Fr. Brendan Curran, O.P. at Siena Center
May 5, 2007

Gathering Prayer:
Loving God, as we gather here today to learn ways to live and preach the Just Word, show us how to present and be present where there is darkness or despair. May we bring Your Light and hope to such places. We pray that compassion and justice will come to our world, often harsh and unkind, and create a community where all will share in earth's abundance, opportunity and community where the weak, the sick, the disenfranchised will be cared for and there will be equal opportunity for all. Above all, may peace fill our hearts, our homes, our communities, our nation and our world. Help us to reject all cynicism about the possibility of a better world. We ask this in Your Holy Name and in the power of Your Holy Spirit, Amen.

How do we look at the Gospel and allow it to activate our faith?  Do we practice what we preach, talk about and pray about? How do we let the signs of the times speak to us? How do we allow our faith and spirituality to become practice in our lives? Today, we will get a new glimpse at how to live our faith and act with justice. We will now reflect upon how we are of service to others.

There are two ways to express our faith in action.
1. through social service. We see a needy person and provide some immediate help for that person;
2. through social action. We work at systemic change, empowerment of people and try to change systems and structures that lead to the problem in the first place. For example, in the Chicago public school near our church, less than fifty percent of the high school population graduates. To do social action, we examine the cause, look at the public school system and address the issue with school leadership and others. We become an advocate for change as needed.

Social service is often a good entry point, but we must not stop there. Does our work of charity create dependency? How can we work toward empowerment of people that need our care?

I often think of the story I heard about a certain village where there was a mountain stream. One day, the body of a dead baby was washed down the river. Each day, more and more babies floated down on the rough waters. People rallied to bury them. Then some people asked why this tragedy was happening. They went up the mountain and found the cause and corrected it. No more dead babies floating down the river! This story reminds us it is very important to take stock of what we are doing. Can we move in a more just way? What lens do we work with?

In this parish, St. Pius in Chicago, 50% of the members are undocumented. It is important to care for people, but we must get at the cause. We interact with people on a personal, interpersonal and structural way as we work for justice. We can talk with legislators and name some changes that would be helpful. Relate it to the scripture reading/prayers. For example, Jesus chases the money-changers out of the temple. It is like what immigrants go through to send money to their relatives in the south. When they want to send $100 to a family member in Mexico, it often costs $18 to transfer the funds. How can we discern truth from one another? What is the role of the church in all this?

1. We can do direct service, such as operating a soup kitchen, shelter, health care, etc.
2. We can also do acts of justice. We go to the source. We can organize the people, get legislators in to listen to their problems and  plan some alternative solutions. Go to the place where money is exchanged and sent to relatives in Mexico for an unreasonable fee and negotiate change. Also, if we are dealing with abused people, we cannot forget the abuser and fail to provide some help for him to transform his life so the actions will not continue.

In the story of Jesus talking to the woman at the well, he was aware that in that particular culture women were nobodies. Men did not talk to women. Jesus treated her like a human being. What does that say to us about the undocumented in our communities?  What about the children and families?

One morning I was called on the phone at 6:30. Daniel was frantic: "They came and took my wife. Eight agents came dressed in uniforms and armed. They handcuffed her and took her away in front of my children. I have a teenager with Down's Syndrome and he is the only one who is a US citizen. I have three schoolage daughters."

His wife, Rosa, worked for several years, pays taxes, owns her home and helps with religion class at St. Pius. Church families collected $6,000 to get her out on bond. During all this she never got demoralized.  She got some paint through the church and created a school in her house to teach her children and show ways to be of service. She continued to help with religion classes at the parish.

How can we put our faith into action? What can we do? A discussion followed.  What about Mother Teresa?  She did mostly social service. She also brought the plight of the people to the attention of the world, and they started to do something about it. Social service and social action go hand in hand. If we deal with the abused, should we not also address the problem of the abusers?  What about violence in our communities? How do we address it? Some decide to keep on working for peace against all odds. God is truly alive among us. Let us continue to pray and allow our faith to express itself in works of care and compassion as well as works of justice.