• Include some or all of the bidding prayers below
• Insert a notification and contact details for the Commission in the parish Bulletin
• Use the following quotation from Pope Benedict XV in the Bulletin now (or at any time) as a reminder of the value of Catholic Social Teaching:
    As free and responsible citizens, the lay faithful need to commit themselves to promoting a proper understanding of social life while respecting legitimate secular autonomy. The social doctrine of the Church is thus the essential benchmark for planning social action by the lay faithful; as well as for a lived out spirituality, nourished and framed in the communion of the Church: a community of love and truth and a community in mission.
• Use the selection of quotations from Catholic Social Teaching on the Justice and Peace website for the Bulletin or for the parish Justice and Peace group

Bidding Prayers

Today we celebrate the visit of the Wise Men to the infant Prince of Peace. May we be guided to lead our lives in the ways of justice and love, without which there can be no real peace,
Lord hear us.
Lord, graciously hear us.
 
We pray for the coming of God’s Kingdom of Justice and Peace; and that our efforts may not hinder, but rather hasten its coming,
Lord hear us,
Lord, graciously hear us.

In a world scarred by greed and violence, let your gospel teach us the way of generosity and reconciliation,
Lord hear us.
Lord, graciously hear us.

Lord, we ask you to keep our attention on you, in the face of endless distractions.
We pray for all those who work for justice and peace in our world; may their efforts bear fruit in the coming year,
Lord hear us.
Lord, graciously hear us.

Justice and Peace Commission:

Overview and Summary of Activity 2010-11:

• The priorities of Justice and Peace try to respond to current realities. During the last year, this has meant adjusting to the priorities of two new governments of different complexions in the UK and in Scotland. Our guiding criteria, unlike the arithmetic of democracy where the most votes win, are human dignity, the common good and a preferential option for the poor.
•    The papal visit in September 2010 was the basis for a PowerPoint presentation on Justice and Peace which was shown at Bellahouston. The visit also raised a number of questions about the effects religion can or should have politically in a largely secular country with unavoidably Christian roots. 
•  The Commission is currently considering the principles of Catholic Social Teaching and how they can be applied in a society facing major public service expenditure reduction and an increase in deprivation. We are also involved in various anti poverty initiatives, not least with those whose asylum applications have been refused but who cannot be currently repatriated and are asked to survive on £35 a week after housing costs. J&P representatives recently attended a meeting with the head of the Borders Agency in Scotland Phil Taylor, who has agreed to consider a number of the issues raised.
• In September 2010, we ran a successful Scottish conference on Poverty in Dundee for seventy participants.
• In October 2011, a conference, entitled Work and Social Justice was held in Renfield St Stephen’s, Bath St, Glasgow.
• We have continued to foster connections with Justice and Peace internationally. In July 2010, three Commission members attended the English and Welsh Commission’s conference in Derbyshire, and again in July 2011.
•  At the beginning of March 2011 we were represented in Rome by the vice Chair at a meeting with the Pontifical Council and its President, Cardinal Turkson.
•  Twenty participants have undergone the final run of the Craighead Institute course for the Integration of Life and Faith.
• Catholic opposition to nuclear weapons continues in Scotland, with a notable contribution from Cardinal O’Brien at the Faslane Picnic, a non-confrontational ecumenical and liturgical event at the nuclear submarine base the week before Easter 2011.
• We keep a watching brief on a number of areas of concern such as human rights with particular reference to the effects of government in Scotland and the integrity of creation (as we term ecological concerns, particularly climate change).
• We are fortunate in having excellent support from office bearers who give enormously of their time and expertise. We are grateful too, for our President, Bishop Moran as well as his brother bishops who are supportive of the place of justice and peace in the church.