Living mercy in public life discussed with St. Rose parishioners

Friday, Jul. 15, 2016

By Kevin Cummings

  

LAYTON — Jean Hill, government liaison for the Diocese of Salt Lake City, recently spent an evening with St. Rose of Lima parishioners, sharing best practices for living the call of mercy in public life. 

Hill began her presentation by pointing out that mercy and justice are closely linked.

“Helping the homeless is mercy,” she said.  “Addressing the causes of homelessness is justice.”

Hill also related the experiences she had during a recent trip to Malawi with Catholic Relief Services.  

“Every village greeted us with singing and dancing,” she said, and at Mass the CRS team found themselves celebrating with enthusiastic and welcoming communities.

The work of mercy and justice conducted by CRS includes aiding the Malawi villagers in finding better ways to build homes to withstand future cataclysms, and teaching villagers how to build dams to redirect and store the water for future use, resulting in long-term solutions to the problems in the region.

“Sometimes you forget how good Catholics are with social justice,” commented parishioner Tammy Todd, who attended the presentation. “It was encouraging to hear about that.”

Closer to home, Hill encouraged the parishioners to think about issues in their community. The discussion included an exploration of the barriers facing newly released prisoners and issues of hunger in Davis County.

“Advocacy is one of the most effective ways to ease human suffering,” said Hill, who suggested that Catholics should educate themselves about important issues through study, prayer, and discernment, which can help to take on the important role of being a public voice.  

“All of us Catholics need to be heard,” she said.

Hill encouraged Catholics to write to their lawmakers on important issues such as the July 13 summer legislative session, during which Health and Human Services Interim Committee will consider the merits of assisted suicide as a state policy.  

“They are unlikely to hear about the many practical and moral problems with legalizing suicide, unless we provide them with the counter-arguments,” Hill said.

For those interested in getting more deeply involved in social justice ministries, Hill recommended the diocesan Parish Social Ministry Training, which will begin Oct. 29.

Parishioner Bobbie Hunt summed up the evening by saying, “It opened our eyes to how to be an advocate. Many people want to do something, but don’t know how. Jean showed us that we can’t be afraid, we just need to go and do it.”