Nothing I did or could have done, changed this opportunity. It was simply to be received and enjoyed. It was my joy to share it with another friend who was equally shocked by the decadence extended to us. It was heartening to have someone to share in the gift, to bear witness to this unmerited goodness. The performance is over, but I have been lingering with the sentiment of being the recipient of ‘the gift,’ or not.

Recently, while reading Ignatius’ tools for discernment, I ran up against this theme again: All as gift. This is not to say that everything feels like ‘winning’ front-row seats or otherwise but acknowledging that everything that comes to us does so, having first come through the Word-Made-Flesh. Both a consoling and challenging reminder. This feels laughable to me following two hurricanes, and heavy news, on the cusp of an election of historical significance.

How and where can the Light of the World be seen amid these circling heartbreaks?

It is easy for me to accept my tickets, my medical clearance, or a job opportunity and praise the Giver from whom they came. The experience of receiving generous care, hospitality, goodwill, and justice confirms what we hope and believe to be true about the Creator. We expect these of the One who is all good. How different, how insensitive really, it can feel to entertain the same sentiment about someone who was passed over, who needs to come back for more tests, who just wants a little more time? Could it possibly be that their trials are gifted to them, guiding them to better know and trust the very God who allows these tragedies? Offered, but not optional.

And yet, how can we believe anything different?

I have long clung to the image that when allowed to ask God about the hows and whys of this upside-down experience of living, we will sit together with the tapestry that is my life. And because time will be limitless and unceasing, we can linger together there as God recounts the familiar and forgotten moments of my life with me. First, with the front of the tapestry, the one I recognize as the days I have lived. Next, the Lord will turn over the recognizable pattern I have held as the story of my life, and expose its backside—its underpinnings.

I imagine God will not begin by directing my attention to the even stitches, the cadence that was the day-to-day or status quo. Rather, the hand of God will hold my hand over the seasons that hurt, and trace the knots, the pulls, tears, repairs, and reinforcements that have been added but by grace—moments I never knew that affected me greatly, prayers prayed by me—or on my behalf. Providence’s guiding hand that I hadn’t noticed, gut-wrenching dark times that formed in me something more resilient. And I will run my fingers over these rough edges and lumpy, fraying mounds, and feel for the first time, what God has known all along: That the true tapestry, the masterpiece that’s been woven is reflected in these saving stitches of grace, by the guiding hand that knowingly and lovingly has held it together since the beginning of time.

Although it is not as smooth and appealing to the senses as the ordered, patterned design I may have desired for myself or another, I hope that rather than wishing away the unconventional beauty of the scars and reinforcements, I will come to a place of praise and thanksgiving for the grace that has been unknowingly sustaining me, underpinning my days all along.

On the feast of All Saints, we are poised to give thanks for the lives of holy ones who have gone before us—the patterns that make sense for having seen them in context. Just as important, and perhaps more consoling, is the time and space offered for All Souls, the lesser-known, those whose lives and witness may have been obscure, shorter than expected, ordinary, whose underpinnings have yet to be exposed to the Light and celebrated for the grace emulating therein.

Today I offer thanks for the hard and the holy, the smooth and gnarled, knotted-up grace that is core to how we are loved and sustained by God, even when it hurts.

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As the finality of 2020 begins to come into focus, I have been fixating on thresholds; the boundaries that help us to define one thing from another. On some level, I think we are all fixating on the need to step over this particular pandemic threshold and into whatever comes after it. As it happens when a mind begins to pay attention, I have been finding thresholds in all sorts of unexpected places. I learned this week that thresholds were originally affixed to doorways to keep thresh (hay) inside of homes which prevented folks from slipping on the cold, wet ground in their houses circa 1500. 

What began as a practical solution has become a part of our everyday vernacular in naming the beginning of one thing, distinguished from the phase that comes in front and behind it, before or after.

Consider the significance of these distinct thresholds, the physical and imaginary lines drawn between two experiences:

-The doorway that separates one’s home from the outside world. This threshold divides cold from warmth and anonymity from familiarity. The practice of carrying brides over the threshold of their homes has served as a marker signaling the change from single to married life. Many bless the lintels of their homes each Epiphany to offer blessings upon all who pass beneath. On my college campus, the doors were tremendously tall, conveying St. Benedict’s belief that every door we open marks an important decision.

-The threshold of seasons: The intensity of fall doing its best to usher in the cold and wind on the heels of summer, only to relent and give way to ice, snow, and shortened days.

-My daughters and I recently re-visited the movie Little Women and Jo March described “Stepping over the threshold of childhood into all that lied beyond” as she moved to New York City. 

-The transition of a laboring woman that signals the waves of physical and mental preparation are making a sharp turn toward the action of delivery.

In my former doula days, watching for a woman’s transition was an important shift to observe in her labor experience. It is the moment when a woman’s physical body moves from a place of preparation for delivery to the mission of delivering the child from within her. It is powerful both to watch and to experience. To bear witness to this process is to step onto holy ground and observe an intensely focused force, to step over the threshold of preparation boldly into active participation in bringing a child earth-side.

This year I found an artistic depiction of a laboring woman as a metaphor for Advent. Maybe you have seen it circulating, too? It is an image that I have not considered before, and yet it is completely appropriate. It has garnered a wildly enthusiastic response. Be on the lookout.

–Liturgical seasons too provide threshold that move us (in this case) from the high highs of the Feast of Christ the King, to the quiet preparations of the unexpected and humble work that happened as the infant Jesus grew in Mary’s womb. From here we step out of preparation and into the wild celebration of God made flesh.

In this way, the season of Advent is its own threshold: Invisibly marking distinct space and time between the ordinary and the feast of Christmas. A time set apart for joy and anticipation.

The stuckness of in-between

Over dinner this week my oldest proclaimed that she loves Advent… “except for the waiting part.” We laughed at the unintentional paradox that she so honestly named. All of this is fitting: The slight discomfort of being on the way, in the liminal space of journeying and becoming. In 2020, we need what Advent has to offer in new ways. We need its peace, and we sure could use its joy.

