Fall
Ministries Parish ministries form building blocks for social change
By ARTHUR JONES
NCR Staff
In Iowa a mother of three peeks
through the parish peace tree, and the local daily newspaper
photographer snaps her picture. In Silver Spring, Md., a former Catholic Worker
prepares to lead a parish to a deeper understanding of Catholic social
teaching.
In Springfield, Mass., a pastor returns home enthusiastic from a
national conference, having once more seen his parish as part of the bigger
U.S. Catholic picture. And in St. Louis, Jim and Kathy McGuiness field the
telephone at their Parenting for Peace and Justice Network headquarters.
Too often when Catholics look at the church, they see the local
and not the aggregate. Parishes are rarely able to stand back and examine their
own vital contributions as building blocks for the broader structures of social
change.
Maybe Americas 20,000 Catholic parishes are like leaves on a
tree. By holding themselves open to God, they experience a spiritual sort of
photosynthesis. As sunlight courses down, the Catholic tree sends
its roots deeper into the political, economic and social soil, helping to
promote growth.
Call that growth social justice.
The evidence suggests that simple acts at the local level can be
of enormous utility when added together. Take those parishes where the people
are always signing letters to the governors, state legislators and the like.
Theyve done it for years at Blessed Sacrament community in Sioux City,
Iowa.
Blessed Sacrament, the first Catholic church listed in the
citys Yellow Pages, gets called on to do many things in the community.
But it is parishes like this that give the Iowa Catholic Conference --
supported by the states four dioceses -- its muscle.
Bernardette Rixner said, Iowas Catholic Conference
works very hard setting legislative priorities for the state in four areas --
social concerns, pro-life, education and family, she said. The conference
depends on the pressure built up when parishioners contact elected
officials offices by phone, mail or in person.
Catholics generally are educated people. They know how to do
it. They know its an integral part of how we build social change,
said Rixner, who heads Blessed Sacraments peace and justice committee.
But they may know more about practical politics than about the content of the
churchs social mission.
At St. John the Baptist community in Silver Spring, Md., social
justice minister Kim Lamberty uses first Eucharist preparation to explain to
both the children and the parents that the church has a social justice
tradition. For a lot of people, she said, its the first
time theyve heard that. I try to help them make the connection -- even
though it may be obvious to some of us. Each parish needs a blueprint to learn
and proceed, Lamberty said.
In three years, St. Johns Parish task force on social
justice in religious education has developed specific goals for specific
categories: for elementary school children, build a foundational understanding
that service/charity/justice are gospel imperatives basic to Catholicism; by
high school, encourage a more advanced understanding of Catholic social
teaching and its basic theological foundation, explaining the differences
between charity and justice, and developing a capacity for reflection; for
adults, according to Lamberty, a former Catholic Worker in Washington with an
MA in theology, the task includes explaining reconciliation and social sin.
Some have never heard of that, either, she said.
Making it personal
Lamberty uses a page of the weekly parish bulletin to offer adult
education on issues from sweatshops to the World Bank/IMF debt issue.
Theres community service, delivering food and a sister parish in Haiti.
It uncomplicates things when its personal, she said.
She knows what every parish team member understands: Its
hard to get people to come out. But Lenten programs are particularly
successful. Connecting social justice talks to fasting, she said, is very
consciousness-raising.
Fasting programs are also a way to reach younger parishioners --
the high school age Catholic, contends Kathleen Carlisle, outreach coordinator
for Baltimore-based Catholic Relief Services.
A food fast program is an opening to hunger awareness,
said Carlisle, whose organization distributes (in conjunction with the Catholic
Campaign for Human Development), a handbook for 14- to 22-year-olds titled
Catholic Call to Justice Activities. The Food Fast program
is billed as 24 hours that last a lifetime.
Lamberty and Carlisle both gave workshops at the July 15-18
Jubilee Justice national gathering in Los Angeles (NCR, July 30).
Most parishes arent into the churchs social
justice teaching yet, said Lamberty, because they dont know
how to proceed. Theres a proliferation of help on hand. Jubilee
Justice, for example, was called as precisely such a
heres-where-we-go-from-here strategy and tactics conference for all sorts
of Catholic groups.
I went for ideas, explained Jon Moro after his return
to Holyoke, Mass., where he teaches Latin at Holyoke Catholic High School. At
the 400-student school founded by the Sisters of St. Joseph -- several of them
are still on staff -- weve instituted a program called
Advisory, said Moro. Its basically home room, and I meet 20
minutes a day with 10 to 15 students. So I went [to Jubilee Justice] for ways
to make social justice issues come alive in that 20 minute period.
Justice in school
And got what he wanted.
The workshop most useful to me was the one about integrating
social justice into Catholic elementary and secondary schools, given by Joe
Sullivan of the St. Paul, Minn., diocese. Great! He had a ton of energy and lot
of practical materials. Look, if you teach math, these are things you can do.
If you teach social studies, try these. They have a Web site. Great! And I went
to Fr. J. Bryan Hehirs talk -- good, as usual.
Moro said he wants the students to realize -- and he himself again
realized in Los Angeles -- the extent to which Catholicism is a big church with
niches for everyone. Everyone can find a place. And work to do.
Said inner-city pastor, Fr. Paul Manship of Holy Family Church in
Springfield, Mass., We know social justice is not an option. Its
essential. The question becomes, he said, What are things that
theres no compromise with and what are the things we need to continue to
discern? Doesnt matter which, but weve got to be doing something. I
think we lose our identity when we become apathetic.
In a culturally diverse parish (40 percent African-American, 40
percent Hispanic, 20 percent Anglo with a smattering of Asian
families) there is a strong commitment to community organizing through
the Pioneer Valley Project.
Its so important to see the faith in context, he
said, see that its God and church -- not just you and me, or only
me and my faith experience. We all do a lot of work on issues that are
frustrating, with seemingly overpowering forces against you.
One benefit of the Jubilee Justice gathering, Manship said, was
the realization that I can relax a little bit. We dont have to tear
down the terrible machines in order to get anything done. Looking for
direction, he went to the Pastoring in the Next Millennium
workshop.
Surveying the church of the past quarter-century, Manship
concludes, Weve had growing pains. A lot of people perhaps left
when they thought they were sold a bill of goods or were made promises we
werent going to fulfill. And now were coming into a certain greater
maturity, saying, no, no, no, now wait a minute, my faith is my responsibility.
Its related to the church and it can be nourished by
the church, but its still my responsibility. Is it all right to stand on
the sidelines? No, its not. And in saying no, theres a growing
sense of solidarity.
National Catholic Reporter, September 3,
1999
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