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Tag Archives: social justice
Gospel Reflection for June 25, 2017, 12th Sunday Ordinary Time
23 JunSunday Readings: Jeremiah 20.10-13; Romans 5.12-15; Matthew 10.26-33
“Everyone who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven.” – Matthew 10.32
Jesus’ saying turns on the principle of reciprocity. Jesus will treat us the way we treat others. We recognize this principle every time we pray the Our Father, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” The saying challenges us to be public witnesses of Jesus’ way.
The early Christians lived in the shadow of the Roman Empire, which considered their faith illegal. Today Christians live in a capitalist economy gone global that considers religion irrelevant. The revenue of many multi-national corporations rivals the gross national product of nation states. Yet, corporations have no obligation to uphold Christian values or human rights as nations do, only to profit stockholders.
Catholic social teaching challenges us to live Jesus’ message in our public and corporate lives. People are not commodities. They have dignity and rights, including the right to a living wage and health care. Are our senators and representatives in the 117th Congress thinking about treating people who need Medicaid the way they want to be treated? Do they realize people like my sister, diabetic since she was 22 for whom the cost of insulin has skyrocketed, face being unable to afford the medicines that keep her alive even with insurance?
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Gospel Reflection for January 29, 2017, 4th Sunday Ordinary Time
24 JanScripture Readings: Zephaniah 2.3;3.12-13; 1 Corinthians 1.26-31; Matthew 5.1-12
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” – Matthew 5.3
Who does God bless? The obvious answer is people with a security guard at their gates and a home for every season. Jesus has a different take. He insists God blesses people who are poor, sorrowing, lowly. Those who work that everyone have health care and enough to eat will have their fill. Those who work for peace will find themselves among the children of God, the one family. The beatitudes open our eyes
In Jesus’ time all wealth flowed toward Rome. In our time all wealth has flowed toward the wealthiest 1%. But God blesses 100% of us, not only the rich and powerful. The beatitudes challenge us to find God’s blessings in our own experiences of losing status, of mourning loved ones, of hungering for fairness. The beatitudes call us to solidarity with those who live in poverty or oppression, to be God’s blessing to those in need.
What signs of being blessed do you see people in our culture valuing today?
Mother, Now Saint
9 SepPhoto via Flickr user Mammovies
A mere 19 years after her death, Pope Francis declared Mother Teresa a saint last week. In his homily during the ceremony at the Vatican, Pope Francis commended Mother Teresa for her generosity of mercy and for defending the discarded of society.
Indeed, in her tireless work, Mother Teresa gave people dignity by seeing their full humanity. She called urgent attention to the hideous and unnecessary poverty plaguing our globe. Taking Jesus’ gospel call to advocate for the poor quite literally, she devoted her life to the daily work. Rightly, Pope Francis lifted up Mother Teresa as a model of holiness.
And then, also rightly and with so much style we have come to expect of him, Pope Francis served pizza to 1,500 homeless Italians who were bused in for the event.
The declaration of Mother Teresa’s sainthood is exciting. In elevating our heroes, it is also important to remember their humanity as well. I can distance myself from them, venerating their holiness, while excusing myself from the call. We are all capable of making a life-long commitment to advocate for the vulnerable members of our society. I read the same Gospel that she did, one where Jesus models mercy, compassion and ministry to us. She was a mere mortal who had the same choice I do as to how to live out our daily lives.
I remember as a young child, being taught by nuns, I was curious about the monastic lifestyle. I wondered, “What would I do with my time if I committed to a simple, celibate life? What life would I build? Who would I love?” Now, with a spouse, children and a job, I must ask other questions. Mother Teresa’s sainthood throws back into relief for me the importance of doing Gospel work in my daily life, here and now, in any way I can. Instead of allowing her holiness to distance herself, I can pray for her holiness to call me to a life of mercy and compassion, too.
