Weave and Sew Dust

Beloved, Let Us Love One Another JBB

Beloved, let us love one another, because love is of God --1 John 4:7

Beloved. Such a beautiful word. Do you think of yourself as beloved? I could spend the whole day contemplating this word; how it feels interiorly to know I am loved; how I respond to being loved. Pope Benedict XVI considered this relationship of love so important that he wrote his first encyclical about it. Written in 2005, Deus Caritas Est (God is Love) explores in fullness God’s Love and our response. Here are some of his thoughts on our response:

“Following the example given in the parable of the Good Samaritan, Christian charity is first of all the simple response to immediate needs and specific situations: feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, caring for and healing the sick, visiting those in prison, etc. . . We are dealing with human beings, and human beings always need something more than technically proper care. They need humanity. They need heartfelt concern. . . As a result, love of neighbor will no longer be a commandment imposed, so to speak, from without, but a consequence deriving from faith, a faith which becomes active through love (cf. Gal 5:6).” Part II 31a

“[The Church] cannot and must not remain on the sidelines in the fight for justice. She has to play her part through rational argument and she has to reawaken the spiritual energy without which justice, which always demands sacrifice, cannot prevail and prosper. A just society must be the achievement of politics, not of the Church. Yet the promotion of justice through efforts to bring about openness of mind and will to the demands of the common good is something which concerns the Church deeply.” Part II 28a

“Love is the light—and in the end, the only light—that can always illuminate a world grown dim and give us the courage needed to keep living and working. Love is possible, and we are able to practice it because we are created in the image of God. To experience love and in this way to cause the light of God to enter into the world—this is the invitation I would like to extend with the present Encyclical.” Part II 39 http://www.vatican.va

Beloved, let us love because we are so loved.

(first published in the Justice Bulletin Board 6th Sunday of Easter B 5/13/2012)

Let us love in deed and truth JBB

Children, let us love not in word or speech but in deed and truth.—1 John 3:18

From the time I was a small child, my father would say to me that actions speak louder than words. So I find it interesting that this scripture passage comes along at the same time that I have been reading the Triangle Interfaith Alliance’s document, The Ethical Framework.

In writing of today’s reality, the document states, “Self-interest in America has reached the point of entitlement, where it is acceptable to pursue individual rights and personal interest without regard to the effect on others or the community...Clear behavioral expectations and responsibilities are a missing link in our democracy. Without norms for commonly expected ethical and moral behavior, there is little if any expectation or law that behavior must be ethical, responsible, or fair, as long as it is legal. People, even our leaders, defend unethical and immoral behavior by saying ‘I’ve done nothing illegal.’ Nevertheless, behavior without a moral or ethical conscience, whether legal or illegal, is often hurtful to others and to the common good. . . knowing what is right is often not transformed into doing what is right.”

The underlying precepts of The Ethical Framework are not unlike the social teachings of the Catholic Church: “Respect for the basic dignity and worth of every person; consideration for the interest of others and the common good; consideration of all actions in terms of desirable ethical and moral outcomes, rather than on solely legal, or convenient results.” Rather than solve problems, the four principles proposed in the document provide a foundation that empowers individuals to build solutions and guide daily living. These principles are:

1. Be FOR people rather than Against PEOPLE. (Consider others. Consider the common good.) 
2. Treat people with care and concern, strive for harmony. (Build caring, trusting relationships.)  
3. Respect the wonder of life. (Life is precious and sacred.) 
4. Accept responsibilities as members of society. (Obligations to yourself, to others, to society.)

The Ethical Framework is a good tool for individuals, parents, and teachers. To download a copy of this small, easy to understand document, go to www.interfaithalliance-nc.org and click on “About Us”

Let us love in deed and truth.

(first published in the Justice Bulletin Board 5th Sunday of Easter B 5/6/2012) 

We are God's children now JBB

Beloved, we are God’s children now—1 John 3:2

Have you ever stopped to observe how often adults act like children? Who has the latest car? Who shows off granite countertops? Who follows celebrity, be it sports or movies? Who keeps up with the Joneses? An adult can act like a bully, take advantage of others, or act in his/her own selfish interests. Clearly, today’s passage calls us to examine how we should be as a child of God. Perhaps, it is a good time to get back to basics. Most Americans know the ethical and moral “Golden Rule.” What we may not realize is how it is planted in most secular and religious cultures.

