CATHOLIC SOCIAL TEACHING:
The Church’s social teaching is a rich treasure of wisdom about building a just society and living lives of holiness amidst the challenges of modern society. Modern Catholic social teaching has been articulated through a tradition of papal, conciliar, and episcopal documents. The depth and richness of this tradition can be understood best through a direct reading of these documents. The following are several of the key themes that are at the heart of our Catholic social tradition.

Life and Dignity of the Human Person
The Catholic Church proclaims that human life is sacred and that the dignity of the human person is the foundation of a moral vision for society. This belief is the foundation of all principles of our social teaching. We believe that every person is precious, that people are more important than things, and that the measure of every institution is whether it threatens or enhances the life and dignity of the human person.

Call to Family, Community, and Participation
The person is not only sacred but also social. How we organize our society—in economics and politics, in law and policy—directly affects human dignity and the capacity of individuals to grow in community. Marriage and the family are the central social institutions that must be supported and strengthened, not undermined. We believe people have a right and a duty to participate in society, seeking together the common good and well-being of all, especially the poor and vulnerable.

Rights and Responsibilities
The Catholic tradition teaches that human dignity can be protected and a healthy community can be achieved only if human rights are protected and responsibilities are met. Therefore, every person has a fundamental right to life and a right to those things required for human decency. Corresponding to these rights are duties and responsibilities—to one another, to our families, and to the larger society.

Option for the Poor and Vulnerable
A basic moral test is how our most vulnerable members are faring. In a society marred by deepening divisions between rich and poor, our tradition recalls the story of the Last Judgment (Mt 25:31-46) and instructs us to put the needs of the poor and vulnerable first.

The Dignity of Work and the Rights of Workers
The economy must serve people, not the other way around. Work is more than a way to make a living; it is a form of continuing participation in God’s creation. If the dignity of work is to be protected, then the basic rights of workers must be respected—the right to productive work, to decent and fair wages, to the organization and joining of unions, to private property, and to economic initiative.

Solidarity
We are one human family whatever our national, racial, ethnic, economic, and ideological differences. We are our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers, wherever they may be. Loving our neighbor has global dimensions in a shrinking world. At the core of the virtue of solidarity is the pursuit of justice and peace. Pope Paul VI taught that “if you want peace, work for justice.” The Gospel calls us to be peacemakers. Our love for all our sisters and brothers demands that we promote peace in a world surrounded by violence and conflict.

Care for God’s Creation
We show our respect for the Creator by our stewardship of creation. Care for the earth is a requirement of the Catholic faith. We are called to protect people and the planet, living our faith in relationship with all of God’s creation. This environmental challenge has fundamental moral and ethical dimensions that cannot be ignored.

Source: U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops
In these challenging days, we believe that our Catholic community needs to be more than ever a source of clear moral vision and effective action. We are called to be the “salt of the earth” and “light of the world” in the words of Scriptures (cf. Mt. 5:13-16). This task belongs to every believer and every parish. The pursuit of justice and peace is an essential part of what makes a parish Catholic.
The roots of this call to justice and charity are in the Scriptures, especially the Hebrew prophets who announced God’s special love for the poor and called God’s people to a covenant of love and justice. It is teaching founded on the life and words of Jesus Christ, who came “to bring glad tidings to the poor…liberty to captives…recovery of sight to the blind” (Lk 4:18-19), and who identified himself with “the least of these,” the hungry and the stranger (cf. Mt. 25:45).
Our parish communities are measured by how they serve “the least of these” in our parish and beyond its boundaries—the hungry, the homeless, the sick, those in prison, the stranger (cf. Mt. 25:31).
Source: National Conference of Catholic Bishops/U.S. Catholic Conference, Communities of Salt and Light: Reflections on the Social Mission of the Parish

HUMAN TRAFFICKING:                                                                                                                     
In April, 2018 the Archdiocese of New Orleans, Respect Life Office, gave a presentation on human trafficking entitled, “Invisible in Plain Sight: Human Trafficking in Our Midst” to our parishioners. This information was presented after all the masses in June, 2018. Our parish was so moved by this presentation that we decided to support the Free Indeed Home, a safe house for girls ages 12-17 who have been rescued from sex trafficking. The parish collected needed items likebrooms, mops, garbage bags, cleaning supplies, bed sheets, light bulbs, food items, and so forth. The Social Justice ministry, the K.C. Ladies Auxiliary and numerous volunteers worked together to make this collection for the Free Indeed Home a success. Another group, Quilting Friends, donated hand-made quilts and pillowcases to the safe house. Recently, one of the Come Lord, Jesus, groups in the parish donated snacks, personal items, and notes of encouragement to the girls for their Theology of the Body retreat. More information about the safe house can be found at http://www.lacaht.org.

Please consider praying the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary for victims, survivors, and perpetrators of human trafficking:                                                                                                                                                                         1^stSorrowful Mystery - AGONY in the GARDEN
As Jesus prays in the Garden of Gethsemane, He sees the suffering of all those with whom He will unite Himself. He asks us to awaken to the suffering of our many sisters and brothers who have been trafficked for sex and for labor, including many children in our own country, state, and even our city.
 2^nd Sorrowful Mystery - The SCOURGING at the PILLAR
Christ is chained to a pillar and flogged until his entire body is covered with deep wounds.
When the dignity our sisters and brothers is insulted in sex or labor trafficking, it is Jesus the Suffering Servant who is scourged again and again.  
3^rd Sorrowful Mystery - THE CROWNING with THORNS
In the Praetorium, Jesus is mocked, spat upon and crowned with thorns.
Perpetrators of human trafficking mock and spit upon the gift of human dignity given to each and every person, including themselves. 
4^th Sorrowful Mystery - The CARRYING of the CROSS
With His body battered and bruised from torture, Jesus carried the cross along the road to Calvary.           
When a person is trafficked and exploited, systematically and repeatedly, their body AND spirit become abused and defiled. 
5^th Sorrowful Mystery - The CRUCIFIXION
On Golgotha, the hands and feet of Jesus are nailed to a cross, and His side is pierced with a lance.
Unlike morally acceptable, lawful organ donations, it is a sin when body parts are taken from victims who are trafficked, and possibly killed in the process.
Source: Archdiocese of New Orleans, Respect Life Office