When his Social Justice teacher invited him to go to California's capital city, Elvis Smith thought he was just going to participate in protests, something he has done before.

But the 17-year-old 11th grader at Verbum Dei High School was gladly surprised when, once in Sacramento, he learned that he would be talking to legislators about certain bills that he had to study in advance.

"It was really cool!" exclaimed Smith, part of the group of 80 people from Los Angeles who accepted the invitation from the archdiocesan Office of Justice and Peace to participate in the 11th annual Catholic Lobby Day on April 28.

The event, organized by the California Catholic Conference (CCC), is seen by participants as an opportunity to strengthen their faith and their civic responsibilities by educating themselves about issues concerning the community as a whole, and by advocating before their representatives in the State Legislature.

This year a total of 650 people participated, including six bishops, 14 seminarians from St. John Seminary, deacons, priests and parishioners of all ages. The Los Angeles contingent was led by Auxiliary Bishop Oscar Solis, director of the Office of Justice and Peace, and San Gabriel Region Auxiliary Bishop Gabino Zavala.

"This was a positive experience. It was a chance for legislators to know who they are working for," said Bishop Zavala. "It is a good experience for people involved to take more seriously their faith as Catholics and as citizens of this state," he continued.

Before meeting with legislators, the group attended a Mass, celebrated at the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, and participated in a march and a rally at the Capitol. They were also trained by an expert on how to approach the politicians.

"It was inspiring because legislators could see that people my age, teenagers, can talk about these issues and can also make a difference," said Smith, who is planning to pursue a law degree from Loyola Marymount University.

The bills addressed this year were:

---SB 399: would allow the review of cases and resentencing of youth who have been incarcerated for more than 10 years and were sentenced to life without parole before the age of 18, so that they could work towards rehabilitation. About 59 percent of juveniles sentenced to life are first-time offenders without a single crime on their record. The United States is the only country that permits life without parole for children as young as 14. Millions of dollars of tax money is used for lifetime imprisonment.

---AB 1048: expands existing law so that the newborn eligible for surrender can be up to 30 days old, rather than the current 72 hours. Severe economic or health problems faced by the mother may surface in the weeks following the baby's birth.

---AB 1057: would simplify the food stamp process by moving the frequency of reports to every six months instead of once a quarter. When recipients fail to keep up with the program's paperwork they are removed from the program, which provides significant spending power for low-income families. About 55 percent of eligible low-income California families, most of them with children, do not participate in the program.

The state budget, projected to be $6 to $8 billion in deficit this fiscal year, was also discussed with legislators.

"We asked them (legislators) not to cut the social programs for our people, especially in this time of crisis of our economy; to have respect and dignity for the life of all people," said Social Service Sister Gail Young, office of Justice and Peace program coordinator.

"We put faith into action with compassion," added Deacon Jaime Abrera, part of a group from St. Francis Xavier Church in Burbank.

Overall, this year's advocacy experience fulfilled the organizers expectations.

"People were motivated to go back home and get more involved," said Linda Wanner, CCC associate director for government relations.

Deacon Abrera concurred, and said he would like to see more deacons involved. "There are two sides of the ministry, social justice and charity, and it seems that people get intimidated by the social justice side," he noted. "Our responsibility as a church is to be aware and spend at least a day letting our voices be heard to help the poor and vulnerable."

Sister Young said she would also like to see more students involved.

The planning for next year's lobby day will start soon, Wanner said. The event has traditionally been held the third week of April, but due to the economy's downturn the CCC might consider changes for next year, such as meeting with legislators locally to avoid travel costs.

To learn more about the Catholic Lobby Day, go to www.cacatholic.org or call the archdiocesan Office of Justice and Peace, (213) 637-7690. The archdiocesan office of Restorative Justice is urging parishioners to support the bill SB399 by writing a letter to state legislators that can be found at www.fairsentencingforyouth.org or by calling representatives in the State Legislature.