African Traditional: “One going to take a pointed stick to pinch a baby bird should first try it on himself to feel how it hurts.” —Yoruba proverb (Nigeria)

Bahá’í: “Desire not for anyone the things that ye would not desire for yourselves.” —Gleanings from the writings of Bahá’u’lláh LXVI

Buddhism: “Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful.” —Udana-Varga, 5:18

Christianity: “In everything, do to others as you would have them do to you.” —Bible, Matthew 7.12

Confucianism: “Tsekung asked, ‘Is there one word that can serve as a principal of conduct for life?’ Confucius replied, ‘It is the word shu-reciprocity: Do not do to others what you do not want them to do to you.’” —Analects 15.23 (ca 500 BC)

Hinduism: “This is the sum of duty. Do not unto others that which would cause you pain if done to you.” —Mahabharrata 5:1517

Islam: “Act with people the way you would like them to act with you.” —Al-Malati, Kitab al-Tanbih, Attributed to Muhammad

Jainism: “One should treat all beings as he himself would be treated.” —Agamas, Sutrakritanga, 1.10, 1-3

Judaism: (Positive) “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”        —Bible, Leviticus 19.18                                  (Negative) “What is hateful to you, do not do to others.” —Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat 31a

Native American: “Respect for all life is the foundation.” —The Great Law of Peace

Sikhism: “Treat others as thou wouldst be treated thyself.” —Adi Granth

Taoism: “Regard your neighbor’s gain as your own gain and your neighbor’s loss as your own loss.” —T’ai Shang Kan Ying P’ien

Zoroastrianism: “That nature alone is good which refrains from doing unto another whatsoever is not good for itself.” —Dadistan-I-Dinik, 94:5

Secular: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

Secular Modern Variation: “Do unto others as they would want done unto them.” (This modern variation recognizes that all people are different. Therefore it requires us to do to people, not what we would want them to do to us, but what they would want us to do to them, within the boundaries of reason and good sense)                                   --www.interfaithalliance-nc.org

Love speaks to us children in a lot of languages.

(first published in the Justice Bulletin Board 4th Sunday of Easter B 4/29/2012) 

 

Surely It Is Not I? JBB

“Surely it is not I?”—Mark 14:19

Confusion and chaos follows Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem. Things are swiftly unraveling and changing as our Lord tries to continue teaching his disciples important truths, among them, how they should live and the meaning of His death. Holy Week marks the steepest learning curve in the lives of Jesus’ disciples. Their faith is to be shaken; they question their own loyalty. Everyone likes to be part of a winning team but a losing team, not so much.

Sometimes in today’s society, the Church looks like it is losing. Perhaps, one of the key areas that make us appear in confusion is the social mission of the church. Most Catholics don’t sufficiently understand that the social mission of the Church is an essential part of the Catholic faith. This lack of understanding weakens our ability to be a Church that is true to the demands of the Gospel.

At the foundation of Catholic social teaching is the belief that human life is sacred and that the dignity of the human person is the foundation of a moral vision for society. All Catholics should believe these truths: that every person is precious, that people are more important than “things,” and that the measure of every institution is whether it threatens or enhances the life and dignity of the human person. This is the first of the seven major themes of Catholic social teaching. http://www.usccb.org/index.html 

When was the last time I reached out to help someone I didn’t know and who had no way to repay me? When have I taken the “high road” and stood for someone who is oppressed or defended an unpopular position because it was the right thing to do? Will I continue to let Jesus, in disguise as today’s suffering servants, suffer alone?

Christ has no body but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
compassion on this world,
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,
Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,
Yours are the eyes, you are his body.
Christ has no body now on earth but yours.                                                                                                                             -- St. Teresa of Avila (1515–1582)

Surely it is not I, who call myself “Christian,” who would betray the Lord in His guise of the poor and down trodden?                                                                                                                                     (first published in the Justice Bulletin Board Palm Sunday 4/1/2012)   

 

Come and You Will See JBB

Come and you will see—John 1: 39

I have often found myself wondering where Jesus was staying when he gave the invitation to the two disciples. My imagination tends to run a bit rampant. Did he live his everyday life in a small house attached to his carpenter’s shop? Did he spend so much time at the synagogue that he lived in a house adjacent to it? Did he depend on his lodgings to be provided by his extended family and friends? Did he live by the sea so he could take meditative walks along the shore? Did he have a sheltering cave in the mountains for his sojourns there?

