The LampStand Foundation
Creating tools for the deep knowledge leadership of grassroots organizations whose mission is the transformation of criminals.
|
The Lay Apostolate |
|---|
|
(899) The initiative of lay Christians is necessary especially when the matter involves discovering or inventing the means for permeating social, political, and economic realities with the demands of Christian doctrine and life. This initiative is a normal element of the life of the Church: "Lay believers are in the front line of Church life; for them the Church is the animating principle of human society. Therefore, they in particular ought to have an ever-clearer consciousness not only of belonging to the Church, but of being the Church, that is to say, the community of the faithful on earth, under the leadership of the Pope, the common Head, and of the bishops in communion with him. They are the Church." (Pope Pius XII) (900) Since, like all the faithful, lay Christians are entrusted by God with the apostolate by virtue of their Baptism and Confirmation, they have the right and duty, individually or grouped in associations, to work so that the divine message of salvation may be known and accepted by all men throughout the earth. This duty is the more pressing when it is only through them that men can hear the Gospel and know Christ. Their activity in ecclesial communities is so necessary that, for the most part, the apostolate of the pastors cannot be fully effective without it. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1997, #899-900)
|
Contact Us
David H. Lukenbill, President
The LampStand Foundation
Post Office Box 254794
Sacramento, CA 95865-4794
(916) 486 - 3856
David H. Lukenbill is a native
of Sacramento and lives along the American River with his wife and
daughter. They have two cats and all the wild critters they can
feed.
His educational credentials include an Associate of Arts degree in Administration of Justice from Sacramento City College; a Bachelor of Science degree in Organizational Behavior from the University of San Francisco; and a Master of Public Administration degree from the University of San Francisco.
He believes that traditional reentry programs-based on the evidence-clearly tell us that something new must be tried as everything we are now doing is not working with any degree of success, and seeking the ideas of reformed crimnals who have successfully reentered the community and possess the graduate education and professional training to effectively manage community reentry programs, might be a productive place to start.
***
"I feel myself as distant from the Left as from the Right. But I feel myself closer to the first in matters pertaining to Caesar, and closer to the latter in what belongs to God."
(Jacques Maritain (1968) The Peasant of the Garonne: An Old Layman Questions Himself About the Present Time)
***
"I wish it were otherwise, but scientific evidence is sorely lacking to support the effectiveness of [traditional] rehabilitation programs for criminal offenders."
(David Farabee (2005) Rethinking Rehabilitation: Why Can't We Reform Our Criminals)
***
"Unfortunately, as presently operated, the in-prison substance abuse treatment programs managed by the Office of Substance Abuse Programs are inneffective at reducing recidivism."
(California Inspector General (2007) Special Review into In-Prison Substance Abuse Programs Managed by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation [$1 billion outlay since 1989])
"To those who are searching for a new and authentic theory and praxis of liberation, the Church offers not only her social doctrine and, in general, her teaching about the human person redeeemed in Christ, but also her concrete commitment and material assistance in the struggle against marginalization and suffering." (Pope John Paul II, Centesimus Annus)