• Acts 6: 1-7. The early church grows with many converts including Jewish Priest. The Deaconate is developed to help serve the needs of the poor.
• 1 Peter 2:4-9. Peter continues with this early baptismal liturgy by commissioning the disciples as “a chosen race, a royal priesthood.”
•  John 14:1-12. Jesus describes the intimate relationship that he shares with God the Father and assures those of us who follow him a place in the Kingdom of God.

Thoughts for your consideration:

During this Easter season it is appropriate for us to reflect on the development of the early Church and to consider the various issues that they had to address as they strove to build on the foundation that Jesus left them. The first reading attests to one of these early social issues that they faced. The evangelical mission of the Apostles was neglecting the basic needs of some of their poorer members. In what appears to be a creative and open process the Apostles deliberated with the community of followers and gave them the resources to organize another layer of church structure that would address this most pressing social need. It has always impressed me how the early church took the “option for the poor” with such a priority. The poor widows were being neglected and the Church recognized this as an immediate priority. The Apostles wrestled with their desire to continue promoting their evangelical mission but they would not allow this noble duty to become a legitimate excuse for neglecting the poor. Instead they sought a creative solution and empowered the larger community to design this solution. So impressed is the Jewish community to this model of service and participation that even the elite members of the Jewish priesthood begin to join.

In the second reading Peter continues to offer the baptismal liturgy that we have been reading for the past couple of weeks. In this section however we hear Peter calling the followers of Christ ‘a chosen race, a royal priesthood.’ Consistent with the first reading Peter is again empowering us all to take part in the mission of building the Kingdom of God. Peter invites us all to share in the intimate union with God and one another. An invitation which flowed from the mystical union that Jesus had with the Father and which he shares with the Apostles in the Gospel passage. This union invites us to consider the great dignity that we have through God but it also forces us to see and respect that same dignity in all others.

One can see in the Gospel passage how Jesus really wanted to convey this intimate union that he shared with God. Poor Thomas and Philip tried to understand this relationship from a human experience but Christ had to challenge them to see the radical nature of this union which he wanted them to share in. Jesus invites them to engage in a relationship of solidarity with God and one another where they can truly see their own purpose and interest vested in each other.  

Going back to the first reading we see the earliest development of the Church’s “preferential option for the poor.” By this principle the Church evaluates the state of the Body of Christ based on how the poorest members of their community are faring. The option for the poor serves as a common denominator that forces us to reevaluate our community obligations based on the neglect of those who are most in need. To preach of God’s love requires us to be agents of justice and peace to one another.  Jesus tells the apostles that his intimate relationship with God the Father can be acknowledged through the works that he does. “Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else, believe because of the works themselves.”

Questions for Reflection in your Faith Sharing Group

• Thomas’ question is one that we continue to hear today. “How can we know the way?” Indeed how can people know the way if so many Christians offer any number of options and perspectives for following Christ? How will our works help people believe in the Gospel message of justice and peace?
• The “preferential option for the poor” is a wonderful theological concept that occupies many scholarly works. But how can this principle be applied within the concrete context of the parish or faith community? Who is being “neglected in the daily distribution?”

I was personally saddened when the Economic Stimulus debate and subsequent vote ended up bolstering the ongoing partisanship that has defined Washington all these years. Amidst this reality I continue to work and pray for a collaborative ecumenical social agenda that can move this country and the world forward in the midst of this ongoing economic, social and environmental crisis.

For us in the Catholic Community the Catholic Alliance for the Common Good is a movement that aims to build this model. Below I will again past their wonderful video where they share their consistent position on all  Catholic social issues.

Their collaboration with Christian Churches Together (CCT) in addressing the issues of poverty also demonstrate this move by the Christian community from addressing only liberal or conservative issues to just being Christian.

Poverty is a very central Christian issue. The concern for the poor is found throughout the Hebrew and Christian scriptures. Even when St. Paul and St. James argued about the direction of the early church with regards to the Gentiles they both conceded on importance of “remembering the poor,” (Gal. 2:10)

Poverty was also an issue of preeminent importance to St. Paul of the Cross. He reminded the members of his community to always look to the poor, “For the name of Jesus is written on their foreheads.”

Today the Passionist community continue to serve this mandate and to promote both our services to the poor and to advocate on their behalf. In doing this we not only fulfill the vision of our founder but a basic tenet of the Catholic faith.

A consistent theme of Catholic social teaching is the option or love of preference for the poor. Today, this preference has to be expressed in worldwide dimensions, embracing the immense numbers of the hungry, the needy, the homeless, those without medical care, and those without hope. – Sollicitudo Rei Socialis by Pope John Paul II, 1987

www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_fa1yRh-WM

BBC NEWS | Europe | Pope laments global instability.

