Greetings!

Greetings to all our companions who walk the path of Social Justice. The contributors to this blog have their roots in a number of groups and organizations in the Greater New Orleans area. First and foremost, we come out of a Catholic Social Justice education program called "Public Discipleship" which is based out of the National Pastoral Life Center (NPLC). To find out more about the Public Discipleship program, please visit the NPLC's Public Discipleship webpage. But we are not just affiliated with this national diocesan program. We are also strongly influenced by the mission and work of Maryknoll, which is a U.S.-based Catholic mission movement; and many of us are formally linked to Maryknoll through its Affiliates program. While we are affiliated with these organizations and movements, we want to emphasize that this blog and its contents are completely independent of them and reflect only our own personal opinions on the theme of Social Justice.

The contributing members of this blog have been meeting approximately once a month over the past three years to discuss the Social Justice teachings of the Catholic Church and to explore ways of converting these teachings into concrete actions on behalf of Social Justice in our own communities and across the world.

The purpose of this blog is basically to serve as a communications device, an informational clearing-house, and an outreach effort regarding Social Justice. We hope to share with you our personal thoughts about Social Justice, the issues and events taking place across our world that cry out for application of Social Justice teachings, and basically anything we find of interest in contemporary current events that cause us to reflect on the themes and teachings of Social Justice.

In our little group, we often discuss the futility of our own abilities to bring justice to those in our world who so desperately need it. We often discuss the frustration of feeling insignificant and powerless in front of social injustice. But we also believe that even the slightest of our actions - even just meeting and talking - constitutes "mustard seed" work towards the goal of realizing social justice for all. This blog is just another little effort in this "mustard seed" work (hence, it's name "Semillas"); and we welcome anyone who wants to participate and contribute to this effort. We hope you will join us and share your thoughts, ideas, and aspirations for a more socially just world.