

Freedom to be Healthy
Freedom to Care for Ourselves and Our Families
Freedom to Live on a Healthy Planet
Freedom From Harm
Freedom to Participate in a Vibrant Democracy
Freedom to Live in a Welcoming Country That Values Dignity and Human Rights

We also encourage you to share the 2024 checklist with anyone in your life who cares about justice and working to build up the common good through our politics. Can you share it with a family member? With five of your friends? Help spread the good news about voting for the freedoms that allow all of us to flourish, without exception.

Lent Week 2: Reject Violence, Embracing the Vision

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Lent Week 2: Reject Violence, Embracing the Vision

NETWORK Staff
February 22, 2024

Scripture: Second Sunday of Lent

Reflection: In this week’s Readings, two important events take place on mountains. In Genesis, Abraham takes Isaac up, intending to sacrifice his son per God’s command, only for God to intervene and halt this violent act. In the Gospel, three disciples witness the miraculous vision of the Transfiguration. What do these episodes offer our politics today?

How many ways do we insist, through our policy, that people sacrifice their loved ones — by denying them food, affordable health care, access to clean water, or other necessities? How many ways have we come to accept violence in our communities — in gun deaths and in the threats of those who would harm people who don’t look like them to spread fear and an anti-democracy agenda?

Why do we refuse to prioritize a politics of plenty as something we all deserve? In the Gospel, the disciples are dazzled by the vision of the Transfiguration. We too can journey up the mountain and see a vision of our world transformed. It’s not that we lack the resources, or even a thirst for justice. We lack the equity and the structures needed to promote justice. We lack the political will for lasting, authentic change. But our world can be better, almost unimaginably so. This is the world to which God calls us.

We can have a world where all people, without exception, have access to the resources they need to flourish and have the life God dreams of for them. As the Psalmist says, “I will walk before the Lord, in the land of the living.” And as the Second Reading says, “if God is for us, who can be against us?”

Lenten Prayer

Prayer by Seattle-based spiritual writer Cameron Bellm:

Merciful and loving God, this Lent we seek your guidance and protection
The myth of scarcity tells us there’s not enough,
While cynicism gazes on dismissively,
Chiding us to be realistic in our demands.
But what if the realest thing we can imagine
Is a world transfigured by the goodness of God,
A world shaped by equity and justice,
A world we can, if we choose, build together?
Let us bask in the glow of that possibility
Until our hearts are full, our hands ready to work,
Until we can climb down from the mountain
With tools in hand, voices joined in song.

Amen.

Take Action

This week, we encourage you to take action by preparing to vote in the primaries! Please take a few minutes to…

Check your voter registration and/or register to vote
Check when your state’s primary election is: *** If your primary has already passed, please contact your family and friends in states where it has not and help them prepare to vote!***
Confirm where your polling place is and when it is open
Check what ID or other materials you need to bring to vote
Learn about voting early and/or voting with an absentee ballot
Make a plan to vote! Figure out: What day/time are you going to vote? Do you need to take off of work? Do you need to get a ride to the polls? Do you need to make a plan for childcare/family care while you’re voting?
Educate yourself about the candidates on your ballot and their positions on the issues that you care about!
Talk to your friends, family, neighbors, coworkers, etc. Make sure they are prepared to vote!

Ash Wednesday 2024 Two Paths Out of the Desert

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Lent Calls Us to Two Paths Out of the Desert

NETWORK Staff
February 14, 2024

Scripture: Ash Wednesday and First Sunday of Lent

Reflection: Lent is a familiar journey into the desert for countless Christians. The desert reflects a feeling of God’s absence from our world, a deathly dryness. In the U.S., we feel this in our politics as we look at the dysfunction of Congress that plays games with the lives of some of the most vulnerable people in our society.

But awareness of this current desert is good. As Pope Francis reminds us in his Lent message for this year:

“If our celebration of Lent is to be concrete, the first step is to desire to open our eyes to reality.”

Lent is also a time of seeking a way out of the desert, and Pope Francis is clear in that what awaits us beyond the desert is freedom. But how do we get there?

This Lent, more than one prophet cries out in our desert. John the Baptist’s familiar call to “prepare the way” is joined by a 20th-century prophet, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who at the end of his life asked: “Where do we go from here: chaos or community?” As we survey our desert surroundings, “chaos” and “community” could be the signposts on two paths leading us past our current moment. But only one of them is the way of the living God — the way where everyone, without exception, can live in with dignity.

