Parish Social Ministry

Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time     September 24, 2017
Catholic Social Teaching:  Call to Family, Community, and Participation
We believe people have a right and a duty to participate in society, seeking together the common good and well-being of all, especially the poor and vulnerable
 
When we hear the words,”seek the Lord,” the first image that might come to mind is to go out and actually search….to look for the Lord as we would for a missing child.  As we finish the passage we realize that Isiah is not telling us to “look around” but rather “look within.”
 
The Prophet is calling us to conversion-a life altering change that will help us to be more aware of the presence of the Lord in our life.  One of the keys to this conversion is the idea that it is possible.  The Lord will allow us to come close to him.  He will empower us to change those things in our lives that would separate us from him.
 
God’s ways, however, are far from our ways, as we hear in today’s First Reading.  And today’s readings should caution us against the temptation to resent God’s lavish mercy.
 
In today’s Psalm we should rejoice that God has compassion on all whom He has created.  This should console us, too, especially if we have loved ones who remain far from the vineyard.
 
In the midst of our complex contemporary world, the gospel invited us to be free enough to see things in a new way and from other viewpoints.  We are called to learn from diversity and others.  This is especially important if we are to put the social teaching of the gospel into practice and not just get trapped by the viewpoint of our culture or a limited ideology.  This is especially important if we are to see all people with love and understanding.
 
Our task is to continue laboring in His vineyard.  As Paul says in today’s Epistle, let us conduct ourselves worthily, struggling to bring all men and women to the praise of His name.
---Education for Justice    Lectionary Reflections   Fr. John Bucki, S.J.

Reflections and thoughts for your consideration based on the social teachings of the church for the Twenty-Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time – Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time
 
Twenty – Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time                        October 1, 2017
Catholic Social Teaching:  The Dignity of Work and the Rights of Workers
The economy must serve people, not the other way around.  Work is more than a way to make a living; it is a form of continuing participation in God’s creation.
 
Like the second son in the gospel story, it is sometimes easy to pay lip service to the values of Catholic Social Teaching.  The more challenging thing is to put those values into practice in our complex world with all its problems and history.  It can be a challenge to take a stand.
 
Catholic Social Teaching assumes that religion has something to do with life and the way we behave.  Good religion is not an escape from the world and its problems.  This is the message of the gospel today and the message of the first reading.  Religion that is put into practice is religion that leads to life rather than death.  Our behavior makes a difference.  Catholic Christians are concerned with more than doctrine or ritual or piety.  They are concerned with ethical values, the common good, social structures, social sin, injustice, war and peace, institutions that promote peace and justice, and all these sorts of things.
 
Catholic Social Teaching invites us to act in the same spirit that animated Jesus.  Today Paul writes: “Do nothing out of selfishness or out of vainglory; rather, humbly regard others as more important than yourselves, each looking out not for his own interests, but also for those of others.”  In short Jesus acted in solidarity with others.  We are invited to do the same.  We are invited to do so, even when it involves risk, as it did for Jesus.  Jesus was free enough to let go of life.  The spirit of Jesus is one of liberation.
 
Change is possible.  The second son changed his no to a yes.  In a world of social sin, economic injustice, corrupted values, and all kinds of war and violence, it is possible for us to move in another direction.  It is possible to work for change and the common good.
 
Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time     October 8, 2017
Catholic Social Teaching: Care for God’s Creation
We are called to protect people and the planet, living our faith in relationship with all of God’s creation.
 
The story of “the vineyard and the tenants” reminds us that “all is gift.”  As human beings we have been generously gifted.  As the human race, we have been given a “great vineyard.”  We are called to respect creation as wonderful gift.  We are called to care for it well and to share its fruits generously.  We are called to respect life which is God’s gift.  We are called to welcome one another, especially the poor, the immigrant, the “stranger.”
 
In other words, we have a responsibility to treat people and all of creation as gifts – things to be treated well and things to be shared.  Jesus tells us a story to get his bearers to realize how they have not responsibly used the gifts they have been given.  They have not given “back to the creator” for what they have received materially and spiritually.  “The giver (the owner-God) is disappointed.”
 
We might ask:  How do we make use of the gifts of our world – our environment, our natural resources, our talents and skills, our cultural resources, our advanced technology, etc.?  Have we greedily held on to them as our private property and individual security blanket or have we used them with respect and shared them with God and others?  Has our economic system been taken over by greed rather than the common good?
 
We might ask:  What makes for responsible consumption, the appropriate possession of private property, and an ethical sharing of wealth and resources?  How must we share our gifts with one another?  What is the fruitfulness that God is looking for?  How is the abuse of our gifts destroying our environment?
 
We might ask: What does the current “financial crisis” and widespread income inequality teach us about how we use our gifts and talents?  Have some of our brightest and educated minds been distracted by greed?  Have we created an unstable system for the benefit of a few and forgotten the benefit of all?
 
Paul write”…think about these things.  Keep on doing what you have learned and received and heard and seen in me.  Then the God of peace will be with you.”
 