I suspect that this is exactly where our struggles to engage Advent this year are stemming from. In this year where everything blurs together: Home/work, work/school, weekdays/weekends, we are at a loss to identify landmarks in this in-between place. Never have we been more hard-pressed to define what we are or are not about at any given time because it feels simultaneously like everything and nothing and there is no clear end in sight. We may not enjoy the view from here, but I wonder if pandemic Advent isn’t an apt experience of the journey? Feeling the eagerness of hope while quieting the voice in the back of our minds that wonders if maybe we missed something significant?

The wise men must have recognized this experience of traversing on a hunch. The Apostles clinging to hope after the crucifixion must have known this uncomfortable place. Jonah, or any individual invited to announce Jesus with their lives, recognizes this experience of being led onward in unfamiliar territory, with hope and a trembling voice.

Crossing thresholds is prophetic and costs something

Aside from the threshold of our homes (and tempers?) which we criss-cross daily, thresholds of every other nature are stepped over only once. We do not go back to our childhood in the same way we once experienced it, just like the way we engage this particular Advent will be different than every other Advent we ever have or ever will experience. 

Of course, we can cross thresholds without paying attention: Fall to winter, preparation to transition; the ebb and flow of daily life will bring us across threshold whether or not we are attentive. This kind of mindful threshold crossing might feel as though it requires the same laser focus as being broken open in labor—which can feel daunting. And, it is the heart of the matter, isn’t it? Allowing ourselves to be softened enough to respond to the nudges and pangs of the Spirit is what prepares us for transformation to occur and for the Christ child to be born in our lives, too.

To threshold crossings, bringing to birth, and staying awake-

Happy Adventing.

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Happy New Year!

I hope this finds you adjusting to writing 20 instead of 19—or 2020 as my oldest warned me, so that time travelers do not come in and try to re-write history by post-dating my entries.

Food for thought, anyway.

It seems books are the way that I often choose to get my footing in a new year. I load up my library cart and hope that they popular books get delivered to me at a pace with which I can keep up (this is never how it works). I love making lists of the books I didn’t get to last year, suggestions I’ve received, or things I hope to learn about in the coming year—so if you have some recommendations, please share!

My top five books from 2019 include:

Island of Sea Women, The Nightingale, Educated, Everything Happens for a Reason & Other Lies I’ve Loved, Where the Crawdads Sing

In this library cart stuffing-frenzy, I also added Miss. Rumphius for our kiddos and was delighted by her message which I haven’t heard in ages:

Essentially when Alice Rumphius tells her artist grandfather her plans for her life she describes going to faraway places, and growing old beside the sea. He tells her that there is a third thing she must do: ‘Make the world more beautiful.’ She agrees, but has no idea what that might mean and the story ensues.

Like any good book reading mama, I asked the girls what they thought they might like to do to make the world more beautiful. Just like Alice, they sort of shrugged and said they couldn’t think of anything. As I closed the book, my oldest asked what I am doing to make the world more beautiful…

Funny how often we assume children’s books are for children.

I haven’t given her my answer yet, but I am savoring the question. The timing is ripe with possibility. Whether or not I’ve started with the task, it is liberating because we can start anytime, or every year–every day, even.

The short list for today includes:

           -Raising kiddos

           -Raising bees/flowers (as a side, here is a really thought-provoking article about modern           beekeeping)

          – On good days, sharing words in hopes that they land where they’re most needed

How about you? What beautiful thing(s) would you choose to leave as your legacy?

*For Miss. Rumphius, it’s lupines.

Prayer pledge

The image that has had my attention lately, is the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Admittedly it isn’t one I have spent a great deal of time with before, which is perhaps why I’ve been captivated. This is the theme for the 2020 prayer pledge for the month of January, put on through Blessed Is She. I am excited to share with you that I was able to contribute the reflections for the final week of January. It has been a real gift to read other writer’s insights on the same theme, which helps to broaden my own awareness of Christ’s penetrating love. (It’s not too late to sign up if you’d like to follow along! Subscribe here for daily prayer pledge reflections).

Whether you are seeking beauty in book lists, seed catalogs, cherished photographs, prayer, music,  dear friends; I pray that the New Year will provide a foundation for those things, and an invitation for new ideas!

Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul.

-John Muir

***

Lastly, if you’re already looking ahead to Lent next month and would like to participate in the Lenten journal through Blessed Is She, my friend Laura Kelly Fanucci is the reflection writer, and if you have read her work, you know it is soul-stirring. Orders fill up fast, so don’t wait. If you order, please consider using my affiliate link—thanks!

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If you like to use music in prayer, I might suggest Song of the Body of Christ as a beautiful reflection about solidarity.

Questions for reflection:

-What circumstances came up for you in the past weeks where you had the opportunity to live out this call to solidarity, or were presented with the choice to do so?

-In what ways has your participation in the Body of Christ inspired you to act in ways that call you to greater solidarity?

-Are there Saints/holy men and women (in addition to Jesus) who have inspired your desire to ‘live simply so others may simply live?’ Who are they?

Opening Prayer: 

God of all, we praise you and bless you for the ways that you provide for our needs, particularly when that means allowing us to serve or be served by others. Would that we seize those opportunities to model humility and selflessness, the way that you modeled servanthood to those who would follow You. We ask this is Jesus’ name. Amen.

//

Solidarity continued

We have to move from our devotion to independence, through an understanding of interdependence, to a commitment to human solidarity. That challenge must find its realization in the kind of community we build among us. Love implies concern for all – especially the poor – and a continued search for those social and economic structures that permit everyone to share in a community that is a part of a redeemed creation (Rom 8:21-23). (United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Economic Justice for All, no. 365).

