THE SACRED EARTH

 

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God.  She was in the beginning with God. All things came to be created through Her, and without Her nothing came to be. (Gospel of John, Chapter 1)

The Holy is consciousness of the created and that awareness results in Love, the Spirit of life, care and new creation.  

 TRUMPET CALLS TO ACTION

The earth is under siege and there are apocalyptic trumpet calls for action. 

Pope John XXIII faced a similar crisis.  In the 50’s and 60’s the world was confronted with a strong possibility of nuclear war.  In 1963 Pope John pleaded for peace in his Encyclical, Pacem in Terris.  The Encyclical was addressed not just to Roman Catholics, but the entire world.  The Ecumenical (world wide) Council, Vatican II, was launched on October 11, 1962.  A radio address by Pope John before the official opening stressed the establishment of peace through social justice. The Council Fathers rejected a condemnation of communism in the opening message of the Council.  Then on October 22, the world was confronted with the Cuban missile crisis.  The Council concluded in 1965.  The thrust of the Council was to convince all to achieve peace through social justice.  Vatican II extended an olive branch to traditional enemies of the Roman Catholic Church in an effort to gain peace through world cooperation. 

The current crisis of global warming, with nuclear destruction lurking in the background, calls for a response not only of institutions but of all humanity. The challenge is from a false god.  Pope Francis writes, “whatever is fragile, like the environment, is defenseless before the interests of a deified market, which has become the only rule.”  (Laudato Si, para. 54)   

A practical response is a radical change in life style, but fear dictates the status quo.  Change threatens personal status and a world view that has successfully explained life for the comfortable.    

 

ORDER OF THE SACRED EARTH,  by Matthew Fox, Skyler Wilson, and Jennifer Listug; Monkifish Book Publishing, N.Y. 2018.

This is an important book that suggests focus and commitment and an oath that looks to community success in defending the living and creative earth.

To become a member of the Order of the Sacred Earth, requires making a commitment, an oath: ‘I promise to be the best lover and defender of Mother Earth that I can be.’ (p. vll) The oath is the basis for the formation of a community of action.  A Socratic rather than a dogmatic approach is used in the discussion of the need for such a community and for effective actions for justice.

All are accepted in the effort to defend the Sacred Earth. The Order of the Sacred Earth suggests that there is no need to create an alternate reality to explain causes or justify action.  Negative judgment of discovery indicates that not all that exists can be physically accounted for.  Spiritual phenomena are natural and immediately experienced.  Judgment depends on logic, the logic of poetry and sensitivity to righteousness – justice.  Revelation is from and to nature which is alive and sacred.

   St. Paul wrote:

   …for creation waits with eager expectation the children of God; for creation was made subject to futility, not of its own accord but because of the one who subjected it is in hope, that creation would be set free from slavery to corruption and share in the glorious freedom of the children of God.  We know that all creation is groaning in labor pains even until now; …(Romans, Chapter 8)

An anthropocentric world view forgets where we are from and its focus is on the person and the personal.  A cosmocentric view recognizes creation and the creator, not humans, as the core of being.  Frank Zeidler, in the following poem, helps us become aware of our relation to creation.

Ode to a Trilobite

The stone mason who split the limestone block

With lucky stroke of hammer left quite whole

The imprint that you gave the Nagara rock

When you met death in open sea or shoal.

He little thought, that workman did, when he

Began to pound the stone to make it square

That ancient bodies of Silurian time

Did die to make a stony bottomed sea,

While later years exposed to open air

The creatures that had died, as massive lime.

I found your mark before the weather wore

The stone too smooth; I cut you from your grave;

I took you home to swell my fossil store;

Now your diatomaceous corpse I save.

To look at you inspires profound thought:

You represent a million years!

What countless lives have suffered since your day!

What trials of life has Nature slowly wrought!

What struggles to survive! What deaths! What fears!

What agony and pain since your decay!

(The Poetry of a Young Frank Zeidler, Milwaukee Public Library, 2002, “Ode to a Trilobite.”)

 Julia Esquivel draws from her own experience to show that the struggle for Justice is not only a human task.

Five hundred years of oppression have not diminished our faith in our creator.  We bear witness in our struggles and in our hope to our faith in a God of life who is also the God of the poor…the struggle for justice opens our eyes so that we recognize the creation for what it is: our home and the home of all people, the source of life.  

(Julia Esquivel, The Certainty of Spring, Poems by a Guatemalan in Exile, EPICA, Washington, D.C. 1993.)

 Let us consider a cosmocentric Christ as Creator and Redeemer.

     

Cosmocentric Christ:  Inti Sun God of the Andes, Our Lady of Copacabana. Banners made by students of St. John H.S. Little Chute WI, 1966.