The path of chaos is promised by candidates who threaten to use the power of the government to punish their opponents and politicize every facet of life in this country. It appears in racial scapegoating meant to drive wedges between communities. It’s a vision in which the future belongs only to the rich and powerful, and everyone else is left to contend with the chaos of a world without the freedoms ensured by a flourishing democracy. May we reject this vision and take the path out of the desert that leads us to Beloved Community.

Lenten Prayer

Prayer by Joan F. Neal, NETWORK Deputy Executive Director and Chief Equity Officer

Merciful and loving God, this Lent we seek your guidance and protection
Help us, as we journey together this year toward the November election
Help us to choose: Community over chaos
Solidarity over division
Our neighbor over fear
Care over scarcity
The future over despair
Democracy over autocracy
We have glimpsed the Beloved Community. Give us strength and hope on the journey toward it.

Amen

Please scroll below for a daily prayer from Sr. Quincy Howard, OP

Take Action

This week, sign up for NETWORK’s upcoming webinar: “Choosing Community Over Chaos: Our Work in 2024”

Join Mary Novak, NETWORK’s Executive Director, along with members of our Government Relations and Grassroots Mobilization teams, for our first webinar of 2024. Together, we will review the chaotic and abysmal first session of the 118th Congress–as reflected in our 2023 Voting Record–and then turn our attention to our primary focus in 2024: the election.

During our time together, we will provide a comprehensive overview of NETWORK’s 2024 Equally Sacred Checklist, share our top messages for this election, and give you a “sneak-peak” at trainings we will offer in the spring.

2024 Lenten Daily Prayer

This Lent, commit to saying this daily prayer for our democracy by Sr. Quincy Howard, OP:

God of many names, you humble us by your power to change the course of history. You remind us of the fragility of things we take for granted.

We feel unmoored and adrift; help us to meet this moment as steadfast, courageous citizens. Plant gratitude, inspiration, and motivation in our hearts to preserve all the best aspects of democracy. For it is the best way we know to create a better, more just society.

Help our nation move through the challenges and tribulations of a broken politics and threatened democratic systems. As we prepare for the upcoming election, give our people a spirit of hopeful persistence to do our part, and a renewed faith in these hallowed endeavors. Please steer our leaders and our people toward a collective, higher purpose of a shared common good and a renewed appreciation of our interdependence.

Divine challenger, you are with us in adversity. Carry us through these dark times and help us persevere in the struggle to include the voices of all voters. Guide us to take action, communally and individually, on behalf of a true, fair, and just democracy.

Amen!

Hispanic Heritage Month 2023 Week 2: Jobs and the Economy

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Hispanic Heritage Month 2023 Week 2: Jobs and the Economy

NETWORK Communications Team
Sept 22, 2023

Hispanic Heritage Month 2023 is September 15 through October 15. National organizers choose a theme each year for the celebration. For 2023 it is “Latinos: Driving Prosperity, Power, and Progress in America.” Please join NETWORK as we reflect on, celebrate, and acknowledge the significant strides of Hispanics in the economic, political, and social growth of the U.S. We will spotlight Latina and Latino justice-seekers in our faith-filled community to recognize the positive impact they’ve had on our work and our country!

Hispanic Heritage Month 2023: October 5 is Latina Equal Pay Day

While NETWORK celebrates the gains made by Hispanic workers in the U.S., we must address that one group, Latinas–a fast growing, powerful force in all spaces in our economy, are the lowest paid workers in the U.S. They make $.52 for ever $1.00 that a white man makes. We lament that Latinas need to work until they are 90 years old to earn the same amount of money that white men make by 60 years of age!

Latina Equal Pay Day was moved from December (when the data shows how long into the year Latinas must work to equal a white man’s pay) to October 5. Monica Ramirez, CEO of Justice for Migrant Women and a Latina Equal Pay Day organizer explains why.

“We are intentionally lifting up equal pay for Latinas as a part of Hispanic Heritage Month. Traditionally, the Latina pay gap is observed on the day that aligns with the data, symbolizing the day that Latinas would ‘catch up’ to what white men made the year before. However, the reality is that Latinas are not catching up.”

Week 3: Climate, spotlight on Christian Soenen
Week 4: Education, spotlight on Laura Muñoz Lopez

Hispanic Heritage Month 2023 Justice-Seeker Profile: Ness Perry

This week, with the Hispanic Heritage Month spotlight on jobs and the economy, we proudly feature Ness Perry, Advocacy Specialist at the Latino Economic Development Center in Washington D.C., and a former NETWORK Communications Associate.

