Putting our faith into social justice

Good News Reflection
Monday of the 34th Week in Ordinary Time
November 23, 2009

Today's Saint: Pope Clement I
Pray to stop worrying:
http://wordbytes.org/saints/DailyPrayers/Clement.htm

Today's Readings:
Daniel 1:1-6, 8-20
Daniel 3:52-56
Luke 21:1-4
http://www.usccb.org/nab/112309.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/09_11_23.mp3

Putting our faith into social justice

Today's Gospel reading challenges us to examine how generously we help the ministries of the Church by contributing financially to the treasury of the Church. When our income isn't enough to pay for everything that we wish we could buy for ourselves, the widow's mighty sacrifice is not pleasing to look at. We naturally distrust the lesson that Jesus taught here.

And thus we cause others to suffer. Our parishes don't have enough financial resources to do all the ministering they could do and should do. And the people who rely on the mercy of charitable organizations are victims of our fear of generosity.

I've noticed that some of the most generous people are those who have the least. Perhaps the reason why they feel freer to share with others the little that they have is because their eyes are not set on big purchases for themselves. Or perhaps it's because they've learned more compassion from being needy themselves.

Some of today's financial hardships come from being foreclosed out of houses that were larger than we really needed, and we assumed debts we never should have considered or we depended on two incomes but one was lost to lay-offs. This lifestyle of overspending is part of a culture that sinfully neglects the needs of the poor. It's time that we paid attention to the Church's teachings on social justice! Our parishes should be teaching classes on this more than often than seminars on how to find a job after a lay-off.

I hope I'm not alone in feeling stirred up about this! Too many Christians have enjoyed a cushy, comfortable, and even greedy lifestyle for way too long. Are we really followers of Christ or not??? I'm not saying that we have to sell everything to help the poor and thus become poor ourselves. What we do need to do is to become socially conscious and be willing to make sacrifices.

The widow gave to God what she could not afford. She made an offering of her entire livelihood, sacrificing not only the coins but her very self. If a gift we give or a good deed we do is easy and comfortable, it's not a sacrifice. Unwillingness to make a true sacrifice is the reason why charitable organizations (including Good News Ministries) cannot help all those who would benefit from their services. It's the reason why parishes don't have enough highly qualified staff to fulfill all the work that Christ has commanded them to do for the continuation of his mission.

And (some will find this unbelievable until they do a little research and wake up to the world that's wider than the one we see everyday) it's the reason why climate change is occurring and already devastating the lives of the poor and vulnerable.

What happened to the widow in the Gospel story after she went home? Did she starve? Wait a minute. Do we believe that God would praise her for making such a huge act of love and then crush her as if her good deed had been foolish?

Let's put our faith into action. I know from personal experience how scary this can be and how faith-building it can be. Join me in making sacrificial trust in God our everyday faith experience. Join me in giving more than we feel is "safe" to give. Instead of assuming that other folks will donate enough money to cover the bills of churches and charities and outreach ministries like Good News Ministries, join me in showing God that we really do love him and trust him.

Please remember the needs and staff of Good News Ministries and visit http://gnm.org/donate.htm (on mobile devices, go to http://gnm.org/donate-mobile.htm). If you cannot donate money, please donate a sacrifice of time spent in prayer for us.

And please, I beg you, pay attention to and take action in the need to help build a better world where respect for life includes protecting the environment. An excellent starting place is the St. Francis Pledge to Care for Creation and the Poor: http://www.franciscanaction.org/pledge. And please sacrifice two hours to see the Franciscan Action Network's "Care for Creation National Web Summit" – it's free! View it at: http://www.visualwebcaster.com/event.asp?id=61912

You can see the start of my new website that's devoted to Green Stewardship at http://gogreenstewardship.org/

© 2009 by Terry A. Modica
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