The Order of the Sacred Earth community is dedicated to cooperating in the salvation of  Pacha Mama – Mother Earth.

 

The Working Catholic: Social Doctrine Part II BY BILL DROEL

  

Modern Catholic social doctrine dates from May 1891 with the publication of On the Condition of Labor by Pope Leo XIII (1810-1903). Customarily, social encyclicals are subsequently released on significant anniversaries of On the Condition of Labor.

In May 1981 Mehmet Ali Agca, a criminal from Turkey, shot Pope John Paul II (1920-2005) in St. Peter’s Square. Thus John Paul II’s anniversary encyclical was delayed until September 1981. It is titled On Human Work.

Every worker is equal in dignity, says John Paul II. That’s because the dignity of work originates with the person doing the work; the person who raises children, instructs students, assists homebuyers, manages portfolios, takes orders at the drive-through window, crafts legislation, develops affordable housing or supervises a manufacturing plant. A boss cannot confer dignity. An executive secretary is no more dignified than the night janitor. Every worker is equal—not necessarily in pay or expertise, but equal in dignity prior to, during and after the job or task.

The word work, according to John Paul II, is any activity that comports with God’s on-going creation and redemption.  A homemaker is a worker. Unemployed workers, volunteer tutors and chief executives are all workers. A gun trafficker is not a worker because she or he detracts from the plan of God. A predatory lender is not a worker. An adult who abuses children is not a worker.

The design of an economy, the policies of a specific business, or the management style of a boss or the level of cooperation among fellow workers make it easier or harder to experience holiness through work. On Human Work says that the first purpose of any economy or business is the fulfillment of its workers. Fulfilling work is some combination of putting bread on the family table, benefitting society with a needed service or product, participating in a team effort and growing in self-knowledge. If a company first has regard for its workers, it will likely also respect its suppliers and customers or clients. (Remember, its workers include the shop hands, janitors, executives, nurses, top partners, drivers, public relations personnel, sales force and more.) That company with competent management and a needed product or service will likely be profitable.

The best test of whether a company respects its workers is its wage structure. “In every case a just wage is the concrete means of verifying the justice of the whole socioeconomic system” and each business within it, writes John Paul II. “It is not the only means of checking but it is…the key means.” Get wage structure right, the company and society will be right. Wage structure, by the way, includes the top (not paid too much) and the bottom (not paid too little).

On Human Work names other considerations for a whole, holy economy or business. John Paul II warns against an authoritarian business or a collectivist economy. No surprise coming from a champion of anti-communism. He likewise warns against neo-liberal individualism. No surprise coming from a Catholic. Instead, he favors businesses that value subsidiarity (bottom-up decision making), participation and solidarity (solidarność).

John Paul II devotes a section to the “importance of unions,” and he affirms “the right to strike.” He reminds employers and employees that the disabled have “ideas and resources” and can be offered a job “according to their capabilities.”

On Human Work concludes with an intriguing section titled Elements for a Spirituality of Work. John Paul II, in a totally neglected injunction, says that the whole church has “a particular duty to form a spirituality of work…which will help all people come closer, through work, to God.” Such spirituality is “a heritage shared by all.”

 

Next up: Pope Francis’ contributions to social doctrine. For now, obtain John Paul II’s Gospel of Work edited by Bill Droel (National Center for the Laity, PO Box 291102, Chicago, IL 60629; $7 discount price).

The Working Catholic: Social Doctrine By Bill Droel

 

Modern Catholic social doctrine is officially 130-years old. It dates from Pope Leo XIII’s May 1891 encyclical, On the Condition of Labor. Subsequent popes (as will be mentioned) advance social doctrine, often on anniversaries of On the Condition of Labor.

Doctrines are derived from reflection on the accumulated experience of Christians in many societies and from an application of reason or science, particularly the social sciences. Doctrines are in harmony with God’s revealed Scripture. Dogma, by contrast, comes to us directly from revelation; it cannot be figured out only through study of nature. The dogma of the Trinity, for example, fits an understanding of nature but God had to reveal the Trinity to us. Dogma is not irrational; it is not opposed to science. It is true but not empirical, like a spouse’s love. 

Western Europe in the time of Leo XIII (1810-1903) was experiencing industrialization which in turn attracted thousands of families to urban centers. This industrial era held forth many promises including a higher standard of living and conveniences. However, Leo XIII among others saw that industry and urban life came with a paradox: degrading working conditions and great poverty amid concentrated wealth. The Communist Manifesto of 1848 addressed the paradox and named a resolution: proletariat revolution. Leo XIII countered Marxism with Christian principles.

