"The Catholic Stance Towards the World: the Church's Social Justice Tradition"
Our Final Soup Supper

March 31st, 2004

On Wednesday evening, I was lured into the church basement by the rich smells of soup drifting up into the parking lot.  It was final soup supper of the Lenten season and I knew already I was in for a treat. 

Every Wednesday throughout Lent, St. Joan of Arc offers soup suppers to its community.  Volunteers create the soups, bring the bread and serve in the various roles needed to make the soup line run smoothly.  And every Wednesday people come - with family, or friends or just alone.  It is a wonderful opportunity to connect with community members, meet new people and see old friends you never knew went to SJA.  

By the time I arrived in the basement, Hospitality Hall was teeming with activity.  A multitude of volunteers were busy ladling steaming bowls of soup, cutting bread, shuttling dishes and pouring drinks.  The soup line was long, extending through 2/3 of the room.  But people were waiting patiently and everywhere I turned there were plenty of warm smiles, laughter and bowls of good soup being eaten.

It was a festive atmosphere and I was enjoying the buzz around me. Yet as the final soup supper crept on, I began to feel a little nostalgic.  Maybe it was watching "Mark's Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup" being scratched off the white board for the last time.   I began to wonder, "how did it go by so quickly this year?"  I loved my Wednesday evenings, sampling soups I thought too complex to combine--Curry Squash, Bacon Corn Chowder, Spicy Tortilla. And I knew I'd miss visiting with my friends and sneaking tastes from their bowls before they could stop me.

By the end of the soup supper, I was feeling full - from the great food and wonderful company.   And I was thankful there was a prayer service to attend, just one floor above. It was time to express my gratitude for the wonderful community we share at St. Joan of Arc.

PRAYER SERVICE

The evening prayer service "Let Our Whole Life Be A Prayer" was an opportunity to look at prayer in our lives.  Led by Ron Joki, Chris Oppegard and musician Steve Kremer, we were treated to an evening of spiritual readings, songs and meditation that encouraged us to move from exploring traditional forms of prayer to looking at new ways of "being" prayer.

We began by discussing how our lives have many opportunities for prayer. We have communal prayer, like the evening's service, and individual prayer, where we sometimes feel closest to God.  We were then invited to pray "outside the box" by looking at how prayer is in our "being."  Ron read from Richard Rohr, O.F.M., who writes how prayer needs revisioning, that prayer is something we are.  When we live in union, we are prayer.

We also heard readings from Matthew 6: 7-14, Thomas Merton's "Give it Time" and Thich Nhat Hanh's "Living Buddha, Living Christ."  In the latter, Hanh tell us that faith and being mindful involves practice.  We pray with our actions.  And being open to God involves listening and awareness.

We discussed how "being prayer" can occur in our lives.  For example giving and receiving is a form of prayer.  We also examined how moments that seem least like prayer are actually speaking to us in a prayerful way.  When we have a knot in our stomach, for example, God is speaking to us through that experience.

Steve Kremer's solo "Simple Gifts" melded with the ideas of prayer.  We also shared the "Our Father" in song and some time for meditation.  The readings below were included in the service and offer us a way to think about "being" prayer.

Thomas Merton
Thomas Merton, O.C.S.O. - "Give it time"
If we really want prayer, we'll have to give it time. We must slow down to a human tempo and we'll begin to have time to listen. And as soon as we listen to what's going on, things will begin to take shape by themselves.

This is what the Zen people do. They give a great deal of time to doing whatever they need to do. That's what we have to learn when it comes to prayer. We have to give it time . . . The best way to pray is: Stop. Let prayer pray within you, whether you know it or not. (Seeds, edited by Robert Inchausti, Shambala)
Richard Rohr, O.F.M. - "Being prayer"
Prayer is one of those words that needs revisioning. We tend to think of it as something we do, but it is much more something we are. When we live in union we are a prayer, and everything we do becomes conscious, willing, and free...

