JUSTICE AND PEACE COMMISSION Justice & Peace Commission is a body to reflect on our Justice & Peace mission and to reaffirm our commitment to the establishment of the Kingdom of God. The Congregation as a whole has taken the justice element of our mission seriously and has constituted a justice and peace commission with an International secretariat at Rome and a National Secretariat at Ballarsha, Maharashtra. The Province Commission emphasis on community and personal initiatives, in the field of justice and peace mission. People work for Justice: Because their brothers and sisters who are suffering and will continue to suffer until there is justice; Because they dream of a world in which all will be equal and treated according to their dignity; Because of a belief that it is in the interests of all that justice should be done; Because of who God is just and kind to all, Because the Gospel tells us to seek the reign of justice; Because of those who we are, created in the image and likeness of God, taught by the Saviour and formed by the Spirit. Mission of the Gabrielite Secretariat for Justice and Peace It was set up at the request of the 29th General Chapter, “to co-ordinate our work for Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation” (Message 2. 2. p 30) the Gabrielite Secretariat for Justice and Peace is in charge of promoting a “just Society for the Kingdom” through information, reflection and action, especially in matters of partnership and solidarity. The secretary in charge will have: to record all that is taken place in the Provinces in the field of partnership and solidarity; to encourage those who are involved in the struggle for justice and to help each Province to start functioning systematically in the area of promotion of justice and peace; to develop a holistic vision of the “Justice for the Kingdom” as the goal of our mission, a new approach to evangelization in the modern context of the world; to develop a methodology of the Montfortian Gabrielite involvement for justice and peace in the world and to share it with all the members of the society; to help to introduce programmes in the Montfortian Gabrielite educational project to create awareness on the issues of justice, on what causes injustice and how to prevent it; to work with the Secretariat of Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation (JPIC) set up by the Superiors’ General Unions. The field of solidarity, in a more concrete way: to promote a spiritual solidarity among all those who wish to support our commitments in the service of the mission for a just society towards the Kingdom; to animate and co-ordinate the International Solidarity Network, envisaged by the 28th General Chapter, in consultation with the Central Administration; to encourage the collaboration among Provinces in matters of personnel and finances in order to achieve projects of development for the less privileged of society; to set up common and united programs for promotion of justice involving all Provinces of the Institute (action for children’s rights, for example); to find, in collaboration with the General Bursar, financial sources to support the poor in their struggle for development. . “Open to Jesus Christ!” For Montfort, the poor were not just the image of Jesus Christ himself. He had meditated at length on the mystery of the Incarnation of the Word made flesh. It was a customary affirmation of Jesus that he made as his own; “What you have done to the least of mine, it is to me you have done.” “I was hungry —- I was thirsty —- I was naked —- I was in prison —- Each time you have done this to one of these least of my brothers, it is to me you have done.” The Justice and Peace Commission is a body of the Province to propose ways and means to achieve these goals in the Province.