God With Us on the Move
2 SepPhoto via MN Historical Society
A friend of mine spent ten weeks working at a migrant center in Tijuana this summer. Tijuana is a city generally seen as the last stop for migrants from Central America trying to cross into San Diego. Lately, the center is also housing large numbers of people from all over the world seeking asylum and refugee status in the United States. The arrival of refugees from places like Haiti and even as far as Syria is fairly new for the city.
The journeys of the migrants and the refugees weigh heavy on my heart. There are oh so many people on the move, looking for a place to rest, willing to travel across to world to find a country who will welcome them. The courage it takes to set out, the energy it takes to travel, the resilience it takes to continue on shows the remarkable strength of the human spirit. They are looking for a fresh start, a safe place to build a future. Only then can they properly grieve their past.
Abraham had been promised land as far reaching as the eye could image and descendants that numbered the stars. Yet as an old man, when his beloved wife died, he had no land, and Isaac, his only son, had no wife. Abraham could have given up. He could have sat down, pouted, and waited for God to follow through on God’s promises. Yet the story simply tells us that Abraham mourned for his wife and then rose from his grief. He got busy, buying land to bury Sarah and went looking for a wife for Isaac. Both of these acts furthered God’s plan for him. The promises came true. Abraham shows the same courage, energy and resilience as the world’s migrants and refugees. Part of grieving his past required him to continue building his future.
People who have been through great trauma benefit from having opportunities to rebuild families and careers. Good work is good for the soul. Building a future creates space to heal from the past. When the worst happens, we can become angry with God and give up, or we can hear God whispering to us to move. Then God can fill the space we create.
Is it possible that God is waiting for us to act? Perhaps God is calling to us from the future, beckoning us to create space for God’s will on earth. The migrants and refugees arriving at Tijuana have heard the call. They seek room to build a future full of good work and flourishing families. Healing from their past depends on it.
Mourning Into Action
15 JulPhoto via Flickr user AK Rockefeller
When one man gets shot, when five police get targeted by a sniper, when a baby dies from gun violence, we all hurt. It happens to us all. As people of faith, there are helpful places we can go.
We can turn toward lament, knowing God can withstand our anger and pain:
Hear my prayer, O LORD! And let my cry for help come to You. Do not hide Your face from me in the day of my distress; Incline Your ear to me; In the day when I call answer me quickly. –Psalm 102:1-2
We can crack open our Bibles and read, yet again, about the life of Jesus. We can see with eyes anew how he dissolved boundaries and worked for peace and saw the dignity in all people, challenging us to do the same.
As a person of faith, I also know I need to continue to explore my own white privilege. I am called to see it, name it, and work toward being actively anti-racist in my day. For encouragement, and guidance, we can turn toward the US Catholic Bishop’s Letter on Racism from 1979 (!). It still rings true in 2016. The whole letter is helpful, but allow me to include a few quotes here:
Racism is an evil which endures in our society and in our Church. Despite apparent advances and even significant changes in the last two decades, the reality of racism remains. In large part it is only external appearances which have changed.
Racism and economic oppression are distinct but interrelated forces which dehumanize our society. Movement toward authentic justice demands a simultaneous attack on both evils.
Indeed, racism is more than a disregard for the words of Jesus; it is a denial of the truth of the dignity of each human being revealed by the mystery of the Incarnation.
God’s word in Genesis announces that all men and women are created in God’s image; not just some races and racial types, but all bear the imprint of the Creator and are enlivened by the breath of His one Spirit.
We can read The New Jim Crow, Between the World and Me, Walking With the Wind, or I Have a Dream, just to name a few, and watch Color of Fear, Eyes on the Prize, or 4 Little Girls. We can identify where in our lives we have power and skills and use them for good. Do you have the power of free time to show up at a peaceful protest? Are you a voter in a place that could benefit from some policy change? As a mom, as a teacher of youth, as a writer I can tap into my power. I can commit to spending more time being uncomfortable, listening, learning, and acting in response to the recent violence.
There is a time to mourn and a time to dance. In this time of mourning, may our faith call us also to act.
