Call to justice springs from our baptism

Diocesan coordinator of Justice and Peace Myron Rogal (second from left) is pictured with other leaders at an August 2019 field day for the Grow Hope project. It is one example of the many partnerships that the Justice and Peace Office has with groups working for a better world. (File photo by Kiply Yaworski)

By Myron Rogal, Office of Justice and Peace

[This article is part of a “Fuel-Up Friday” series in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Saskatoon]

My name is Myron Rogal. I am the coordinator of the Office of Justice and Peace for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Saskatoon and the staff representative on the Diocesan Council for Truth and Reconciliation.

For me, Catholic Social Teaching is a way of life extending from our baptismal calling.

I live in Vonda, SK,  enjoying country life with my wife, Chantale and our four precious children, two girls and two boys. I enjoy volunteering, especially with L’Arche and in the community of Vonda. I am an avid reader, endlessly indulging in biographies, fascinated by the irreplaceable nature of each person and what each life can teach us. I also have a love for music, art and nature, and hold most dear the moments of dancing, playing and being silly with my kids.

A privilege of the ministry of Justice and Peace is to be able to gather with gifted people representing front-line efforts for the various pillars of Catholic Social Teaching. Seeing, judging and acting on relevant challenges from a variety of angles gives confidence that the ministry is really driven by the Holy Spirit and not our own ideas.

These strange times have gifted new opportunities to make the work of the office more accessible to many. From an increase in Grow Hope participation to raise awareness on food security, to seeing many rally against the expansion of physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia in Canada, to being able to build solidarity through events that aim to apply revelations of the Amazon Synod, the Church continues to grow and God is good!

On the challenging side, reconciliation efforts with Indigenous people have suffered during the pandemic, and the increasing poverty that exists in every neighbourhood is something that each Catholic must address as they best can.

I close with words of hope from the founder of the Western Conference of Social Justice, Bishop Emeritus Fred Henry who stated: “the Church is here to make everything new-persons, cultures, social structures, laws and customs.”

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