The bedrock principle of Catholic social doctrine is the intrinsic dignity of each person. Humanists all agree that modern individuals are free and can exercise appropriate agency. Jews, Christians and Muslims know that this doctrine is additionally supported in Scripture; that each person is created in the image and likeness of God. (Genesis 1:27 & Qur’an 17:70)

The modifier intrinsic is important because the term dignity is sometimes used carelessly. Intrinsic means built-in. For example, a husband does not give his wife dignity. She has it long before they meet. An employer does not give employees dignity. It comes with them in the morning and stays with them after they punch the clock. God put dignity into each person.

A negligent husband or an exploitative boss can, of course, degrade a person’s dignity. Thus an obligation to improve degrading situations follows from the principle of basic dignity. To that end On the Condition of Labor advocates for safe and humane working conditions, a family wage and the right of workers to collectively bargain. To achieve these and other improvements, Leo XIII says government’s role includes restraint on laissez-faire capitalism.

A subsequent column will discuss other social encyclicals—specifically St. John Paul II’s On Human Work on its 40^th anniversary and the recent encyclicals of Pope Francis, one on inequality/environment and one on public friendship.

Officialdom uses the term Catholic social teaching for these encyclicals and a few other Church documents.  I prefer the term Catholic social thought and action. This includes the official teaching but it also includes reflection on the teaching and its implementation in worldly settings. Doctrine is principles that tell us what to do. But, they have to be applied with prudence. As the principles hit the streets or corridors, right-minded people can disagree on the how to implement the doctrine in fluid situations. Here’s one small example: Catholic social doctrine says employees have a right to bargain collectively without the maternal or paternal meddling of their boss. The application, however, is more complex. Do we necessarily want a union at this workplace? If so, do we want this union or a different union or an independent union of our own making? If we do not want a union, what is our alternative mechanism for improving conditions at our workplace? Sincere employees can respectfully disagree with one another. This example becomes more complex if unfortunately the employer violates the starting principle or skirts the law. To be continued…

Obtain Droel’s booklet Catholic Administrators and Labor Unions from National Center for the Laity (PO Box 291102, Chicago, IL 60629; $1.50).

Originalism

 

“Originality is Simply a Pair of Fresh Eyes”
~Thomas Wentworth Higginson

If someone calls you an “O.G.” take it as a compliment. The abbreviated term is usually short for, “Original Gangster,” or “Old School.” It is often an homage to the style or approach of a person, usually older in age, whose tactics, values, or beliefs were likely popular during an era from years past. The qualities embodied by an “O.G.” can sometimes be unconventional, dated, yet effective. But not everyone is an “O.G.” When you were young, you certainly knew of an older person whose thinking and beliefs were dated and not reflective of our community’s current values. One reason beliefs become outdated is because as people we evolve.

When a Supreme Court Justice calls themself an “originalist” it often means they recognize the United States Constitution to be a fixed, original document that defines the law of the land. They frequently interpret the Constitution through a lens of the framers’ 1787 intent. Contrary to an “originalist” is a style of constitutional interpretation, understanding the document as one that lives and breathes, adapting with the times regardless of a formal amendment.

Justice Amy Coney Barrett described her originalist view in her Senate confirmation hearings as, "I interpret the Constitution as a law; I understand it to have the meaning that it had at the time people ratified it.  That meaning doesn't change over time and it is not up to me to update it or infuse my policy views into it."  

At the time people ratified the constitution women weren't full citizens, Black people weren't recognized as people, but as property, and indigenous people in this land weren't recognized as citizens of the land they inhabited for years prior to Europeans arriving.  

The fascination with originality in this country remembers the good but forgets the bad.  Because the true origins of this country were founded on the false idea of white supremacy.  that false ideology, with the biases accompanying it, permeated many of the policies that created the historic injustices of this country.    

There are certainly some redeeming qualities of the all-white, male version of the U.S. Constitution written in 1787, most notably the separation of powers designed to avoid tyrannical rule.  But to be loyal to a 234-year-old document in its original format and intentions can only come at the expense of the rights and dignity of the marginalized communities who were not invited to the Constitutional convention in Philadelphia, PA.

With age often comes wisdom. But this idea applies to people, not documents. When people revere the U.S. Constitution, they must acknowledge its deficiencies which we’ve been correcting through movements, legislation, and amendments since its adoption. Justice Barrett is not an “O.G.” and perhaps the next appointment to the Supreme Court bench will view the U.S. Constitution with 21^st-Century values of equity in mind.

William C. Snowden, is the Founder of The Juror Project and proud son of Billy Ray and Kay Snowden.

CHOOSING JUSTICE OVER EXPEDIENCY by John Celichowski, OFM Cap.

  

In his moving book, Just Mercy:  A Story of Justice and Redemption, lawyer Bryan Stevenson posits that the true character of our society and our commitment to justice, the rule of law, and equality are not found in how we treat people who are wealthy, powerful, and privileged but rather how we treat "the poor, the disfavored, the accused, the incarcerated, and the condemned."

