When Jack Jezreel rolled into Sacramento last fall, he made some predictions about what would happen throughout the Diocese of Sacramento if parishes elected to introduce JustFaith to their communities.

Jezreel introduced the program during a JustFaith workshop presentation to parishes and priests at the Diocesan Pastoral Center last September.

JustFaith, founded by Jezreel in 1989, is a 30-week justice formation process with a focus on poverty. Participants come together in a small faith community to explore the roots of social ministry and then meet face-to-face with society’s marginalized people.

Weekly sessions include required readings as well as two retreats and four immersion experiences. The process, which may be facilitated by one parish or a group of parishes, also includes videos, lecture, discussion, and prayer experiences.

The JustFaith program is in partnership with the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, Catholic Charities USA and Catholic Relief Services.

Jezreel said JustFaith, which is being used in more than 50 percent of dioceses nationwide and has nearly 10,000 graduates, is a conversion experience that opens people’s hearts to solidarity with others, responding to their needs.

“Proof of God’s inclination to the poor is the body of Christ,” he said. “When love gets big, it tilts in the direction of the greatest need. That’s just what love does.”

When people join a parish where JustFaith has been implemented, Jezreel contended, they become “part of a people who are passionate about transformation of the world and the whole person.”

The Newman Catholic Community in Sacramento and St. Teresa of Avila Parish in Auburn are the first two parishes in the diocese beginning the JustFaith program. Both parishes start the program this month.

Deacon Joseph Symkowick of the Newman Catholic Community is coordinating the program at the Newman Catholic Center. He said the study of Catholic social teaching is a perfect match for the Newman Catholic Community.

“JustFaith is geared toward engaging people in action,” he said. “Seeing that connection between social service and the Gospel, they have something they can take and run with in a public university setting.”

As a partnerships officer with Catholic Relief Services, Deacon Symkowick said he has had the opportunity “to feel and observe what marginalized people feel and observe.”

He said members of Newman’s JustFaith group will participate in four immersion experiences. They include walking through a food distribution line at Loaves & Fishes, a program for homeless people, and listening to the stories of women seeking respite and food at Wellspring Women’s Center. Both organizations are located in Sacramento.

“People start to formulate how they lead their lives and how it connects to everything in this world,” Deacon Symkowick said.

The program at Newman currently includes 18 members. One member, Charlotte Donovan, said she felt compelled to attend the workshop and become part of the program.

“I wanted to do something overt about promoting justice in the community,” said Donovan, who has been involved in social justice activities since joining “People Volunteers for Latin America” in the mid-1960s.

“It’s respecting a person as a person of God with human dignity, and we’ve deprived many people of that,” she said.

Jesuit Father George Wanser, Newman director, sees the new program as a path ensuring “people continue to grow in their faith.”

“Catholic social teaching is absolutely crucial to that,” he said.

In addition to including more college students and other members of the Newman Community in future sessions, Deacon Symkowick is hopeful that fellow deacons will become lead organizers of JustFaith throughout the diocese.

One who has already answered that call is Deacon Edwin Morgado, who serves as co-facilitator of JustFaith at St. Teresa of Avila Parish in Auburn. JustFaith sessions are being held Tuesday evenings through May 8 at the parish center.

Planned immersion experiences include conversations with young adults at Sacramento’s WIND Youth Services, a center for homeless and runaway teens, and Loaves & Fishes.

Deacon Morgado said he became committed to bringing the program to St. Teresa of Avila after attending the diocesan workshop last fall.

“I learned about how people come out of JustFaith on fire,” he said.

Deacon Morgado said he is looking forward to going through the program rich in opportunities for participants to grow their faith. “I’m hoping that in a small community environment this will be a profound experience,” he said.

Parishioner Paul Comiskey is co-facilitator of JustFaith. He said one of the most challenging things for people of faith is keeping a balance in their lives.

“JustFaith tries to get us back to that sense of balance and inner peacefulness that we are living in a right relationship with God and other people, taking care of the poor,” Comiskey said.

The new parish program has received enthusiastic support from Father Michael Carroll, pastor of St. Teresa of Avila, the pastoral council and a growing list of parishioners who are signing up.

“A priest can only encourage people to come to Christ. They’ve got to be enthused about the message,” said Father Carroll, who sees the program leading to more parish-based efforts to reach out to the poor in Auburn and surrounding communities.

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