Twenty-Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time     October 15, 2017
Catholic Social Teaching: Option for the Poor
A basic moral test is how our most vulnerable members are faring.
 
The vision of Isaiah is the vision of a God who wants good things for all people.  In a world of poverty and injustice, Isaiah paints a vision of a God who provides for everyone generously.  In a world of ethnic & racial division, Isaiah paints a vision of a God who destroys the veil/web that covers over and divides all people.  In a world in which people are focused on money and the problems of the economy, Isiah talks about discovering a God who saves us – a God with a liberating set of values.  In a world which continues to see so many tears and so much injustice, Isaiah paints the vision of a God who wants to wipe away those tears and bring us together in a new way.
 
This vision is repeated in Jesus’ story of the wedding feast.  What God wants is a great wedding feast – a feast that is open to all.  God is unhappy when folks don’t accept the invitation.  “The servants went out into the streets and gathered all they found, bad and good alike, and the hall was filled with guests.”  The vision is expressed in what we call today the “option for the poor.”  The vision is made concrete whenever we work to include those on the outside – those without power – minorities, women, immigrants, refugees, the elderly, the sick, those who don’t fit our expectations and priorities.
 
In our fast paced and busy world, the story of Jesus reminds us of what can prevent us from sharing in the vision of Jesus.  We get too busy with other things.  We miss the invitation.  Instead of taking advantage of the feast, we end up going our own way to buy a farm or manage a business.  We become preoccupied with money or possessions.  We can get separated from the vision of Jesus; we can miss out on the great wedding feast.  We can be distracted by the various ideologies of our culture.
 
The excerpt from Philippians reminds us that the vision of Jesus is a vision of freedom – freedom to have a lot or a little, a freedom to come to the banquet and to share the banquet – freedom to share “in the glorious riches of Jesus Christ.”  It is the very opposite of the spirit that leaves a large percentage of the children in the US in poverty.  It is the opposite of the spirit of war and terrorism.  It is the very opposite of the spirit that puts us in a world of radical economic inequality and injustice.  It is the very opposite of so many of the ‘ungodly’ spirits around us.
 
Twenty-Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time    October 22, 2017
Catholic Social Teaching:  Solidarity
We are one human family whatever our national, racial, ethnic, economic, and ideological differences.
 
The scriptures today remind us that God and the spirit of God ultimately transcend all other times.  From the perspective of faith, Isaiah is not afraid of saying that even the great Persian king Cyrus is really an instrument of God.  God will use Cyrus as his instrument in order to “break the yoke” of the Babylonians and enable his chosen people to return to their homes.
 
The Gospel of St. Matthew puts the Pharisees and Herodians up against Paul and Cyrus.  The Pharisees and to a lesser extent the Herodians were looked upon as the leaders of the people, both political and religious.  The two groups (parties), although on the opposite ends of the political spectrum, both saw Jesus and his teaching as a threat to their authority.  The Pharisees and Herodians try to engage Jesus in some sort of political game – much like the political games that are played out today in political discourse and in the media.  Jesus refuses to play.  He keeps his perspective much broader.
 
The words of Jesus in the passage from St. Matthew are the key to the message today.  “Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar/and to God what belongs to God.”  “What belongs to God? we may ask.

As we deal with the complex financial problems of the wealthy nations of the world, we must continue a commitment to seek policies that support the common good of all.  As we deal with the problems of our financial markets, we don’t want to forget the people of the less developed world who have been living in poverty and oppressed by debt.
 
As we continue to observe human rights violations in various places in the world, we must speak up in opposition.  We must speak up for those who are left out and have no power.  We hear again the call of Jesus not to forget the things of God a God who calls for liberation and justice for all.
 
 
Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time    October 29, 2017

Catholic Social Teaching:  Option for the Poor
A basic moral test is how our most vulnerable members are faring. 
 
In the gospel today, Jesus affirms that both love of God and love of neighbor are essential to our life as Christians and as human beings.
 
The first reading presents challenging examples which makes this love very concrete.
 
Exodus gives very clear instructions.
+ Aliens, widows and orphans are not to be oppressed.
+ Interest is not to be demanded from the poor, to who money is lent.
 
Love is not just an emotion.
It moves us to care for those who are most in need.
It calls us to consider the needs of people and not just our personal economic security.
It calls us to be in solidarity with those in need and to see things for the perspective of the other.
It calls us to learn from one another and to be transformed.
It calls us to focus on the common good and not just our personal gain.
Love leads to action.
We are reminded of Catholic Social Teaching’s demand for a preferential love for the poor.
 
We must ask ourselves:  who are the aliens, widows and orphans today?  Are they being oppressed in any way?  How can we as individuals and a society show them a love that is made concrete?  What are the structures in our society and our government that will promote such justice?  How can we learn and grow together “serve the living God?”
---Education for Justice  Lectionary Reflections  Fr. John Bucki, S.J.

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