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Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they will be satisfied (Matthew 5:6).

The Hebrew prophets spoke of the coming of the Just One: “I will raise up for David a just shoot; he shall do what is right and just in the land” (Jeremiah 33:15). Christ comes to establish the reign of God, a turnabout that will be fair play. In God’s kingdom, the last shall be first, the outcasts shall be gathered, and the poor shall have their fill.

This way of life begins to take root immediately in the early Christian community where the principal of “the common good”—a centerpiece of Catholic social teach-ing—takes precedence over individual gain:

“All who believed had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need” (Acts 2:44-45).

Catholic Teaching and ActionTo evangelize the world with the prophetic spirit of Christ, popes have produced landmark encyclicals on social justice, including Rerum Novarum (Of New Things) in 1891, and Laborem Exercens (On Human Work) in 1981. These documents champion just causes like fair wages and the right of labor to organize.

In 1986, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) released “Economic Justice for All,” a pastoral message insisting that “the economy exists for the person, not the person for the economy.” The USCCB maintains a Web page on “Justice, Peace, and Human Development” (www.usccb.org/sdwp/) and continues to issue regular Labor Day statements.

Catholic social activists employ the gospel’s non-violent model for change: “Do not resist an evildoer. If anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other one to him also” (Matthew 5:38). Dorothy Day and César Chávez are two giants in the proud legacy of Catholic social activism. In the tradition of civil rights leaders like Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Dorothy Day founded the Catholic Worker Movement and César Chávez created the first successful farm workers’ union in the United States.

Today, Catholic Relief Services and Catholic Charities do heroic work around the world where economic or political marginalization creates hardship. Many parishes have peace and justice committees with ties to local food banks or interfaith homeless programs.

Catholic schools are also raising the consciousness of students with courses in Social Justice. Many teachers and students sacrifice spring or summer vacations to visit domestic and foreign sites to assist with disaster relief or other needs. Catholics applaud and work cooperatively with many global organizations who strive to satisfy our hunger and thirst for justice.

The Church as a Channel of PeaceBlessed are the peacemakers for they will be called children of God (Matthew 5:9).

Jesus was not the conquering warrior his disciples expected, but the Lamb of God who would teach peace through nonviolence: “But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:44).

In response, Catholic leaders have written volumes on what the U.S. Catholic Bishops called “The Challenge of Peace” in their 1983 pastoral letter. Pope John XXIII wrote his famous encyclical Pacem in Terris (Peace on Earth) in 1963. The USCCB Website continues to inform and promote the gospel imperative of peacemaking with reflections like the more recent “The Harvest of Justice is Sown in Peace.”

The Plowshares movement, begun in 1980 by Jesuit Daniel Berrigan and his brother Philip, has long committed itself to prophetic acts of civil disobedience based on the Isaiah prophecy: “They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks” (Isaiah 2:4).

The Plowshares Website (www.craftech.com/~dcpledge/brandywine/plow/) chronicles symbolic acts performed by members since its inception, like beating on warhead nosecones with hammers. In 2002, three Dominican nuns engaged in a similar action by pouring their blood around a Colorado missile site. Many other Catholics—like actor Martin Sheen—have been imprisoned for

The Catholic Church as a Prophet of Justice

SR-00-WA-10-C-The CATholiC ChuRCh AS A PRoPheT of JuSTiCe

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Winter A • 2010-2011

various forms of protests inspired by the gospel and the words of peacemakers like Father Berrigan: “Because we want peace with half a heart, half a life and will, the war making continues.”

Following Christ the MediatorIn a world of extreme ideologies that isolate and polarize God’s people, the Spirit of Jesus calls upon Catholics to be mediators who stand in the midst of conflict as peacemakers. This is why popes have traveled to the

Middle East as envoys of reconciliation. This is why a Catholic priest walked unarmed amidst gang wars to stop the violence. This is why Catholics have become conscientious objectors during times of war. This is why so many disciples of Christ, even when persecuted, have refused to meet violence with violence. These are the peacemakers who are blessed in the kingdom, but not always in this world, as they pray in the spirit of St. Francis: “Make me a channel of your peace.”

The Catholic Church as a Prophet of Justice

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“Justice will never be fully attained unless people see in the poor person,

who is asking for help in order to survive,

not an annoyance or a burden, but an opportunity for showing kindness

and a chance for greater enrichment. Only such an awareness

can give the courage needed to face the risk and the change involved

in every authentic attempt to come to the aid of another.

It is not merely a matter of “giving from one's surplus,” but of helping entire peoples which are presently excluded

or marginalized to enter into the sphere of economic and human development.

––US Conference of Catholic Bishops The Hundredth Year, #58 p. 108

©2010 by Morehouse education resources • all rights reserved • www.livingthegoodnews.coM • 1-800-242-1918

Winter A • 2010-2011

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