Is it Just and Merciful? with Amy

Is it just and merciful?

God: who is faithful forever,
who gives justice to people who are oppressed,
who gives bread to people who are starving! (Ps 146: 5-7 CEB)

Do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with God (Micah 6:8) is the mission of our parish and community center. Kristofer recently offered an SSS where he invited all of us at St. Francis Episcopal Parish and Community Center to ask these questions of any action we do: is it just? is it merciful? does it embody humility? How do we ask these questions communally and let this mission guide everything we do as a parish and a community center? What do you think?

The Food Ministry Strategy Team is engaged in focused discernment about what God might be doing with our food ministry at St. Francis. Is our current practice of once-a-month free food distribution just? Is it merciful? Does it embody humility? Might we as a community be called to do something different?

God's provision of food to the hungry - all of us who are each day literally hungry and also spiritually hungry for God and community - is throughout Scripture. Part of the Food Ministry Strategy Team's discernment work is focused prayer with Scripture alongside sharing our experiences and reflecting on our current practices of sharing food. Psalm 146 is one of those pieces of Scripture that I am praying with now. You can read it here.

As people of God, we are called to both justice and mercy, justice and charity. What does a just food ministry look like at St. Francis? What does a merciful food ministry look like? Share your thoughts in the comments section below or reach out to me at revamy@stfrancismd.org.

For a brief, easy to read take on what justice is and what charity is and the Biblical call on the Church to respond to both, see this short essay from a brother in Christ out of the Baptist tradition: to read Charity versus Justice, click here