The Valley Catholic May 27, 2014 | Page 4

4 May 27, 2014 T he Valley Catholic in the diocese Linda Batton to retire as Director of Social Ministries; sees Church as ‘prophetic voice’ Linda Batton By Roberta Ward Linda Batton, DSJ Director of Social Ministries, will retire at the end of June. She says she was drawn to this work by the words of Jesus in Matthew 25 and Luke 4 in which He says the spirit of the Lord has anointed Him to ”bring good news to the poor, liberty to captives, new sight to the blind, and to set the downtrodden free.” Batton said, “There are so many among us who lack simple necessities of life--a livable wage, to be cared for in old age or when facing illness or disability, who have been stripped of their dignit 䰁