Solidarity, often referred to as ‘Global Solidarity,’ adds an important and much larger context to our invitation to see the other as ‘neighbor.’ This theme of Solidarity can be slippery in terms of application. I find that it can be helpful to think up some practical, tactile ways that we can live out the practice of solidarity to make it feel more attainable. Here are some places o begin:

Do less— this concept is open to interpretation but could mean any number of things:

Less driving, spending, single-use splurges, throwing away rather than repairing, binge-watching, social media consumption, etc. With the time or money you would have otherwise committed to these things, make a more intentional investment of your efforts by learning about current events, where your clothing was produced, or how girls are treated in developing nations.

Put your money where your mouth is— If you value investing in people and their well-being, one of two things is true: You will spend more on products that are well-made by individuals who are compensated for their work, or you will have less. Usually both.

“Nothing great is ever achieved without much enduring.” 

-St. Catherine of Siena

Invest intentionally— this is certainly true of the things we purchase, and it is equally true of the ways we invest our resources. Commit to learning about the practices of your bank/stocks/etc. I recognize this is a privileged point of reference, but learning about industries like payday loans and pawnshops can be pretty eye-opening as well. While these institutions may be bearing good fruit for you, are you gaining at someone else’s expense? Not always light reading, but important, nonetheless. Ask your bank, financial advisor, or accountant for more resources on the subject–if they don’t have them, it’s probably a good time for them to become educated on the subject as well.

“In the present condition of global society, where injustices abound and growing numbers of people are deprived of basic human rights and considered expendable, the principle of the common good immediately becomes, logically and inevitably, a summons to solidarity and a preferential option for the poorest of our brothers and sisters. This option entails recognizing the implications of the universal destination of the world’s goods, but, as I mentioned in the Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, it demands before all else an appreciation of the immense dignity of the poor in the light of our deepest convictions as believers. We need only look around us to see that, today, this option is, in fact, an ethical imperative essential for effectively attaining the common good.” (Pope Francis, On Care for Our Common Home (Laudato Si)

Set limits/goals— Opportunities for personal commitments are limitless. It could be as simple as not throwing away food, cooking with less meat, turning off lights, and faster showers. Combining trips to stores, or designating days that errands aren’t run. 

Support businesses large & small and encourage them to continue/implement dignified practices— This one is a little bit like the free space on a bingo board. If you already support small businesses, great! If you love a super-saver megastore, continue to shop there. Your purchases feed the families of those workers as well. The catch is, as you learn about practices, brands, corporations that are unjust or undignified in the way that they compensate/treat employees, it is important that you voice your observation (and discontent) with their overseers. 

• For example, if your local coffee shop is fabulous–tell them so! And, mention that you’d appreciate seeing Fair Trade items served in their stores.

·          

• If one particular shoe company offers you the most comfort, write a letter saying so. Take the opportunity to mention that as a consumer of their product, you’d like to see more just labor practices enforced on behalf of those making the shoes and would be willing to pay more for the product.

·          

• If neither of these feel within your financial or realistic time bandwidth, employ second-hand stores that prevent goods from going to the dump, and do not support large-scale for-profit organizations that define success by bottom their line rather than the life and dignity of their employees.

Things have a price and can be for sale, but people have a dignity that is priceless and worth far more than things. 

~ Pope Francis

 The solidarity which binds all men together as members of a common family makes it impossible for wealthy nations to look with indifference upon the hunger, misery, and poverty of other nations whose citizens are unable to enjoy even elementary human rights. The nations of the world are becoming more and more dependent on one another and it will not be possible to preserve a lasting peace so long as glaring economic and social imbalances persist. (St. John XXIII, On Christianity and Social Progress [Mater et Magistra], no. 157).

Questions for reflection:

-What are two areas of my life that I can set realistic goals to make choices with solidarity in mind? 

– Is solidarity a concept I can readily get on board with? Does ‘global solidarity’ inspire greater or lesser confidence in my ability to effect change?

-Who stands to gain anything by my efforts of solidarity? Is this tenant of CST compelling for you? Why or why not?

Closing Prayer

Gracious God, through the Trinity we see you model for us a mutuality of service and love. We begin to see the immense value that you place on community and the call to play a role in the human community–both local and global. As we learn to implement this call to living with others in mind, we ask that you would give us a glimpse of just how effective kenosis is in bringing about your Kingdom in our midst. We ask this through Christ, our Lord. Amen.

The post Solidarity, part II appeared first on Unexpected Honey.

Opening Reflection

If you like to use music in prayer, listen to Sarah Hart’s In the House that Love is Building, which gives voice to the active role that God has in our lives, and the call each of us has to be proactive in cultivating the Reign of God on earth.

Opening Prayer

Loving God, there is not one invitation You extend to your people that You haven’t first modeled We thank you for the invitation to be co-workers with you, for the singular honor that it is amidst all of creation. Be with us as we view the work we have to do as a holy calling, and inspire us to see the many who labor as inherently valuable for who they are, not only what they do.

We ask this through Christ our Lord.

Amen

Video overview (if you’re joining us this week)

We were created with a vocation to work. The goal should not be that technological progress increasingly replace human work, for this would be detrimental to humanity. Work is a necessity, part of the meaning of life on this earth, a path to growth, human development, and personal fulfillment. Helping the poor financially must always be a provisional solution in the face of pressing needs. The broader objective should always be to allow them a dignified life through work.

Laudato Si’ (“Praise Be”) Pope Francis, 2015 #128.

Catholic Social Teaching, Origin

A reminder that Pope Leo penned the first of the social teaching encyclicals in 1891, entitled: Rerum Novarum, which means, ‘On the Condition of Labor.’ Although the European industrial revolution had reached its hilt, the United States was having its production boom at the expense of workers, including children. Upton Sinclair’s famous work, The Jungle, was written around the same time (1904) as an expose’ on the inhumanity of Chicago’s meat-packing plants. 

To put it lightly, the role of work and the dignity of the workers themselves are foundational to the concepts that the Church holds dear in its teachings.