We still sin, but our sins do not destroy us or allow us to destroy others. So holiness is not a moral issue nearly as much as it is an ontological issue. Not doing but being. To pray is to live consciously inside of God. That's all. Sanctity does not mean being pious or perfect, but doing for God's sake what you used to do for your own sake. That makes all the difference. It is the still point of the turning world and creates a different kind of human being whose center is outside of himself or herself. These are the only people who are really free because they are free from themselves.
When we stop confusing holiness with morality and recognize that it has to do with transformed identity and a new center point, we will have gone a long way toward understanding what is happening in prayer and what the true goal of spirituality actually is. Morality-and transformed and mature responses-will then follow as certainly as night from day. (Radical Grace, July-September 2002)

ADULT EDUCATION

After the wonderful prayer service, many of us stayed for an adult education session led by the dynamic Julie Madden.  The topic "The Catholic Stance Towards the World: the Church's Social Justice Tradition" was an invitation to look at the church's social justice stance and our role in the process.

We learned that according to the Vatican, the social mission of the Catholic Church is to be "a sign and safeguard of the transcendence of the person."   We are created in the image of God and we are called to be co-creators with God.   Social justice is the establishment of right relationships and we must work to transform policies to be more sensitive to human needs.

Julie challenged the audience with questions about poverty, the number Catholics in the world (17.3%) and Catholic social teachings.  Correct answers earned lollipops.  We discussed the difference between charity and justice.  Charity involves individual acts-- they are private and treat symptoms (in the Bible think of the story of the Good Samaritan.)  Justice is public, collective, messy, based on relationships, takes a long time, often results in compromises but can lead to long-lasting change (in the bible think of Moses  - "let my people go.")

We discussed how many of us were unfamiliar with the Catholic Church's social teachings despite its tradition in the church.  We discussed how a regularly recited "Social Creed" might appear risky and lead to the feeling of a loss of control.  We also looked at what social teachings do:  they bring dignity to humans, they work towards the common good and they allow us to realize our full human dignity in the likeness of God.

Julie provided the group with a list of Catholic Social Teachings and encouraged us look at and discuss the items.  The list, provided below, offers us a challenge to follow the teachings and truly be co- creators with God.

Catholic Social Teachings Major Themes See www.osjspm.org/cst/themes.htm

  1. Dignity of the Human Person: Each and every person is made in the image and likeness of God, human life is sacred, and the measure of every institution is whether it threatens or enhances human dignity.
  2. Common Good and Community: The human person is both sacred and social, and our dignity can only be fully realized in relationship and community.  Each of us has a responsibility to contribute to the good of the whole of society.
  3. Option for the Poor:  The moral test of a society is how it treats its most vulnerable members. The poor have the most urgent moral claim on the conscience of the nation and the deprivation and powerlessness of the poor and marginalized wounds the whole community.
  4. Rights and Responsibilities:  Human dignity can be protected and a healthy community can be achieved only if human rights are protected and responsibilities are met. Every person has a fundamental right to life and those things required human decency. Corresponding to these rights are duties and responsibilities -- to one another and to society. 
  5. Role of Government and Subsidiary: The state has a positive moral function as an instrument to promote human dignity and build the common good.  Our participation in political institutions is a right and a responsibility.  The principal of subsidiary holds that the functions of government should be performed at the lowest level adequately possible. 

    and
    Jeanne Morales has been active at St. Joans for the past year. She loves working in her garden, attending the St. Joan of Arc Bible Study and sneaking off for camping trips when she has time. Jeanne can be reached at moralesj@Macalester.edu.
  6. Economic Justice: The economy must serve people, not the other way around.  People have a right to productive work, decent and fair wages, safe working conditions and to organize and join unions.  The right to private property has limits. No one is allowed to amass excessive wealth when others lack the basic necessities of life.
  7. Stewardship of God's Creation: We have a responsibility to care for the earth as good stewards, not as mere consumers and users.  
  8. Solidarity:  We are one human family and we must work globally for justice.  Authentic development must be full human development.


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