Living with Strength and Kindliness

Each year, St Joseph’s College recognises the World Day of Social Justice. This year the official day falls on Sunday 20 February. If you keep your eye on our social media pages this week, you will see some of the ventures that our students have undertaken to celebrate what is a quintessential value at our school, raising awareness and undertaking action to protect and stand up for those who are vulnerable or marginalised in our society; locally, nationally and internationally.

This year the World Day of Social Justice focuses particularly on the right to a job; a job that offers security and safety to the employee. We may be inclined to take for granted the high quality working conditions that we enjoy in our day to day working lives in most aspects of the Australian job industry. You may not know that more than 60 per cent of the world’s employed population,  2 billion women, men and youth, earn their livelihoods in what is known as ‘the informal economy’. This is an economy that is not bound by any regulations, restrictions or safeguards. In these work environments, informal workers often lack any form of social protection or employment related benefits and they are twice as likely to be poor compared to formal workers. For many people there is no choice but to join the informal economy or be left with no job at all.

The quest to promote informal work to formal work is necessary if we are to reduce vulnerable people’s exposure to poverty and inequality. The United Nations play a key role in the development of a sustainable future for everyone. Their work is paramount for  poverty eradication, the promotion of full employment and decent work, universal social protection, gender equality and social justice for all. Their focus at this time is to influence the decision makers in governments across the world to increase safeguards for those who are forced to work in insecure, unsafe and unpredictable work industries across the world. 

During 2022, our College theme – ‘Allow compassion to be the lens of your heart’ implores us to live generous and kind-hearted lives of compassion, mercy and love.  We pray this week that our sisters and brothers everywhere may be open to God’s compassion and love, and that the work of the UN to change the work lives of billions of people, is met by listening ears and hearts of action.

From the Gospel of Luke: 

‘Be compassionate as your Father is compassionate. Do not judge and you will not be judged yourselves, do not condemn and you will not be condemned yourselves; grant pardon, and you will be pardoned. Give, and there will be gifts for you; a full measure pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will be poured into your lap; because the amount you measure out is the amount that will be given back’ (Luke 6 27 – 38).

Let us pray:

Jesus calls us to love without judgement and to be generous to all, we pray for all who lack the basic necessities of life. May our recognition of the World Day of Social Justice give them hope of a new and inclusive economy. 

We pray to the Lord.

Lord hear us.

Kirrilee Westblade

College Leader - Catholic Identity