The following duties . . . concern rich men and employers: Workers are not to be treated as slaves; justice demands that the dignity of human personality be respected in them, … gainful occupations are not a mark of shame to man, but rather of respect, as they provide him with an honorable means of supporting life.

It is shameful and inhuman, however, to use men as things for gain and to put no more value on them than what they are worth in muscle and energy. (Rerum Novarum, #31)

You must remember to love people and use things, rather than to love things and use people.

-Venerable Fulton Sheen

Some important themes each of the documents enforce:

-Workers have a right to be treated with human dignity, the right to earn a just wage that allows them to feed themselves/their family, in safe conditions.

-Each of us is called to be co-creators with God–regardless of our vocation. For some that might mean art. For farmers, it means collaborating in the bringing forth of the harvest. For parents, it means the welcoming and raising of children. For medical professionals, it means fostering the well-being of another like the Great Physician. Single. Married. With or without children. Ministry or otherwise, we each have an innate call to see the work we do as collaborative with God who first created.

-Those who perform the work (labor/healthcare/technology/agricultural/maintenance/etc) in our society, provide vital services and embody a deeper sense of esteem because of the contributions they make not only to their family but to the larger society.

-Workers have a responsibility to provide the agreed-upon services they were hired to do with honesty and integrity.

-When unjust/unsafe working conditions exist, the Church supports the rights of workers to organize and advocate for more suitable working conditions.

-Always, always the Church will stress the importance of seeing the workers for the good they are, rather than as a means to an end. 

“What use is it telling me that so and so is a good son of mine—a good Christian—but a bad shoemaker? If he doesn’t try to learn his trade well or doesn’t give his full attention to it, he won’t be able to sanctify it or offer it to Our Lord. The sanctification of ordinary work is, as it were, the hinge of true spirituality for people who, like us, have decided to come close to God while being at the same time fully involved in temporal affairs.”  

– Saint Josemaria Escriva, Friends of God

Practice integrity in your work

Luke 3:10-14

 Those who become rich by abusing their workers have sinned against God.          

James 5:1-6          

‘Jobs not jails’

This is why the mission of organizations like Homeboy Industries is so essential: Jobs not jails. Giving men and women the opportunity to exercise their God-given gifts will always be more effective as a means of investment in rehabilitation and reformation than punishment for its own sake. For so many, attaining and holding a job is the first experience of trust and responsibility, the first time someone has taken a chance on them; where they, their family and their employer each benefit from the work they perform.

Homeboy testimonial video

Reflection Questions:

• What similarities and dichotomies do you notice between the dignity of work and the rights of workers?
• How does your call/vocation inform your sense of purpose? Has it/how has it changed over time?
• Have you considered the importance of work as a means of restorative justice? Why/why not?
• Does either the dignity of work or the rights of workers challenge your personal view of work as a gift or the dignity of work? If so, how so? If not, why not?

Closing prayer

Creating God, from the beginning You have demonstrated our innate call to cultivate the world around us. Through the beauty of the created world, to the hands of Jesus the carpenter, the work of our hands has always been an invitation to be nearer to the heart of who You are, who You intended us to be. Our very necessary work in the world is itself Your gift to us, and we thank you for the opportunity to co-create with you. Animate the work of our hands, and make visible the worth of all who contribute the efforts of their labor. In Jesus’ name.

Amen.

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Opening Reflection

If you like to use music in prayer, listen to Michael Joncas’ We Come to Your Feast, which offers a beautiful reminder that our charisms are uniquely gifted to us and that they have been given to share; an invitation to participate in God’s own creative and generous Spirit.

Prayer

Author of Creation, You lovingly spoke the world into existence. By your example we can appreciate the life-giving power of creativity, shared. We are humbled by your invitation into the most holy work of making use of the gifts You have given each of us specifically, to share in a way that might be life-giving and nourishing to those around us. Would that we be inspired in large and small ways to see our responsibilities as workers to serve You well.

We ask this through Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Video overview

Dignity of Work

For when people work, they not only alter things and society, they develop themselves as well. They learn much, they cultivate their resources, they go outside of themselves and beyond themselves. Rightly understood, this kind of growth is of greater value than any external riches which can be garnered. People are more precious for what they are than for what they have. Similarly, all that people do to obtain greater justice, wider brotherhood, a more humane ordering of social relationships has greater worth than technical advances. For these advances can supply the material for human progress, but of themselves alone they can never actually bring it about.

Gaudium et Spes (“The Church in the Modern World”), Vatican II, 1965, #35.

I am excited to be digging into this aspect of Catholic Social Teaching because very often I think its breadth is not understood, because it is understood apart from human dignity. Particularly in our current cultural setting where we have been duped into using people like things, and things as disposable. We truly have evolved a warped sense of work. Instead of the good that it was intended to be, work is dubbed strictly a punishment that we endure until we die. 

We see the outline of this relationship to labor all the way back in Genesis when God gives the garden to Adam and Eve to be stewards over. It isn’t until after the fall that God tells them that this work is going to become burdensome. What had been gifted to Adam and Eve as a way to participate in the creative work, reflective of our Creator, would become a task in a setting that was no longer perfect.

As I have had occasion to say, “work is of fundamental importance to the fulfillment of the human being and to the development of society. Thus, it must always be organized and carried out with full respect for human dignity and must always serve the common good. At the same time, it is indispensable that people not allow themselves to be enslaved by work or to idolize it, claiming to find in it the ultimate and definitive meaning of life.” It is on the day consecrated to God that men and women come to understand the meaning of their lives and also of their work.

Sacramentum Caritatis (“Apostolic Exhortation on the Eucharist”), Pope Benedict XVI, 2007, #74.

Despite the changing circumstances, this call to work, to contribute the efforts of our minds and hands, is intended as a means of offering a sense of dignity in the ways that each person can contribute their particular gifts, whatever they may be. Over time, and because of our brokenness, work has come to be seen strictly as a means to an end.

