This past Wednesday the class attended a symposium in which our professor spoke about the spiritual narratives of the LA Catholic Workers. His talk was really fascinating to me. It was so inspiring to hear about what these Catholics are doing for their community. They were grounded in their identities as Catholics but were living out a mission that many Catholics do not, and that is to serve thy neighbor. My Catholic high school really focused on social justice as a central theme in our religion classes. During my senior year, I took a class called Peace Studies and learned the importance of social justice in my religion. Lately however, I have been surrounded by Catholics who are more focused on the rituals and beliefs. It was so interesting to hear the words of some of these Catholic Workers, who believed that serving others was a crucial, if not the most important, part of being a Catholic. Their religion was centered around taking care of others and I think this is the direction the Catholic Church should be heading. The LA Catholic Workers are living their religion in a very bold way and hearing their stories of working for justice made me very proud to be a Catholic.