If we can spotlight you, someone you know or love, or social justice work being carried out in your Hispanic church or community during Hispanic Heritage Month 2023, please let us know at [email protected].

Network Communications: Briefly introduce yourself and your connection to NETWORK

Ness Perry: My name is Ness Perry, I am 26 years old, and I have resided in Washington, D.C. for six years. From 2019 through 2020, I worked as a NETWORK Communications Associate.

What issues do you work on, and why are they important for the Latina and Latino community?

For the last year, I have worked for the Latino Economic Development Center (LEDC), in D.C. I work on issues related to affordable housing preservation, closing gaps in homeownership, small business advocacy, and transit-oriented development to prevent displacement. LEDC’s mission is to serve as a catalyst that drives the economic and social advancement of low-to-moderate-income Latinos and other underserved communities by equipping them with the skills and tools to achieve financial independence, acquire personal and business assets, create generational wealth, and become leaders in their communities.

While LEDC was initially designed to serve the Latino community, LEDC has expanded to attend to the needs of all underserved communities equitably. We firmly believe in treating every individual who walks through our doors with fairness, respect, and dignity, without any form of discrimination.

How do your faith or your personal values influence your work?

While I do not identify with any faith, I have found that finding common ground within the structure of a moral framework can be an incredibly useful tool in advocacy. While working for NETWORK, I found that elected officials were often more open to connecting with us because they had a values-based approach to leadership that acknowledged Catholic Social Teaching.

Similarly, my personal values are inextricable from the work I do. I attempted to work for a for-profit organization, and I felt lost because I knew that my moral compass did not align with the goals of the company. I learned quickly that the work I do must be community oriented because of my lack of motivation to work for the sake of a paycheck and not in service of others.

What are you most mindful about during this Hispanic Heritage Month?

Belonging is the topic I am most mindful about this Hispanic Heritage Month. As an Afro-Chicana, I think I always have a difficult time orienting myself in my community, often feeling invalidated or culturally never enough for either group. In making sure my Black community knows that I am not just Black or just Chicana, I uplift other Latinx subgroups within the African diaspora across the Americas and beyond. If someone is struggling with this, I believe a great place to start could be researching their ancestry can help many Latinx people. This first step could help them find their sense of belonging and build a stronger identity.

I have also found that seeking communal spaces for the Latinx community is vital. The ability to celebrate our culture amid gentrification in and around our neighborhoods and communities, is something that should never be undervalued. Our community has unfortunately been in survival mode for generations due to systemic issues that have barred us from living life beyond our trauma. The work that I do envisions a future where Latinx people and other underserved communities are thriving, not just surviving.

Thank you, Ness!

Read more about the Latina Equal Pay Day at the National Women’s Law Center.
Watch Monica Ramirez, CEO of Justice for Migrant Women and a Latina Equal Pay Day organizer discusses the movement working to close the pay gap for Latin women on YouTube.

Hispanic Heritage Month 2023 Week 3: The Climate

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Hispanic Heritage Month 2023 Week 3: The Climate

NETWORK Communications Team
Sept 29, 2023

Hispanic Heritage Month 2023: Pope Francis Updates Wisdom on Climate Justice

During this week of reflection on the climate, Pope Francis released a document on October 4, Laudate Deum, a follow-up to his 2015 letter, Laudato Si’. The update reflects the realities of 2023. The young Latino activist featured below, Christian Soenen, is a project manager at Georgetown University’s Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life. Please join him and his colleagues–online, or in person–to learn more at their program on Thursday, October 12, Caring for the Environment and Each Other: Pope Francis’ Follow-up to Laudato Si’.

Week 2: Jobs and the Economy, spotlight on Ness Perry
Week 4: Education, spotlight on Laura Muñoz Lopez

Hispanic Heritage Month 2023 Justice-Seeker Profile: Christian Soenen

This week, with Hispanic Heritage Month focused on the climate, we proudly feature Christian Soenen, the projects manager at Georgetown University’s Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life in Washington D.C.

Network Communications: Briefly introduce yourself and your connection to NETWORK

Christian Soenen: I’m Christian Soenen. I currently work to promote and advance the Church’s social message and mission as the projects manager at Georgetown University’s Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life. I first worked with NETWORK on reports documenting and advocating against uninvestigated abuses of migrants by Border Patrol agents and other U.S. authorities when I was a volunteer with the Kino Border Initiative, and I was one of NETWORK’s 2022 Social Poet Award recipients.