At its best

At its best, the work that we are called to provides for our own needs, those of our family, and often, the broader community. Sometimes we are lucky enough for the work of our hands to be edifying for our minds and hearts, other jobs may simply be a way to provide for our basic needs. However, whether we are serving as a wood-worker, a first responder, a trash collector, daycare provider, or call center operator, we each have unique gifts to bring to those circumstances and the people served by them. One is not better than another. Each affords us the opportunity to honor the human dignity that we encounter in those with whom we work.

God blessed them and God said to them: Be fertile and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and all the living things that crawl on the earth.God also said: See, I give you every seed-bearing plant on all the earth and every tree that has seed-bearing fruit on it to be your food; and to all the wild animals, all the birds of the air, and all the living creatures that crawl on the earth, I give all the green plants for food. And so it happened. -Genesis 1:28-30

At its worst

At its worst, work becomes us. We identify as the work we perform. That is why, culturally, things like temp work, entry level jobs, leaving the workplace for retirement or to care for children can hit people so hard–because it may cease to be about making a contribution to our families or society, but rather, serves as a barometer of self-worth. To cease to contribute in a defined way, is (culturally) to cease to have a tangible identity, or so it might seem. *Ask people in Europe, for instance, what they do, and likely they’ll tell you they like to hike, to swim, to draw, etc. There is an entirely separate category of (healthier) answers to this question which seem to pertain a lot more specifically to the things that bring one life.

 One’s worth is not determined by an abundance  of possessions. 

—Luke 12:13-21 

At its worst, people work themselves to death out of stress, competition or desire to ‘have it all.’ At the risk of sharing the wealth, folks might be inclined to support human trafficking through unjust labor practices. People who have bought into this line of thinking, can put a price on their own bodies and the bodies of others to be utilized as a serviceable item, rather than a man or woman made in the image and likeness of God.

To the man he said: Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, You shall not eat from it, Cursed is the ground because of you! In toil you shall eat its yield all the days of your life.Thorns and thistles it shall bear for you, and you shall eat the grass of the field. By the sweat of your brow you shall eat bread, Until you return to the ground, from which you were taken; For you are dust, and to dust you shall return. 

-Genesis 3:17-19

The labor of the working class – the exercise of their skill, and the employment of their strength, in the cultivation of the land, and in the workshops of trade – is especially responsible and quite indispensable. Indeed, their co-operation is in this respect so important that it may be truly said that it is only by the labor of working men that States grow rich. Justice, therefore, demands that the interests of the working classes should be carefully watched over by the administration, so that they who contribute so largely to the advantage of the community may themselves share in the benefits which they create-that being housed, clothed, and bodily fit, they may find their life less hard and more endurable. It follows that whatever shall appear to prove conducive to the well-being of those who work should obtain favorable consideration. There is no fear that solicitude of this kind will be harmful to any interest; on the contrary, it will be to the advantage of all, for it cannot but be good for the commonwealth to shield from misery those on whom it so largely depends for the things that it needs.

Rerum Novarum (“On the Condition of Labor and the Working Classes”), Pope Leo XIII, 1891, #34. 

To observe religious practices, but oppress  your workers is false worship. —Isaiah 58:3-7  

What does ‘right relationship’ with work, look like?

Bearing in mind this aim for recognizing the dignity of those we serve, as well as those who serve us, we have to put ourselves (and our resources) where our mouths are. Being in ‘right relationship’ might mean researching the companies we hire, learning about the ethics of the investments we make. Often, being in right relationship with work (and workers) requires us to pay more than the minimum for a good/service/food to allow for its producer to be justly compensated. Frequently being in right relationship with work, our own or that of another, looks like acquiring less.

Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, right relationship with work looks like opportunity for rest. I do not mean to conjure up the image of feet up on a desk, relaxing with nothing to do , but true opportunity for rejuvenation. Right relationship with work means knowing when the workday ceases: For ourselves, for our employees, or for those whose services we employ. 

For the longest time I understood humanity as the pinnacle of the creation story. However, it is only recently that I was challenged to see the crescendo of God’s masterpiece as the stepping away from work–work stoppage. How vastly different from our productivity-driven approach to work (and therefore workers) is this? 

Reflection Questions:

• How does this interpretation of work sit with me? 
• What experiences have shaped my own understanding of work/labor? Are they positive? Negative? Neutral?
• What particular gifts do I most enjoy sharing for the good of others?
• What might seeing rest as the pinnacle of Creation mean in my own life? 
• What might God be inviting me to consider? 
• What practical changes would I be able to make to distinguish between work and work stoppage?

Closing Prayer

Loving God, in Your care, even our responsibility to work is itself a gift that can nourish. Guide us as we wrestle with the meaning of this, and the ways we are continually invited to be collaborators with You in our opportunities to share what we have been given. Bless the work of our hands and lead us to a sense of our worth as image bearers, apart from the tasks we perform. We ask this through Christ, our Lord. Amen.

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Opening Prayer

If you like to use music in prayer, listen to Lauren Daigle’s I Will Rescue You, particularly for times when we have been vulnerable, embracing God’s infinite tenderness for each of us who find ourselves still in that place of deep vulnerability and unknown.

Gracious God, in Jesus you embody such deep humility. You understand what it means to be mistreated and vulnerable while bearing the Imago Dei. Soften our hearts, with this reminder, to be compassionate in the needs and opportunities that we prioritize for the good of  the most vulnerable image-bearers among us.

We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

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“We must talk about poverty, because people insulated by their own comfort lose sight of it.” –Dorothy Day

The name Dorothy Day has come up in these conversations before and I will mention her again today. Not only because she wrestled with and articulated, better than most, the potential for meaningful relationships between the marginalized and ourselves; but also because she is the author of the book I’m giving away today (The Reckless Way of Love: Notes on Following Jesus).

Because of her work within the Catholic Worker, she was exposed to the loneliness and the needs of those who found themselves living on the margins of society. She noted the simple distinction that the deep loneliness that we have all experienced can only be combated in a place of community. 

