Ave Explores

F. DeKarlos Blackmon, director of the Secretariat for Life, Justice, and Charity in the Diocese of Austin, Texas, explains why people of faith should be concerned with advocating for justice, especially in prison systems and in the ongoing fight against racial inequality. 

Fr. Michael Thomas, C.S.C., a teacher and campus minister at St. George’s College in Santiago, Chile—a K-12 school apostolate of the U.S. Province of the Congregation of Holy Cross— explains what led him to mission work in Chile. Thomas says that much of our mission work will occur within our own families, workplaces, and parishes.

Steve Camilleri, director of the Center for the Homeless in South Bend, Indiana, explains how each of us are called to use our gifts to help those who need food, shelter, clothing, and financial assistance, not only tangibly, but also by loving and engaging them.

Sr. Mariae Agnus Dei., S.V., joined the Sisters of Life thirteen years ago, choosing the order because of its charism to protect and defend life. She shares how advocating life is not so much being “against” something, but being “for” the goodness of life.

 Kris Frank, vice president of Vagabond Missions, shares how the Steubenville, Ohio, ministry expanded across the country by focusing on sharing the Gospel with at-risk, inner-city youth, helping them break the cycle of abandonment and hopelessness.

Fr. Joshua Johnson and Sr. Josephine Garrett, C.S.F.N., share their experiences as black Catholics, discuss why racism is sinful, and explore how Catholics are called to advocate for change.

 Fr. Kevin Sandberg, C.S.C, the former executive director of the Center for Social Concerns at the University of Notre Dame, shares how advocating for the common good helps to end social isolation and oppression.

Scott Hahn, a theologian and founder of the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology, explains how the virtue of hope can help us understand the glory of Christ’s Resurrection, and encourage us to love the poor, serve the marginalized, and preach the Gospel. In Hahn’s new book, Hope to Die , he explores how pain and suffering unite us with the Cross of Christ and help us to live out the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy.