There are many quotations from the saints and blessed on issues that speak to current justice issues. Make a copy of the following quotations for each student. Tell them 1) read the quotation; 2) write what they think it means; and 3) write about what they think it calls them to do.
1. “You are not making a gift of what is yours to the poor man, but you are giving him back what is his. You have been appropriating things that are meant to be for the common use of everyone. The earth belongs to everyone, not to the rich.” St. Ambrose
2. “You give bread to a hungry person; but it would be better were no one hungry, and you could give it to no one. You clothe the naked person. Would that all were clothed and this necessity did not exist.” St. Augustine
3a. “All around the sick and all around the poor I see a special light which we do not have.” Bl. Pier Giorgio Frassati
3b. “Charity is not enough: we need social reform.” Bl. Pier Giorgio Frassati
4. “When we attend to the needs of those in want, we give them what is theirs, not ours. More than performing works of mercy, we are paying a debt of justice.” St. Gregory the Great
5. “Not to enable the poor to share in our goods is to steal from them and deprive them of life. The goods we possess are not ours, but theirs.” St. John Chrysostom
6. “It is a poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish.” St. Teresa of Calcutta
7. “Alms are an inheritance and a justice which is due to the poor and which Jesus has levied upon us.” St. Francis of Assisi