Creating this space for community is a culmination of recognizing one’s human dignity, our common call to community, and the responsibility each of us has in acting for the good of the other. She was ahead of her time, and often chastised for the way she embodied each aspect of Catholic Social teaching. Culturally she was known as a radical, but only insofar as it made her priorities radically focused on seeing Jesus in the poor.

“If someone who has the riches of this world sees his brother in need and closes his heart to him, how does the love of God abide in him?” (1 Jn 3:17). It is well known how strong were the words used by the Fathers of the Church to describe the proper attitude of persons who possess anything towards persons in need. To quote Saint Ambrose: “You are not making a gift of your possessions to the poor person. You are handing over to him what is his. For what has been given in common for the use of all, you have arrogated to yourself. The world is given to all, and not only to the rich.”

Populorum Progressio (“On the Development of Peoples”), Pope Paul VI, 1967, #23.

For some, the wording of this theme (Preferential Option for the Poor) has caused some concern. You might ask, “Does God prefer one person to another?” “Does God love the poor more than the wealthy?” These questions are right to concern us, but a look at Scripture will confirm for us that Jesus always stands with those whose dignity is being overlooked (the leper, the woman caught in adultery, the tax collector, the sinner, the widow, the children, etc). 

Preferential option for the poor summarizes Jesus’ inclination toward those on the margins while modeling for us a posture for the disposition of our hearts.

Questions for reflection: 

-What aspect of this tenet of CST do you find most comforting? Most distressing?

-What is one change I could implement personally to make decisions more intentionally that would give more dignified options for God’s image-bearers?

-What questions do I still have about having a ‘preference’ toward the poor and vulnerable?

Closing Prayer

Word made flesh, touch our hearts with Your tenderness for those whose needs go unmet. Send your Spirit into our imaginations that we might find ourselves inspired to receive and share what we have been given as a total gift. We ask this through Jesus, our Lord. Amen.

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“Here is what we seek: a compassion that can stand in awe at what the poor have to carry rather than stand in judgment at how they carry it.” -Fr. Greg Boyle, Tattoos on the Heart

If you do not find Christ in the beggar at the Church door, neither will you find Him in the Chalice.

– St. John Chrysostom

**To enter to win The Reckless Way of Love, respond to one of the reflection questions on either Facebook or Instagram. The winner will be chosen on Tuesday at 7 pm MST.

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If you like to use music in prayer, I might suggest this song as a beautiful meditation God’s lavish hospitality. A Place at Your Table by Ben Walther

The way we came to know love was that he laid down his life for us; so we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If someone who has worldly means sees a brother in need and refuses him compassion, how can the love of God remain in him? Children, let us love not in word or speech but in deed and truth.-1 John 3: 16-18

Questions for reflection:

-What unlikely tables have you been invited to dine at? Who are among the unlikely guests you have invited to dine at your own table?

-What comes to mind when you hear the phrase ‘option for the poor and vulnerable’?

Is it a phrase you’ve heard before? Where?

-St. Oscar Romero poses a challenging question: “You say you love the poor? Name them.” Who are the ‘poor and vulnerable’ within your own community/sphere of influence? What are their names? 

Opening prayer

Word made flesh, help me to see your needs in the unmet needs of my neighbors. When my comfort conflicts with the well-being of another, help me always to choose to do right by my neighbor. In doing so, would that your love and mercy be seen as alive in the world. I make this prayer in the name of Christ Jesus. Amen.

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Video

Overview

As we continue to delve into the heart of Catholic Social Teaching, we stay centered on God’s particular love for humanity even in its frailty, and to the extent of taking on flesh Himself. Remembering that Jesus was born to a poor family, and lived amongst the marginalized, without a home for much of his earthly life, we can ascertain a bit about God’s familiarity and fondness for those without means. 

However, Jesus never shames those with means, only invites them to give of themselves–often in a way that might pinch. We think of the encounter with the rich young man: 

As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up, knelt down before him, and asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? Jesus answered him, “Why do you call me good?* No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments: ‘You shall not kill; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not steal; you shall not bear false witness; you shall not defraud; honor your father and your mother.’” He replied and said to him, “Teacher, all of these I have observed from my youth.” Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said to him, “You are lacking in one thing. Go, sell what you have, and give to [the] poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” At that statement his face fell, and he went away sad, for he had many possessions. -Mark 10: 17-22

Often this parable has been used to encourage deeper generosity, which it accomplishes. And, it is important to put our finger on the pulse of what Jesus is doing here (which is so characteristic of who God is): Leaving the decision in the hands of the rich young man. Jesus simply offers a suggestion of what the wealthy man might do to attain eternal life, in addition to his already rigorous religious observances. Yet the man leaves downcast. It is essential to note that we, the audience, never learn the outcome of the young man’s encounter with Jesus, only that the prospect of what lay before him would present a challenge. Maybe he went all in, or maybe not. We will never know.

The same invitation is placed before us today: Observe the Commandments, give what you have to the poor, and follow Him. I suspect that we can also count on being looked at lovingly by the Lord while we hem and haw over the practicalities of going ‘all in,’ and calculating in the end how much that is going to cost us.

“The Church’s love for the poor . . . is a part of her constant tradition.” This love is inspired by the Gospel of the Beatitudes, of the poverty of Jesus, and of his concern for the poor. . . . “Those who are oppressed by poverty are the object of a preferential love on the part of the Church which, since her origin and in spite of the failings of many of her members, has not ceased to work for their relief, defense, and liberation.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, nos. 2444, 2448, quoting Centisimus Annus, no. 57, and Libertatis Conscientia, no. 68)

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Questions for Reflection:

• What options do I prioritize for the poor and vulnerable?
• If I were in the position of the rich young man, how would I respond to Jesus’ prompting?
• What opportunities might I have to learn the names of the poor and vulnerable in my sphere of influence, in a mutual and dignified manner?
• How comfortable am I with the thought of the God of the universe coming from very modest means?
  • How comfortable am I with the way my own needs are met? Is this an opportunity to ask for what I need/offer more of what I have?

Closing Prayer

Loving God, we are created to emulate your Sacred heart which knows so intimately the needs of every person. Continue to lead us to seek the needs of those around us and to regard the needs of others as highly as our own. Be patient with our stubborn tendencies and look with love upon all of those who seek to do Your will.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

*As a side, if you/your parish would be interested in a virtual or in-person retreat to inspire greater generosity, look into the Journey of Generosity program at Generousgiving.org.

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Opening Prayer:

If you like to use music in prayer, I might suggest either song as a meditation on recognizing the needs of our brothers and sisters as human rights, as well as the active role we need to take in bringing that about in the Kingdom on Earth:  (Throwback) What if Jesus Came Back Like That? Or, Father Let Your Kingdom Come.

Questions for Reflection:

-What emotions were evoked by the lyrics of this song?

-What ‘responsibilities’ might this tenant be referring to?

-Does this feel like familiar territory or a new leaf?

-What is your experience of stepping over the threshold of making private religious convictions, public? *Not so much sharing your faith story, but allowing your faith to direct the actions/words/involvement/charity causes where you give your time? Was it a conscious or unconscious choice?

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Gracious and loving God, You teach us to honor relationships because your very nature is relational. Would that I move about the world with a deep appreciation for the ways my action and inaction affect those in my community. Help me to be a force for Your good. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

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Rights & Responsibilities

Like all elements of Catholic Social Teaching, each is innately connected to its foundation (the dignity of the human person).  The reality of being bearers of God’s image necessarily animates the public and private life of the faithful. If; then. If we believe in the in-dwelling of God among us, then it follows that our actions reflect that in bold ways.

At its most basic level Catholic Social Teaching poses that all persons have a right to life from conception to natural death and that that life be protected. As persons born with souls, bearing the image of the Creator, everyone has a right to life and the means necessary to maintain that life. If that sounds like a big responsibility, it is with good reason–It is! Thus: Rights and Responsibilities.

When someone is reduced to poverty, we have an obligation to help. –Leviticus 25:35

Seek the welfare of the city, for in its welfare you will find your welfare. –Jeremiah 29:4-7

Overview Video

On one hand this may feel over-stated. On the other hand, it imposes some big expectations on the surrounding community to offer the care necessary to meet the diverse needs of humanity. Immediately weighty questions rise to the surface: What are my responsibilities, here? To whom? How far do they extend?

-What resources are required to come alongside the single mom who has to give birth to her child?

-What opportunities exist for the immigrant family in need of a place for their children to be safe and cared for and educated while they are at work?

-What about the inmate serving a life sentence in need of a medical procedure that would increase their quality of life?

-What about the gentleman living with diminished mental or physical ability who is seeking dignified employment?

-What about the refugee community wanting a place to worship in their new home?

Both/And

In a perfect world, the faithful would provide for these needs as we are encouraged to do throughout Scripture. Because we do not live in a perfect world, and the unmet needs of our neighbors (and even our own families) are greater than we can sometimes bear, the greater community is required to step in to offer support. We Catholic Christians are required to engage politically to provide for the needs of the image-bearers whose rights to life would otherwise go unmet. In some cases, we may feel uncomfortable supporting a political party/policy/lawmaker’s agenda on issues that we hold dear. In cases like these, we might consider investing our resources in specific individuals and charities that best honor the lives of our brothers and sisters in a way that we can feel good about.

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We must speak of man’s rights. Man has the right to live.  He has the right to bodily integrity and to the means necessary for the proper development of life, particularly food, clothing, shelter, medical care, rest, and, finally, the necessary social services. In consequence, he has the right to  be looked after in the event of ill health; disability stemming from his work; widowhood; old age; enforced unemployment; or whenever through no fault of his own he is deprived of the means of livelihood. (St. John XXIII, Peace on Earth [Pacem in Terris], no. 11)

A link has often been noted between claims to a “right to excess”, and even to transgression and vice, within affluent societies, and the lack of food, drinkable water, basic instruction  and elementary health care in areas of the underdeveloped world and on the outskirts of large metropolitan centers. The link consists in this: individual rights, when detached from a framework of duties which grants them their full meaning, can run wild, leading to an escalation of demands which is effectively  unlimited and indiscriminate. (Pope Benedict XVI, Charity in Truth, [Caritas in Veritate], no. 43)

Quite agreeable, of course, was this state of things to those who thought it in their abundant riches the result of inevitable economic laws and accordingly, as if it were for charity to veil the violation of justice which lawmakers not only tolerated but at times sanctioned, wanted the whole care of supporting the poor committed to charity alone. — Pope Pius XI

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Subsidiarity, again

The faithful will always achieve greater success at meeting the needs of those living on the margins than one-size-fits-all organizations. We know this to be true on an ethical level and in light of the principle of subsidiarity. Although, we have as much right to criticize the lacking efficacy of care provided by the state in direct proportion to how much we have invested of ourselves to accomplish the same intended good. The state necessarily provides a safety net, as well as a litmus test that calls all believers to a greater charity of their time, talent and treasure.

This principle plays nicely with the concept of subsidiarity precisely because the assistance granted is intended to work in tandem with the autonomy and dignity specific to each individual. A lifetime of receiving public or private assistance does nothing to uphold the autonomy and dignity of one temporarily unemployed by illness, whereas a lifetime of public or private assistance may be completely required for one whose physical and/or mental capacity limits their ability to fully provide for themselves.

Being able to work to integrate these nuances is both a right and responsibility each of us shares, whether or not we are the beneficiaries of that particular aid.

“The Gospel takes away our right forever, to discriminate between the deserving and the undeserving poor.” –Servant of God, Dorothy Day

Questions for reflection

-What about this tenant of CST most touches your heart? What chafing did you experience in reaction to these words?

-We have all witnessed failed attempts to serve unmet needs. Where have you seen stories of success? Individuals? Organizations? Programs? Grants? Missions?

                Do you support them? If so, how so? If not, how might you be encouraged to do so?

-Can you get behind the requirement to advocate for the needs of those who find themselves with unmet needs in light of Scripture or the invitations inherent in this facet of Catholic Social Teaching? Why or why not?

Closing Prayer

Loving God, Your very nature is love. Would that you bestir a spirit of generosity and humility in your faithful that our first response to unmet needs in our community is compassionate assistance, free from the language of merit. We ask this in the name of Jesus.

 Amen

The post Rights & Responsibilities appeared first on Unexpected Honey.

Opening Prayer

If you like to use music in prayer, U2’s One might be an interesting spin on a musical reflection on the call to community, family & participation.

Loving God, you have set before us the greatest commandment which is to ‘love God with our heart, soul and mind, while loving our neighbor as ourselves.’ In so doing, we are invited more deeply into the love you have for us by reminding us that to our core, we are yours and we are tasked with the responsibility of bearing your image to the world specifically through our participation in the world. Give us courage, Lord.

In Jesus’ name.

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“If you have come here to help me you are wasting your time, but if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.”

― Lilla Watson

It is likely that if you have spent much time doing any kind of volunteer work, or mission work, you are familiar with this concept of not serving out of sympathy, but rather empathy. As Lilla Watson so aptly puts it, “help” is rarely the objective of those receiving aid, but mutual awareness of shared humanity and respect always is.

This practice goes by many names:

Two feet of love in action: Charity & Justice

Inculturation

Spiritual & Corporal Works of Mercy

Our actions are not intended to fit squarely on one side or the other, but to represent a healthy mix of both/and, motivated by a deep sense of shared humanity as opposed to ‘the way to help the less fortunate.’

‘Success’

Although I never was a PeaceCorps volunteer, I have always had a healthy respect for those who choose to spend a couple of years somewhere in the world, doing their level best to learn about a culture and leave a place a bit better for having been there. Consistently, however, I hear a theme from returned members that they did not serve in the way they anticipated. If they ‘succeeded’ at all, it is most often because they let the people they had gone to serve, lead.

Subsidiarity

Whether imagining a well, a school, a chicken farm, or women’s co-op, the local community likely offers the greatest level of expertise when it comes to what has/hasn’t worked in the past; or what would be of the most use in the future, as well as who needs to be pulled into the conversation to make it a success. This practice is subsidiarity in a nutshell—not just allowing for, but prioritizing the input of those most closely affected by an issue to have a hand in alleviating a condition or advancing a cause for change.

Wonderful video from a Journey of Generosity weekend on a little turning into enough.

This is the place where well-meaning missionary work/service work, as well as government aid, has historically gone astray. Widely implemented emergency fixes can become the foundation upon which vulnerable communities build their lives, never having had a say in its infrastructure, and long after those who implemented the fixes, were gone.

Individual citizens and intermediate groups are obliged to make their specific contributions to the common welfare. One of the chief consequences of this is that they must bring their own interests into harmony with the needs of the community, and must contribute their goods and their services as civil authorities have prescribed, in accord with the norms of justice and within the limits of their competence. Pacem in Terris (“Peace on Earth”), Pope John XXIII, 1963#53

A community that operates on this principle is well-governed by acknowledging the most particular needs of a community in one area vary widely from another. Rural citizens, for example, have significantly fewer ballot initiatives related to access to homeless services, while urban areas should have a much louder voice related to public transit and affordable housing. One-size-fits-all policies rarely fit all and leave no room for the wisdom available in the room. This is easier to define in distinct geographic regions but can become slippery while addressing NIMBY (not in my backyard) issues when caring for my neighbor and my family might feel mutually exclusive.

It is imperative that no one…indulge in a merely individualistic morality. The best way to fulfill one’s obligations of justice and love is to contribute to the common good according to one’s means and the needs of others, and also to promote and help public and private organizations devoted to bettering the conditions of life. Gaudium et Spes (“The Church in the Modern World”), Vatican II, 1965 #30

The Church is not exempt from subsidiarity, either. When issues arise on a local level, the church is equipped to deal with issues on a local level. Of course, there are circumstances when a particular need requires and deserves ‘all hands on deck.’ Very often, however, disgruntled individuals (Catholics or not) take matters up not on the local level, but with the Bishop, Archbishop, or the public, to address a situation in a different jurisdiction entirely. Not only does this demonstrate a lack of personal investment in improving the community, but it also smacks of ‘one size fits all’ thinking at best, trolling at worst.

Desiring the good of another

If as Pope Emeritus Benedict suggests, that loving another requires us to ‘desire the good of another,’ then we likely have some work ahead of us. That work will likely mean the melding of our personal good and the good of the other, to not be mutually exclusive. The first, and most fruitful step in making this happen is to get to know people outside of our immediate neighborhood/parish/demographic/income bracket, etc. Our communities, after all, are wider than our block, our church, and our co-workers. We don’t have to travel the world to meet those who understand the world differently than we do.

Phenomenal interview with Daryl Davis, a black musician who has befriended hundreds of KKK members

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 Questions for Reflection

• In what sphere do I/would I like to contribute to my community?
• Where have I/have I encountered an organization/city/culture where subsidiarity was inherently how people related to one another?
• Are there areas where caring for myself/my family feels mutually exclusive with willing the good of the other? Where?
• Do I have intentional relationships with those who experience the world from a differing perspective? If so, why so/If not, why not?

 Closing Prayer

“We become what we love and who we love shapes what we become. If we love things, we become a thing. If we love nothing, we become nothing… This means we are to become vessels of God’s compassionate love for others.” –St. Clare of Assisi

May it be so. Amen.

For those interested in another book giveaway, watch for details on Facebook & Instagram to win Lara Patangan’s new book: Simple Mercies, How the Works of Mercy Bring Peace & Fulfillment!!

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