Solidarity

Near the end of my last Saturday class, one of the presenters was asked to speak to us for a few minutes about the Spirituality of Social Justice and Solidarity Work. Although she has been a Catholic for 51 years she had just one thing to say about this, and it struck a chord with me that I'd like to share with you instead of posting something about my discussion class.

She said, "I don’t understand this topic. I get called a social justice person quite a bit, so I guess it would make sense to think I know something about spirituality for social justice and solidarity. I am told I have a gift or a calling to do this work, and I guess maybe I do; but when people tell me this I sense they are pretty much telling me that I have something they don’t.

I really don’t understand what they are saying to me. I’ve read parts of Papal Encyclicals and parts of letters written by the USCCB on different justice topics. I’ve read various Bible passages and several books about the preferential option for the poor. I’ve researched some of today’s most pressing justice issues. I’ve worked on many campaigns to stop injustice and I’ve written many letters to public officials.

Still, I don’t understand the topic I am supposed to be talking to you about. You see, I am not a social justice person; I am just a Catholic, a Christian. I am a person who, by the Grace of God, has had fleeting glimpses of something that I cannot verbalize but that I know is true. I have experienced it, and it has changed everything. These glimpses have awakened me and given me eyes to see.

What if right now we all closed our eyes and became awakened, so that when we opened our eyes we would see all that we really are and are called to be? I think at the very depths of our being, we would see God. We’d see God emptying Himself, utterly giving Himself away to us. We’d see that the generosity of the Infinite is itself infinite, and that we are and are called to be no less infinite than the Love of God.

So I really don’t understand the topic I am supposed to be talking about. There is no special spirituality for people who hunger for God’s justice. It is a hunger for God’s infinite love to be made manifest in the world today. It seems to me that it is what we pray for when we pray the Our Father. God’s Love is our very breath. We all breathe in God’s Love for us and we are all meant to breathe out God’s boundless love for the world. Like Mary and Jesus, all we need to do is say “Yes”, and allow his love to flow to us and through us.

The in-justice that so many face today, including domestic and global poverty, forced migration, un-sustainable consumerism, corporate greed, oppression and violence against entire populations because of color, religion, and sexual orientation, and the destruction of our environment, are the screams that we have not experienced. Let us not forget who we really are in God. These screams point to the continuing need for the transformation of our cultures, our economies, our politics, and our-selves.

No matter what your ministry, it must be more than another campaign, another fundraiser, another liturgy, or another catechism class, because God’s work is about transformation. In every ministry, the work has to be about planting the seeds of transformation. We have to create the space where people can be their true selves and be open to the changes that must happen in their hearts, in their lives, and in their governments. We need to be transformed into people who are ready to listen with our hearts, breathing in God's love for us and breathing out God's love for the world."