Why not more justice preaching?
I believe this area is neglected because it is the Church’s best kept secret. Many priests have not been trained in the the Church’s social justice tradition. In good seminaries this is being corrected, but it may take a while before those who preach liturgically get a handle on it. This may also be true of others who preach in various settings. The secret is awareness. To come to know the Church’s rich social justice tradition is to discover a treasure. We need to find this pearl…!
What are the best strategies for effecting justice change?
I believe the first strategy is some form of contemplative prayer, because it divests the activist. To sit vulnerable before the Mystery of the Holy and allow God to strip away all pretense, all egoism, all self-interest, is a safeguard to keep the justice mission clear. Without it, I fear there will be too much of the zealotry and not enough compassion.
From this cauterizing experience one can then go to the next step, which I believe is intense listening to a situation. This will mean intense study also. Care in this step will prevent the bull in a china shop syndrome. Good intention is not enough. Good facts are essential.
As a third step, I would suggest collaborative bonding with others, primarily those involved in the injustice. Planning with them will keep the effort and inside job, likely to continue if you need to leave it.
Finally, I suggest putting all in the hands of the people involved as soon as possible, as soon as they thoroughly own it.
Who speaks for the community?
First, I suggest the community identify itself. Then it needs to educate itself on an issue. When this is done well, then the question might be asked, “Do we want to say this together?” If a majority agrees, it can be done. If not, the individuals who are ready might speak for themselves.
Dominic, Preacher of Grace
The Dominican emphasis has always been that grace is more powerful than sinfulness. Key here is what is understood by grace. Some would say it is some mysterious divine gas that is pumped into us… I believe we will understand grace when we recover the Triune Mystery that is at the center of the human heart. In conception the divine creative energy which we identify as the Holy Spirit synergizes with the human erotic energy of our parents. From this marvelous synergy our DNA emerges bonded to the existence given us by the One who is. So favored (graced), this Guest holds us in existence. At the same time we are mortally wounded by the sin of our species, passed on to us through our human DNA. When we are brought into a faith community by others (Baptism) or when our consciousness awakes and we turn toward this Mystery, our sin is removed, we are “raised from the dead,” and we are “favored” (graced) with a relationship to the Divine Guest who has been in our house all along. Thus, grace is a relationship with the Divine that comes from the love that is friendship.
This is what captivated Dominic. He was filled with the amazement of this wonder. So, preaching from this wonder will mean understanding the condition we are in without it, the source of it, and the growth in it through constant conversion. It will also mean understranding how Mary was filled with this relationship, lived in it constantly, and how violating it would have made her break into a sweat! It also helps us understand Jesus relationship with his Abba, due to the uncreated grace of his divinity.