A favorite quote of mine is, “Wherever your heart is, there will be your home.” And Jesus had the largest heart of all, a heart that was particularly in sync with the plight of the poor. So what exactly did those disciples SEE? They must have seen the love of God in action; that Jesus stayed where his heart called him to be. They might even have recognized a bit of themselves as they were created to be. Face-to-face encounters with the poor tend to open one’s heart wide.

Consider the well-known words of the ghost of Jacob Marley as he visits Ebenezer Scrooge in Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, “Business!. . .Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence, were, all, my business. . .Why did I walk through crowds of fellow-beings with my eyes turned down, and never raise them to that blessed Star which led the Wise Men to a poor abode? Were there no poor homes to which its light would have conducted me?”

Consider Martin Luther King Jr., whose birthday our country celebrates in January, who came and saw how God loves all people unabashedly equally and then put his heart, soul , and life into making a difference.

Or study the saints, every one of which sees the oneness of God’s creation and then go on to live lives that seek to help the poor.

When God calls; when you wonder where God dwells; will you come and really see and have your life fulfilled?

(first published in the Justice Bulletin Board 1/15/2012)

Compassion JBB

. . .for I am compassionate—Exodus 22:26

I cannot say it any better than these words by the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, USCC, November 1999:

“Because God loves you, you never stand alone. There is someone with you in anxious moments who knows your deepest desires and wants what's best for you. Think of the person who has loved you most. Multiply that love a million times over and you still haven't reached the extent of God's personal love for you.

Because God loves you, you can go beyond yourself. You can forgive those who have hurt you, however deeply. Even when you feel intense pain, the possibility of forgiveness lies within you. You can forgive others because God is always ready to forgive your sins. You can overlook wrongs because God empowers you to go beyond your own heartache.

Because God loves you, you can ask forgiveness of those you have hurt. You can admit wrongs and ask forgiveness to make relationships right. His grace can heal you.

Because God loves you, you can care for the weak, remove injustices, alleviate poverty, annihilate oppression, and restore righteousness in our world. The love of God in you gives you strength to defend the unborn, support the elderly, and lift the hearts of those without hope. God's grace in you helps you to see that in every person beats a heart yearning to be loved.

Because God loves you, you have the power to touch hearts with compassion, heal wounds in those around you, and act selflessly.

. . .Now through the Holy Spirit, the power of God's love lies within you.”                 http://www.sjnews.org/because.htm

Created in the image of God, we human beings cannot live our lives wrapped up in our own little world. As God is compassionate so must we be. The unity of love of God and love of neighbor is a hallmark of the new covenant in Jesus Christ. . .transcendent mystery and loving labor hand-in-hand.

Now, you cannot say, “I did not know.”

Seeking Wisdom? JBB

Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened and I will give you rest—Matthew 11:28

It is easy to get a visual image of a day laborer in this passage and not the more erudite meaning of a Jewish scholar struggling to master the laws of the Torah while failing to seek wisdom. All ancient Hebrew thought is expressed through the senses, what can be seen, touched, smelled, tasted, or heard. In this way, because of Hebrew’s concrete language, the Lord reaches both the day laborer and the scholar with these reassuring words.

In our Door Ministry, many day laborers come seeking financial help. Our “day laborers” consist of construction workers, nurse’s aides, bus drivers, moms with kids in tow, restaurant workers, landscape gardeners, young people trying to finish college or trade schools, and the elderly, to name a few. Thanks to the wonderful contributions from the parishioners at Sacred Heart, the Door Fund is able to give them a little bit of financial rest.

But, something else happens here at The Door. Wisdom happens. For it is here that we encounter our sisters and brothers who have the same hopes and dreams like our own. Paul describes it in this way: “There is no such thing as Jew and Greek, slave and freeman, male and female; for you are all one person in Christ Jesus” (Gal 3:28). Or, as Anne Werdel so often says, “We are all beloved sons and daughters of God.” We learn the wisdom of inclusivity.

I am also thoroughly convinced that the Lord gives us the poor, not so much for us to change them but so that we can be changed, transformed in our minds and hearts--to begin to love as God loves. We learn the wisdom of selfless love.

