Each Advent, Gesu "plants" a Christmas tree near the east altars and invites parishioners to trim this Advent Mitten Tree. The first Sunday of Advent marks the start of our annual-sharing project for the home with gifts of warmth: new mittens, caps, scarves and gloves for homeless children and adults of several shelters for Milwaukee’s homeless and victims of domestic violence. Since 2002, we have also planted a Haiti Children’s Tree, which parishioners decorate with bars of soap, toothpaste and brushes, underwear, shoes and socks, and hair clips and ribbons for the children of St. Jude, our twin parish in Haiti.

Works with a variety of broader programs, including: Bread for the World, Catholic Relief Services, the Ignatian Solidarity Network, the Jesuit Refugee Service, and NETWORK, a national Catholic social justice lobby.

Located on the near south side of Milwaukee, this former convent is available for day and overnight retreats for parish and school staff. An accessible and affordable meeting place in the midst of the city’s urban scene, the facility puts retreatants in touch with the vibrant spiritual life of the neighborhood’s Latino community. This self-supporting renewal center and retreat house is the realized dream of Father Dave Shields, SJ and thus has decidedly Ignatian underpinnings. 

Since 1997, Gesu has ministered to Milwaukee area homeless women and children, in order to alleviate the suffering of being homeless. Gesu's Cathedral Center Ministers are volunteers, coordinated by a parishioner, who are scheduled to serve in teams, 6:30-9:00 p.m., for two weeks every other month. Shelter ministers provide hospitality, conversation and compassion.
 

The social ministries are active year-round and open to all parishioners to join in making the social mission of the church the essential and central mission of the parish.  Examples of ministries include: parish twinning with St Jude's parish in Haiti, ongoing social justice eduation programs, and fair trade coffee sales.

Gesu Social Concerns Committee oversees a number of programs to the homeless including a regular Saturday meal program, Sunday breakfast bags. Gesu parishioners also partner with downtown congregations offering shelter and day programs to the homeless individuals and families and Gesu parishioners were instrumental in the establishment of a Milwaukee Housing Trust Fund

Parishioners share non-perishable food items and disposable diapers which are collected each Sunday in baskets in the Upper Church. These donated items are brought to Frieden's Community Ministries food pantry about every three weeks.

This ministry helps "gang impacted" youth through practical job training(web page design skills) and spiritual nourishment.

ICM studies Catholic media at the national and international levels.

This area-focus of Marquette's Office of Campus Ministries addresses issues of faith and justice, including peace, hunger, and civic engagement.

Marquette's Manresa Program is discernment process aimed at cultivating graduate students who are "men and women for others" and who have a sense of their personal vocations.The program seeks to promote change at the level of the individual and the institution: to engage in transformational learning, and to help individuals ponder how to use their personal gifts and talents to help meet the world's needs.  It steeps participants in the model of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius by using its methods of prayer, reflection and discernment to ask key questions: What have I done for Christ? What am I doing for Christ? What will I do for Christ?

The Marquette Action Program (M.A.P.) offers the chance to work and interact with people all over the United States. Different sites offer students an opportunity to live and learn from people of different backgrounds. The trips expose you to aspects of poverty, racism and the lives of the disabled in our society.

M.A.P. trips are worthwhile for many reasons: you contribute to the community in which you work, are exposed to different social, cultural and economic situations in our society, grow in awareness of justice issues, learn how service organizations work to make a difference, meet and interact with new people, and have time to reflect upon how the experience relates to you personally and your faith.

Marquette Common Ground is a  community organizing group affiliated with Common Ground of SE Wisconsin, an IAF affiliate. Common Ground exists to build and support an organization to address Greater
Milwaukee’s critical social issues in an effective, non-partisan way. The organization prioritizes health care, education, jobs and economic development, crime, mental health, youth activities, immigration and housing. It also conducts Leadership Institutes to teach volunteers the basics of organizing.

Midnight Run is a volunteer service program which began in 1988. It focuses on the particular needs of the hungry and homeless people living in the community around Marquette. This program is organized by a coordinating team of Marquette students under the supervision of Campus Ministry. Volunteers serve meals and work in area meal programs and shelters. Service in Midnight Run is meant to challenge students to integrate their experiences with their faith. Midnight Run's philosophy is rooted in the gospel, with Matthew chapter 25 serving as its hallmark. Midnight Run is based on the fundamental belief in the dignity and worth of all persons and strives to cultivate a sense of responsibility for caring for all members of our community.

For over 20 years, the campus ministry program Midnight Run has utilized voluntary direct service (primarily nutrition and meal outreach) as its primary tool to “build relationships, and walk with those who are hungry, homeless, or suffer the consequences of society's unjust structures, honoring the dignity and worth of all.” Through reflection on service Midnight Run seeks to create men and women of service and develop agents of positive social change.

In step with the University’s mission, “care for the person,” Marquette University Law School (MULS) offers the Restorative Justice Initiative. The Initiative has fostered exceptional community connections in Wisconsin and continues to strive for excellence in the field of public service. Under the leadership of former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Janine Geske, Distinguished Professor of Law, the Initiative has brought community focus to the law school by providing the students with substantial leadership training in addition to their considerable technical legal education. The Initiative has become a resource for other restorative justice organizations in the state, formed partnerships with local community groups that work with criminal justice issues, and has been providing victim/offender dialogues for crimes of severe violence through the Wisconsin Department of Corrections (DOC), Office of Victim Services and Programs.

MICAH organizes/advocates around issues such as neighborhood drug trafficking, urban schools, drug punishment and rehabilitation, affordable housing, and urban sprawl. This church-based organization is grounded in the principles of empowerment through the Gospel, education, advocacy and action. The Gesu MICAH Core Team leads parish actions in this interfaith, multi-racial organization to empower people to achieve structural change for justice and peace in the innercity.

On the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Saturdays, the Gesu/Midnight Run Soup and Sandwich Meals are offered in the Fr. Herian Parish Hall to the hungry, the homeless, the elderly and the needy in the parish and the neighborhood.

Spring and Fall Break Service Immersion Trips

The St. Vincent de Paul Gesu Conference established in 1913 provides home visits and direct assistance to parishioners and neighborhood residents with emergency needs due to economic hardship.

Service is a significant part of most students’ Marquette experience through New Student Orientation, in student organizations, as part of residence floor activities, in classes, and as part of leadership development programs and athletic teams' activities. The Office of Student Development at Marquette University coordinates community service programs like Best Buddies, Habitat for Humanity, literacy training, jail visitations and Hunger Clean Up.  The OSD invites Marquette student to strive to “Be the Difference!”

Breakfast Bags for the hungry are provided at the Parish Center entrance each Sunday Morning from 8:30 a.m. until gone.