Lamenting all the violence that exists in our world but particularly in Africa and the Middle East the Pope has rightfully identified “self-interest” as one of the most harmful causes that has led to many of these current tragedies. The United States, for its part, has also been culpable of exerting a foreign policy based on self-interest, specifically economic self-interest.

In a couple of days the Pope will issue a message on World Day of Peace which is January 1st. I invite you take time to read this message and perhaps you can use it as a reflective document for the Christmas season. In it the Pope highlights five areas of concern:

1. Campaigns that promote the extermination millions of unborn because of the demographic situation.
2. The spread of pandemic diseases especially of AIDS and the lack of accessibility of medicines that can treat these diseases
3. The ongoing growth of child poverty and the lack of services that promote education, healthcare and opportunities for children and families.
4. Promoting disarmament and using those funds to increase development.
5. A global policy to address the current global food crisis.

After the Pope mentions these issues he goes on to say:

One of the most important ways of building peace is through a form of globalization directed towards the interests of the whole human family. In order to govern globalization, however, there needs to be a strong sense of global solidarity between rich and poor countries, as well as within individual countries, including affluent ones. A “common code of ethics” is also needed, consisting of norms based not upon mere consensus, but rooted in the natural law inscribed by the Creator on the conscience of every human being (cf. Rom 2:14-15). Does not every one of us sense deep within his or her conscience a call to make a personal contribution to the common good and to peace in society? Globalization eliminates certain barriers, but is still able to build new ones; it brings peoples together, but spatial and temporal proximity does not of itself create the conditions for true communion and authentic peace. Effective means to redress the marginalization of the world’s poor through globalization will only be found if people everywhere feel personally outraged by the injustices in the world and by the concomitant violations of human rights. The Church, which is the “sign and instrument of communion with God and of the unity of the entire human race” will continue to offer her contribution so that injustices and misunderstandings may be resolved, leading to a world of greater peace and solidarity.

This again leads us to celebrate, as members of a Catholic religious community, our commitment to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. I invite you to examine our reflection on the declaration in one of my earlier posts or if you like, visit our email archives and read our reflection on Passionist Spirituality and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Peace,

John

This summer the North American Passionist JPIC Office took part in the Convention for the Common Good. At this event a number of Catholic communities and organizations joined to develop a political platform that would take a consistent approach with the Catholic social principle of the common good.

Pope John XXIII wrote a definition for the common good in an encyclical that he wrote prior to Vatican II:

It is necessary that public authorities have a correct understanding of the common good. This embraces the sum total of those conditions of social living, whereby men are enabled more fully and more readily to achieve their own perfection. Hence, we regard it as necessary that the various intermediary bodies and the numerous social undertaking wherein an expanded social structure primarily finds expression, be ruled by their own laws, and as the common good itself progresses, pursue this objective in a spirit of sincere concord among themselves.

Mater et Magistra, #65

Below is a wonderful “You Tube” video that depicts the platform and the concept behind the convention.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkeVVrBdI9o

This month a number of Catholic leaders discussed this platform and these policies with members of the Obama administration.

Catholics meet Obama team, discuss policy | National Catholic Reporter.

We are hopeful that the Catholic community can come together as a unified and consistent social voice to advocate on the needs of the poor, marginalized and oppressed. The North American Passionist JPIC Office will work with these organizations to promote this policies.

Passion for Justice

Economic Crisis – Autumn 2008

By John Gonzalez

Our Catholic tradition calls for a “society of work, enterprise and participation” which “is not directed against the market, but demands that the market be appropriately controlled by the forces of society and by the state to assure that the basic needs of the whole society are satisfied” (Centesimus Annus). These words of John Paul II should be adopted as a standard for all those who carry this responsibility for our nation, the world and the common good of all.

-Bishop William Murphy’s statement to Congress

Our global world is in the midst of a transition. An uncertain future lies ahead of us. The American public began to respond to this transition by voting for a new vision that we hope will change the direction of our nation. This recent election is indeed historic and many people including our own Bishops have publicly recognized the positive message we sent in electing our first African-American President who demonstrated great leadership and vision during this arduously long campaign. We at the JPIC office also recognize this historical achievement.

Nevertheless, even with a new administration coming into power, the current financial crisis continues to shake the social foundations of our global world. Some solutions have been offered to contain the crisis that began to undermine our banks and financial institutions. Yet the markets remain volatile, financial institutions continue to suffer, and the auto-industry is now at a critical point.

This reflection will offer an analysis of the economic crisis and the causes that led it to happen. Then it will consider the current solutions and proposals from the vantage point of our Passionist spirituality.