What issues do you work on, and why are they important for the Latina and Latino community?

My work at the Initiative broadly covers the principles of Catholic social teaching – among them the preferential option for the poor, care for the environment, solidarity, and human life and dignity. These teachings are an essential resource to the Latino community because of our community’s historical and present experiences of marginalization, both as a legacy of Latin America’s colonial history and because of present racial and economic exclusion in the United States. Climate crises, poverty and inequality, migration, and other issues are central to Catholic social thought, central to Pope Francis’s papacy, and central to the life and future of a people shaped by this historical and social context.

How do your faith or your personal values influence your work?

Taped to the wall above my desk is a printout of the “Magnificat,” the words Mary spoke to her cousin Elizabeth when she learned she was pregnant with the son of God. It’s the Gospel of Luke’s first introduction of Jesus, and it reminds us that the Lord “casts the mighty from their thrones and raises the lowly. He fills the starving with good things and sends the rich away empty.” This is the part of my faith that teaches me where our priorities should always lie, and it informs so many of the core tenets of the Church’s social teaching that help us to evaluate our present society and work towards a better one.

What are you most mindful about during this Hispanic Heritage Month?

The Spanish word “lucha” – struggle – is one that comes to mind when I reflect on the many cultural gifts that come from Latino heritage. When I worked on the border, “lucha” was one of the most common words I heard from people migrating, and it always communicated love, selflessness, and incalculable willpower. We’re a people who’ve been built up by struggle and who have built incredible things by that same struggle, and that’s something to keep at the forefront of our minds as we work on behalf of our community.

Thank you, Christian!

Read NETWORK Executive Director’s reflection on climate justice as essential grounding for all forms of justice.
Citizens’ Climate Lobby is putting together a Latinx Catholic Outreach Team, a subset of CCL’s
Catholic Action Team. Learn more in English, or in Spanish.

Hispanic Heritage Month 2023 Week 4: Education

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Hispanic Heritage Month 2023 Week 4: Education

NETWORK Communications Team
Oct 6, 2023

Week 2: Jobs and the Economy, spotlight on Ness Perry
Week 3: Climate, spotlight on Christian Soenen

Hispanic Heritage Month 2023 Week 4

How much do you know about the U.S. Latino experience? Latina and Latino contributions to art, culture, science, sports are vast, and diverse. NETWORK envisions a multi-faith, multiracial democracy where all races, genders, sexual identities, physical and mental abilities, and ages have equitable opportunities to thrive–and to be represented. Educating ourselves about each other’s histories, milestones, achievements, and challenges is one way to ensure we realize an inclusive democracy.

Here’s something that you may not have known: Hispanic Heritage Month’s timeframe of the middle of September to the middle of October was chosen to honor the Central American countries (Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua) that celebrate Independence Days within these dates. There is so much more to learn! A good place to start is at the new National Museum of the American Latino, a Smithsonian Museum effort highlighting the U.S. Latino experience. Visit online to learn through bilingual education resources, virtual exhibits, and stories of Latin achievement. In Washington, D.C., you can participate in tours and events.

Hispanic Heritage Month 2023 Justice-Seeker Profile: Laura Muñoz Lopez

This week we proudly feature Laura Muñoz Lopez, who works in Member Services for the House Democratic Caucus in Washington D.C. She is also a former NETWORK Government Relations Associate.

Network Communications: Briefly introduce yourself and your connection to NETWORK

Laura Muñoz Lopez : My name is Laura Muñoz Lopez and I was a Government Relations Associate at NETWORK from 2016 – 2017!

What issues do you work on, and why are they important for the Latina and Latino community?

I have mostly worked on judiciary-related issues while in DC such as immigration, civil and voting rights, gun violence prevention, and intellectual property. Currently, I do Member Services for the House Democratic Caucus under the leadership of Rep. Pete Aguilar (CA-33) and work very closely with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus amongst other ideological caucuses on Capitol Hill. Working for the highest-ranking Latino in the House of Representatives is extremely important to me and my community because it shows how critical representation is, especially in the halls of Congress. Being Latina myself and doing this work is a reminder that we are representing our communities, our culture, our experiences, and our priorities for the future. I feel very privileged to be in this role and do the work I do.

How do your faith or your personal values influence your work?

