And social justice for all

Torus Tammer

In 1996, while employed as director of social justice and adult

education at Sts. Simon and Jude, Joyce Cottage was approached by a

couple of parishioners who had just returned from a Catholic conference

in Detroit.

“They had been inspired after hearing a man by the name of Jack

Jezrell speak, who at the time was the director of social justice at a

Kentucky parish,” Cottage said. “Jezrell spoke about a program that the

people of his parish were doing called Just Faith.”

It was explained to Cottage that Just Faith was a proactive program

dedicated to helping people learn about and deepen their convictions to

social justice, locally and globally.

By 1997, Just Faith was launched in Huntington Beach, one of the many

communities where it continues to grow.

“The program takes nine months to complete, and so far we have had

about 50 people who have done it,” Cottage said. “It involves lots of

reading, discussion and retreats.”

In that time, people are expected to go out to various places and

perform volunteer work, member Pat Goodman said.

“We feed the poor, but it’s not charity,” she said. “It’s about

finding out why they are poor and then going to the Legislature or

standing in a picket line. It’s a hand-in-hand relationship.”

The program is based on Catholic social teachings, such as cultivating

respect for all human life, non-qualified respect for creation, human

rights, workers’ rights and what the group calls “preferential option.”

“Preferential option was explained to me like this once,” Cottage

said. “If you have a sore ankle and favor it, it doesn’t mean you hate

the rest of your body.”

Cottage added that Just Faith helps individuals to become more

conscious of the surrounding world. The Huntington Beach members have not

only studied issues such as consumerism and the environment, they have

tried to identify the underlying problems causing them, and they have

demonstrated their convictions.

This approach is the impetus of Just Faith, member Carol Zwaans said.

One of the church coordinators for the Self-Help Interfaith Program Sts.

Simon and Jude, Zwaans said Just Faith is about studying issues of

justice and learning social awareness.

“It has really opened my eyes and taught me to be a more conscientious

consumer,” Zwaans said. “It has brought my attention to wrongdoings,

which has caused me to write to the government a lot.”

The program is underway all over the country but, according to those

who live by its principles, Just Faith is not an institution because it

sustains itself.

“We are not an institution nor do we want to be,” Cottage said. “We

are about focusing on the purpose of the program and staying away from

being an institution -- once a group becomes an institution, it becomes

institutionalized.”

Any person of any faith or denomination is welcome to become part of

Just Faith. This month, the program will be available to individuals at

Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Fountain Valley, St. Columban’s Catholic

Church in Garden Grove and St. Cecilia Catholic Church in Tustin.

FYI

To learn more about Just Faith, call (714) 962-3333.