Finally, on the road to everyday holiness, God often sends people to us so that we may continue on our way toward God. However, because most of us are so insulated from the poor, we need to put our feet on the ground in their neighborhood if we wish to grow in holiness. Remember, Jesus spent a good portion of his life among the poor making their lives better. As we hear in Joan Chittister: In My Own Words: “Sanctity consists in making life good for everyone whose life we touch.”  We learn the wisdom of walking with the poor.

Which wolf will win? JBB

Brothers and sisters, rejoice. Mend your ways, encourage one another, agree with one another, live in peace and the God of love and peace will be with you.—2 Corinthians 13:11

I am struck by how much this scripture depends on my willingness as a follower of the Lord to bend my own will to the good of the group—mend my ways, encourage others, be agreeable, live peacefully. It reminds me of a native American Indian story. An elder tells her grandchild that there are two wolves inside her fighting for control. One wolf is the wolf of love; the other wolf is a wolf of hate. The grandchild asks, “Which wolf will win?”The elder replies, “Whichever wolf I feed.” Belonging to a community is not always easy, even among fairly like-minded people. Disagreements arise about how best to handle different issues. Which wolf emerges depends on my willingness to be open or closed to other’s opinions and/or knowledge. Do I act out of my own interests or am I open to the greater good that I might otherwise miss?

In the Vatican II document, The Church and the Modern World (1965), the Church prophetically recognized the importance of, and responsibilities for, the common good: “Every day, human interdependence grows more tightly drawn and spreads by degrees over the whole world. As a result the common good, that is, the sum of those conditions of social life which allow social groups and their individual members relatively thorough and ready access to their own fulfillment, today takes on an increasingly universal complexion and consequently involves rights and duties with respect to the whole human race. Every social group must take account of the needs and legitimate aspirations of other groups, and even of the general welfare of the entire human family” #26.

We must consciously feed the wolf of love—in our family life, in our parish community, in our workplace, in our civic life, and in the greater world. . . . and the God of love and peace will be with you.

A Lump of Clay JBB

The Lord God formed man out of the clay of the ground Genesis 2: 7

I recently attended a retreat at the Avila Center in Durham. Our topic was about using art as a form of prayer. One of our exercises was to take a lump of potter’s clay and see what emerged as we kneaded the clay in our hands. One of the participants remarked how cold, clammy and heavy the clay was and she wondered if God viewed us like that.

Are we cold, clammy and heavy in God’s hands OR are we pliable and warming to God’s promptings to form us in the image of the Son?

I have often thought that in my many years of participating with Habitat for Humanity, my soul and my heart has been stretched and formed, much like the lump of clay on a potter’s wheel. How so much of my life has morphed and changed from my very first encounter with the working poor until today. How it wasn’t until I really got to know a truly poor person that I could see they were just like me in their hopes, dreams, and aspirations.

In their pastoral letter on Catholic social teaching and the U.S. economy titled, Economic Justice for All (#88, 1986), the U.S. Catholic Bishops teach the following: the option for the poor “states that the deprivation and powerlessness of the poor wounds the whole community. The extent of their suffering is a measure of how far we are from being a true community of persons. These wounds will be healed only by greater solidarity with the poor and among the poor themselves.” Solidarity—clay that has been properly prepared so that the air bubbles are removed (in a process called “wedging”) will not fall apart when it is put in the heat of the kiln. How much stronger is a community that stands with its weakest links.

By the way, my lump of clay became a butterfly!

Build your house on rock JBB

Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.   Mt. 7: 24

Are you listening? Just as important, are you acting on Jesus’ words? In today’s Gospel of Matthew, Jesus tells us what the difference is between those who listen to his words and act and those who listen and do not act.

Are you listening?

Created in the image of God. . .everyday 16,000 children die from hunger. . .that’s about 1 child every 5 seconds (Bread for the World)

Created in the image of God. . .more than 60% of chronically hungry people are women (World Food Program)

Created in the image of God. . .101 million children are NOT enrolled in primary school. More than half of these are girls (UNICEF)

How do we make sense of this human tragedy? Perhaps, such injustice will always be beyond our comprehension, but it is not beyond our compassion. Compassion, as Moses says in Deuteronomy 11:18, is to, “take these words of mine into your heart and soul.”

TO ACT: We have a compassionate responsibility to care for our brothers and sisters in all nations. Pick a cause that pulls at your heartstrings and help lift someone out of their dire circumstances. It is said that if you change one life, you change the world. Change yours, get involved.