Engaging your parish with justice

Why do we seek justice? Taking our cue from Jesus…

The spirit of the Lord has been given to me, and has anointed me.God has sent me to bring good news to the poor,To bring liberty to the captive and new sight to the blind,To set free those who are oppressed,and to proclaim the Lord’s year of favour Luke 4:18-19

Jesus’ inherited his mission from the prophets like Isaiah before him. Jesus passes on that mission to each of us through baptism.

Our mission is to make the “Year of the Lord’s favour” - God’s presence and reign (kingdom) - happen now, on earth as it is in heaven, as Jesus did.

We remember our mission each time we say the Our Father.

Our Church continues to remind us of how integral working for justice is to living out our faith

Action on behalf of justice, and participation in the transformation of the world, fully appear to us as a constitutive dimension of the preaching of the Gospel, or in other words, of the Church’s mission for the redemption of the human race and its liberation from every oppressive situation. World Synod of Catholic Bishops, Justice in the World, 1971

Transforming the world, redeeming the human race, liberating from oppressive situations…. How are we to do this?

We do it with and through love:

Love — caritas — is an extraordinary force which leads people to opt for courageous and generous engagement in the field of justice and peace. Pope Benedict XVI, Caritas in Veritate, 2009

Where there is a deep, simple, all-embracing love of people, of the created world of living and inanimate things, then there will be respect for life, for freedom, for truth, for justice and there will be humble love of God. Thomas Merton, Seeds of Destruction [note similarity to Micah!]

Christian life is meant to be at the same time profoundly contemplative and rich in active work… It is true that we are called to create a better world. But we are first of all called to a more immediate and exalted task: that of creating our own lives. In doing this, we act as co-workers with God.... And it is through our struggle with material reality, with nature, that we help one another create at the same time our own destiny and a new world for our descendants.

- Thomas Merton; Love and Living

So to work for justice, we need to be prayerful, creative, full of love, truth and respect, and be involved in a struggle for liberation and transformation.

Remembering Jesus’ mission:The spirit of the Lord has been given to me, and has anointed me.God has sent me to bring good news to the poor,To bring liberty to the captive and new sight to the blind,To set free those who are oppressed,and to proclaim the Lord’s year of favour

Name some of the possible struggles for justice we might be involved in within our communities, country or world today?

Remember ‘See, Judge, Act?’

See – acknowledge and identify the issue, research it

Reflect – in the light of Scripture and Catholic social teaching; ask who is being harmed here, who doesn’t have a voice, whose interests are being served, who loses out?

Pray – with words and in stillness for truth, wisdom and courage

Judge – decide what action to take, and who might best take it (social justice group, parish, Justice and Peace Commission)

Act – in faith, trust and loveEvaluate – with more prayer and reflection!

How to act: we join Jesus’ mission in many ways• Social Service - Vinnies, caring groups

• Giving financially - to the justice work of Caritas

• Educating ourselves and others about situations of social and environmental injustice

• Experience, immersion in poverty, injustice

• Praying – growing our own spirituality through prayer with words or without (letting God speak)

• Social Justice - helping to change the root causes of poverty and injustice by speaking out – writing letters to newspapers and politicians, signing petitions, making submissions on proposed legislation or by peaceful protest, eg hikoi

• Living simply according to our needs more thanour wants and sharing our resources with others in our own parishes and communities – gardens, food, school uniforms, transportation, etc