The values instilled in me by my parents, who immigrated to the US almost thirty years ago, push me every day to work hard, be humble, and to give back to my community. If it wasn’t for my parents and the example they set for me and my siblings, I am not sure I would be where I am today!

What are you most mindful about during this Hispanic Heritage Month?

The thing I am the most mindful of this Hispanic Heritage Month is to take time to reflect on all of the work I – and my community – have accomplished and to celebrate it! Too often we work, and work, and work and don’t take a moment to appreciate the struggle and pat ourselves on the back. This month I am celebrating!

Thank you, Laura!

Lent Week 6: The Path to Transformation

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The Path to Transformation

Mary J. Novak
March 29, 2023

Readings for Palm Sunday:

Is 50:4-7
Ps 22:8-9, 17-18, 19-20, 23-24
Phil 2:6-11
Mt 26:14-27:66

Through the Lenten Scriptures, we are reminded over and over again that everything Jesus touches is radically and forever transformed. That is the gift of the Incarnation. As we contemplate the depths of the Paschal Mystery this week, the suffering and death of Jesus at the hands of the state, we must open ourselves to the possibility that transformation can still break into the systems and structures of our politics. But this will not happen automatically; it will require deep, persistent, and sometimes difficult work.

The prophet Isaiah says, “The Lord has given me a well-trained tongue, that I might know how to speak to the weary a word that will rouse them.” This resonates with the work of our Spirit-filled network, seeking to encourage our fellow justice-seekers even as we face exhausting realities, including emboldened and public displays of racism, open hostility to the democracy and the rule of law, and unprecedented socioeconomic inequality that undermines our whole society.

“My God, why have you abandoned me?” Jesus prayed from the cross. The political system of his day was unjustly used to kill the Son of God. And as we confront those who profit from exploiting and oppressing others, including us, we must remember that God has not forsaken any of us. Brokenness infects our politics, yes, but it does not have the last word.

Pope Francis calls for a better kind of politics, and answering that call means learning ways of finding God in the mess. Jesus showed us, in the words of Henri Nouwen, that “The divine way is indeed the downward way.” This means being present to those of us most held down by our systems and structures, intentionally engaging in processes of truth-telling, reflection, and ultimately reparation. We do not get to reparatory justice, true repair of society, without changing structures and breaking the inequities that have spiraled for far too long—and that starts with truth-telling. Once we embark on this work, true transformation begins.

Additional Resources

Be part of the transformation of our politics and protect Medicaid, housing, and nutrition programs from disastrous cuts by joining NETWORK’s Thriving Communities campaign — coming soon!

Read All NETWORK Lenten Reflections

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Lent Week Five: Show Up With Your Whole Self

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Lent Week Four: Show Mercy Through Your Politics

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Lent Week 3: Find Freedom in the Equally Sacred

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Lent Week 2: Reject Violence, Embracing the Vision

NETWORK Staff February 22, 2024

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Lent Calls Us to Two Paths Out of the Desert

NETWORK Staff February 14, 2024

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2024 Lenten Daily Prayer

Hispanic Heritage Month 2023 Week 2: Jobs and the Economy

NETWORK Communications Team Sept 22, 2023

Hispanic Heritage Month 2023: October 5 is Latina Equal Pay Day

Hispanic Heritage Month 2023 Justice-Seeker Profile: Ness Perry

Hispanic Heritage Month 2023 Week 3: The Climate

NETWORK Communications Team Sept 29, 2023

Hispanic Heritage Month 2023: Pope Francis Updates Wisdom on Climate Justice

Hispanic Heritage Month 2023 Justice-Seeker Profile: Christian Soenen

Hispanic Heritage Month 2023 Week 4: Education

NETWORK Communications Team Oct 6, 2023

Hispanic Heritage Month 2023 Week 4

Hispanic Heritage Month 2023 Justice-Seeker Profile: Laura Muñoz Lopez

The Path to Transformation

Mary J. Novak March 29, 2023

Additional Resources

NETWORK Staff
March 20, 2024

NETWORK Staff
March 13, 2024

NETWORK Staff
March 6, 2024

NETWORK Staff
February 28, 2024

NETWORK Staff
February 22, 2024

NETWORK Staff
February 14, 2024

NETWORK Communications Team
Sept 22, 2023

NETWORK Communications Team
Sept 29, 2023

NETWORK Communications Team
Oct 6, 2023

Mary J. Novak
March 29, 2023