(This article originally appeared in the TAU-USA Fall 2023 Issue #110)

by Joseph Makley, OFS

National Animator, Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation

2023 JPIC Award Winner
Steve Wasko, OFS

Our JPIC award recipient for 2023 is Steve Wasko, OFS. Steve is a member of St. Bonaventure Fraternity, in the Divine Mercy region.

He is founder and executive director of the St. Suzanne Cody Rouge Community Resource Center, which is a faith based non-profit in Detroit.

What follows is a brief interview with Steve:

Steve, you gave us a compelling story about how a project in a parish served the greater community. Could you expand on that for the members who were not present?

After many years of service to the local community, our Catholic elementary school at the parish I have been worshipping at since birth, St. Suzanne Our Lady Gate of Heaven in northwest Detroit, closed in 2002. Like many urban parishes, we felt compelled to quickly fill what would be an empty building and so we leased the entire facility to one, and then another, charter school. Great income for the parish! But nothing to do with mission, which in our case called for our church to respond to the needs of both our faith community and neighboring community. Rather than continue this practice, we chose to find a sustainable solution to building a full-service community resource center, which occurred in several iterations but became a reality in its present form in 2018. Our focus is intensely neighborhood-centric, with leadership, board members, staff and providers based in the immediate community and, vitally important services based on what the community has stated it needs. With a mission to Empower Children, Families and Youth with Hope, we host programs ranging from early childhood to senior citizens. We are an enduring Catholic presence and truly the center of the community.

You’ve led a life of service in both public and Catholic education and bring significant experience and knowledge to your work. What advice can you give to those of us wanting to energize parish connections to our communities?

As professed Secular Franciscans, Article 13 of our Rule calls on us to serve with a gentle and  courteous spirit and accept all people as a gift of the Lord and an Image of Christ, and to place ourselves joyfully on an equal basis with all people. A program focused on Black Catholic spirituality that some of us have become involved with through Loyola Marymount University teaches us that proximity to those we serve makes the credible difference in understanding and responding faithfully in dialogue, service, and faith. The work we are doing, more so than simple service at a charity, forces the parish to be directly involved and working in conjunction with the community. Our pastor at the time we reorganized, the wise and gentle Fr. Vic Clore, noted that we would step into the role of landlord and ‘convener.’ Some of us ran with that. As a convener, we can help to organize disparate elements in synergy. We can help to marshal services that the community has enunciated it needs and desires. And, you realize, we can be picky and choosy; we can settle only on quality. We can create and sustain connections that lead to brotherhood. Frankly, at the parish and even at the diocesan level, that can be messy and sometimes confusing. Sometimes we take a step backward. But it is worth the effort.

As you spoke to us in St Louis, I kept thinking of Paragraph thirteen of our Rule: “A sense of community will make them joyful…” Can you say how you became aware of your vocation as a secular Franciscan?

Article 18 also calls for us to respect all creatures, animate and inanimate, which bear the imprint of the Most High. At the Center we have infused sustainability, innovation, partnerships, and green thinking – more so than the typical social service agency. We’ve created these amazing rain gardens and natural habitats on our urban grounds that process rainwater, reduce costs, attract pollinators and have also served as the basis for authentic semester long education programs for youth and adults. The rain gardens remind me daily of the kind and gentle reverence Francis had for all of God’s creation…the same call that Pope Francis speaks about in Laudato Si’…the same spirit I sensed when Father David Preuss, OFM Cap pointed out the longtime fraternity gathering each month at the Solanus Casey Center back in 2018. With my brothers in Christ, Joe and Joshua, we took the journey to profession in 2020.

What keeps you going?

I think we’re on to something here. Last year the Catholic Foundation of Michigan named us the top awardee and the Spirit of Innovation. They provided a grant to seed additional community resource centers tied to parishes in the City of Detroit. There is a cohort of four that have been meeting; one has approval from the Archdiocese to proceed. I am really energized by our churches taking a leadership role in resilient communities. Regrettably, this has not always been the case. We have a pastoral letter in Detroit, Unleash the Gospel. This is real, tangible work toward that.

https://www.secularfranciscansusa.org/2024/01/22/2023-justice-peace-and-integrity-of-creation-award/

(This article originally appeared in the TAU-USA Fall 2023 Issue #110)

by Sharon Winzeler, OFS

Carolyn Townes, OFS & Joe Makley, OFS

Joe Makley, OFS, is the new national animator for Justice and Peace and the Integrity of Creation. He replaces Carolyn Townes, OFS, who was appointed to the position in 2013 by the late Tom Bello, OFS.  Bello asked Townes to work on educating Secular Franciscans on JPIC issues.

The National Executive Council paid tribute to Caroline (Carolyn) for her 10-year term with a retrospective slide show featuring her work on the JPIC commission.

Carolyn said goodbye with a talk on kindness. “When we show kindness to others, it inspires them to do the same, creating a chain reaction that spreads joy and positivity. As Franciscans, we are called to be instruments of peace, in our Order, in our Church, and in our world.”

Tribute to Carolyn Townes, OFS

Joe has worked with the JPIC commission since 2016 and became vice chair in 2019.  He and his wife, Patricia, belong to the Holy Family Fraternity, which meets at St. Catherine of Sienna Church in Norway, ME.  Professed in 1996, Joe has worked in JPIC-related issues at the local, regional, and national levels.

Joe shared, “Since being appointed, I reviewed our history, especially the transition from the Apostolic Commissions to JPIC in 2007.  The hope then was to reflect on who we are as foundational to what we are doing. We are to support the sincere, daily conversion described in our Rule, and facilitate reflection on that, leading to action.  For example, while meditating on the Canticle of the Creatures, we may hear it in a new way, in our hearts, and rediscover our love for God in creation and a new awareness of the sins we have committed against nature.”

Joe also spoke of following the inspiration of initiatives led by his predecessor Carolyn. He explained, “Another example would be the Faith and Racial Equity course facilitated by Carolyn Townes during the summer of 2021.  We had books to read, but the main thing was listening. The time she invested in hearing and telling stories, sometimes tough stories was vital to our understanding of JPIC. In depth, we practiced Paragraph 19 of our Rule. We listened in love, open to conversion, just like Father Lester Bach emphasized so strongly in Franciscan Journey. That kind of listening is still central to who we are, a visible sign of our penitential walk.

Working in conjunction with the wishes of the National Executive Council, Joe has plans for the future of JPIC. On public issues, he will work in concert with the National Executive Council and the other commissions and committees to provide good Catholic information, a Christ-centered Franciscan response, connections to one another, and timely opportunities to pray, reflect, and act.

Joe emphasized that, in addition to the planned activities, he’d work to facilitate better understanding of Catholic Social Teaching, through hosting or connecting with one or more online seminars.  Much of the increase in JPIC activity over the last few years was organized remotely, including focus groups on Care for Creation, Immigration, and Spirituality of JPIC, all of which were led by members in the regions who did their planning remotely. So, there will be more chances to connect and share and serve.  Communications are a focus that should be a two-way conversation.

He invited members to contact him or other commission members directly. Their contact information is available on the Secular Franciscans USA website.

https://www.secularfranciscansusa.org/2024/01/15/jpic-a-change-in-leadership/