So, I haven’t posted anything substantial in a couple of weeks, but I do have some excuses that will hopefully satisfy. My family is currently in the midst of looking for our first house, which has carried with it some turbulent emotions; after making countless offers on a house, we finally agreed on a price, only to be forced to back out of the deal after the inspection revealed some major needed renovations. The high of finding a great home was followed by the disappointment of letting it go. So, after vigorously searching for a couple of months, we are still on the hunt. The whole process of researching and visiting houses has become draining rather quickly.
Also, our baby son Isaiah has begun to feel his teeth emerging from their gummy hibernation. This has caused great and constant acoustical issues within our home.
In addition, I have been reading like crazy.
I’m also working on a few projects that are slowly making progress. My parish (St. Mary Magdalen) is quickly embracing the social justice aspect of the Gospel, and there is a snowball of interest that is slowly gaining momentum, growing in zeal each day. I talked with our pastor for a while this week, and he seemed particularly excited about our church pursuing justice more intentionally–he truly wants our church to be more conscious and active outside the four walls of our sanctuary.
To this end, there are a few things I’ve been working really hard on. First, Kathleen–my wife–and I have agreed to facilitate the second-annual JustFaith group at our parish. This thirty-week program, which I went through myself last year, is an extremely intensive formation process that seeks to transform the participant’s hearts into that of the compassionate Jesus’. More than seeking opportunities to serve sporadically at a soup kitchen or food pantry, the books, videos, speakers, and dialogue that the group shares is meant to create a true, deep inner conversion. Many social issues are discussed, but there is a definite focus on poverty and hunger issues. No program or group has influenced my spirituality more than this one; I believe strongly in the program, and would sacrifice much to see that many people get the chance to experience it. We are beginning the process in early-September, so the following nine months will be quite full.
In addition to the JustFaith program, there are two projects that I am also focusing heavily on. First, our church has established a relationship with a Pentecostal church which resides in downtown Orlando (The Faith Center International). With their church being predominantly black and led by a female pastor, a beautiful solidarity has been created between two seemingly opposite churches. Their church moved from Paramore–which I previously wrote about–to Mercy Drive, which is essentially one of the worst areas of Central Florida from a crime and poverty standpoint. Our hope is not to adopt this church, but to partner with them in union as brothers and sisters. I really believe that both churches have much to offer each other. We already had a prayer meeting with a couple of members of their community at our church , and in a few weeks we will be heading to their church to pray and discern where God is taking this crazy thing.
Second, my pastor and I are going to be participating in a program that trains people to be community organizers. I’m not quite sure what this is going to look like, but my pastor is extremely energized about it. I believe this program of community organizing, called ICARE, aims to bring about churches of different denominations to focus on particular community issues and bring about change, specifically through public policy. I’m truly intrigued by this, if only because most of my heroes in the justice realm were essentially community organizers themselves–people like Martin Luther King Jr and Dorothy Day. It only makes sense that I wade into these waters, seeing how standing on their shoulders is the only reason I’m afloat.
The final path I’m treking on is the one I’m probably most excited about. I’m putting together a website for the social justice arm of our parish. I’m doing this out of conviction for a few things. I’m convinced that every human being, poor or rich, young or old, single or married, has an enormous potential of ability and talent to offer the world. I’m also convinced that there are many silent needs in every community, from the suburbs to the inner city, from the churches to the prisons and everywhere in between. I believe one of the greatest deaths in the modern world has been that of the connection between communal needs and abilities.
In the early church, the one described in Acts 2, the whole community was united. The people in the community were so close to each other that they actually knew of every need and every talent. When anybody had a need, it was generously met by someone else in the community. The whole group pooled all of their money, talents and resources. This kind of community is mostly foreign to our modern church.
Nowadays, we can safely go from our homes to church and back without uttering a word to another human being. This kind of sterile community makes it very hard to breed the kind of communal love Jesus ushered in. Simply put, it’s hard to help a person in need if we don’t know the need, or much less the the person.
So, with that severing of communal needs and abilities, I’ve echoed Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin’s belief that people are naturally good, they just need to have avenues presented them to exercise that goodness. Essentially, we need to find a way to unite the needs of our community to the abilities.
I imagined a website that was chock-full of ways to bridge that divide. A website with informative links to the local and national groups already working to bring the Kingdom to Earth. A section with resources–book, video, and website suggestions–to form people’s hearts and minds to see and think as Jesus does. And some kind of ‘social-networking’ aspect to bring together the needs and the abilities of the community.
What I’m creating right now is a ‘message-board’ format where anybody with a need–the mowing of a lawn, an oil change, babysitting, some furniture, groceries–can post it on the board and another person can easily see the need and answer it. Likewise, there will be a section for ‘abilities’ where people can post all of the talents they can think of, offering them in hopes that someone can use their help. In this way, the communal union will slowly develop.
Now the cynic in me thinks that this may fail horribly, or that it will take quite a while for people to begin using these tools. In college my campus ministry tried to do something like this but it didn’t really catch on. But, a voice of hope keeps chiding me to move forward. Even if only two or three people are connected to each other, it would be worth it. Jesus was deeply yearned for his followers to be ‘one’, so I’ll count any unity as gain.
Overall, I’m coming to learn that social justice is not an end in itself. Social justice is valuable only to the extent that love, peace, justice, and the ways of Jesus are communicated. Being formed through a social justice program is only valuable to the extent that your heart is transformed into the heart of Jesus. Uniting with another church to bring about change is meaningful only to the extent that love and compassion are present in the union. Mowing someone’s lawn is hardly important in the grand scheme of things, but showing that you love and value them enough to do it is incredibly significant and worthy.
There have been mixed feelings in the past toward a so-called ‘social gospel’, one in which ‘good works’ were emphasized as much as simple faith. Wherever you fall along the spectrum in the value you give to social justice, there is great evidence that Jesus is uniquely present in acts of love. Mother Teresa saw Jesus more frequently in the faces of the poor than in the pages of books. This makes sense, as Jesus clearly pointed out where to find him in this world.
As relentless seekers of His heart, I hope that social justice–though important–remains just a stepping stone for us to climb deeper into Him. And I personally hope that while I am helping to water the seeds of justice and love in my community I will never lose site of the Gardener or the vast Garden He is tending.