Stevenson's judgment is echoed in Catholic Social Teaching.  "A basic moral test" the Catholic Bishops of the United States have noted on their website, usccb.org, "is how our most vulnerable members are faring.  In a society marred by deepening divisions between rich and poor, our tradition recalls the story of the Last Judgment (Mt 25:31-46) and instructs us to put the needs of the poor and vulnerable first."

I write this brief reflection on Good Friday.  As we reflect on the unfathomable depth of God's self-sacrificial love for us, we also confront the injustice of Jesus' persecution, trials, condemnation, and execution.  Contemporary historical accounts of Pontius Pilate suggest that he could be callous and cruel.  In the gospels, he is described more sympathetically, but that has more to do with the polemical needs and theological purposes of the authors than his character. 

In dealing with Jesus, Pilate was driven more by expediency than justice.  In trying, condemning, and executing Jesus, he was giving the mob what they wanted and making sure that everyone knew that he was "a friend of Caesar." 

In a similar way, our system of criminal justice is driven far more by political and bureaucratic expediency than by justice.  Mercy is either an afterthought, the refuge of the privileged, or derided as weakness and being "soft on crime."  Appearing tough while spending billions of dollars dealing with the consequences of centuries of prejudice and failed educational and social policies is more likely to garner votes than doing the hard work of confronting those prejudices, challenging and changing those policies, and reprioritizing our public spending. 

The engines of failed system are fueled by racism, classism, fear, and anger.  As Bryan Stevenson points out in Just Mercy, "Fear and anger are a threat to justice.  They can infect a community, a state, or a nation, and make us blind, irrational, and dangerous."

Jesus found himself before Pilate primarily because of fear and anger.  Those who accused him feared him and the gospel he preached, and they were angered by what they perceived to be his arrogance, unorthodox teachings, and his claims to be God's Son.  Their fear and anger mailed him to the cross.  Pilate, who mockingly placed a sign in several languages proclaiming Jesus "King of the Jews," provided the wood, nails and legal machinery to accomplish it.

In the wake of Stevenson's Just Mercy, Michelle Alexander's The New Jim Crow:  Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, and Isabel Wilkerson's Caste:  The Origins of our Discontents, as well as the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Elijah McClain by law enforcement officers, there are renewed cries for reform of our criminal justice system.  That will be a daunting task.  Fixing our broken legal machinery is daunting enough.  Addressing the fear, anger, and other dark forces that have forged and fueled that machinery will be even more difficult.  It has taken generations for us to get here.  It will take years of sustained effort to change.

 John Celichowski, OFM Cap.is the Director at the NAPCC Novitiate in San Lorenzo Seminary & Friary in Santa Ynez, California..  

The Working Catholic: Social Sin Part II by Bill Droel

 

Although social sin is Catholic doctrine, it rarely appears in sacrament preparation classes nor is it normally mentioned during the sacrament of reconciliation.

Slavery, for example, is a social sin even if every Christian plantation owner had been kind, even if the pharaoh of olden times had not been cruel and harsh. “Institutions, laws and modes of thinking and feeling are handed down from previous generations,” explains Vatican II (1962-1965). A bad system (like a good institution) has a certain momentum or independent character.  Bad institutions make holiness difficult. Good institutions serve as reminders for upright behavior.

Poverty is a social sin. Although a poor person, like anyone else, might steal or lie, it is not their poverty that is a sin. The sin is an economic structure that perpetuates significant and needless poverty. We don’t think about social sin, says Vatican II, because we are plagued with an individualistic mentality. But we cannot “content [ourselves] with merely individualistic morality.” Christians must promote and assist “institutions dedicated to bettering the conditions of human life.”

It is true that social sin is somewhat metaphorical, says the Vatican’s 2004 Compendium of the Social Doctrine. Social sin does not weaken or cancel “the personal component by admitting only social guilt and responsibility. At the bottom of every situation of sin is always the individual who sins.” At the same time this metaphorical sense cannot overtake the objectively sinful nature of some systems. The Compendium mentions wages, the fairness of which “is the most important means for achieving justice in work relationships.” It “is not sufficient [for] an agreement between employee and employer with regard to the amount of pay… to qualify as a just wage.” In a given circumstance it so happens that an employer or an employee may have a reason for substandard wages. The morality of a wage is, however, determined objectively, apart from the motives of employer and employee.

How then can social sin be brought into the sacrament of reconciliation? It would seem that a creative liturgy planner in the parish could devise a service each Lent about our society’s social sins—things for which we collectively bear responsibility. Suggestions are welcome.

  Another way to get at this notion of social sin is to consider its antibodies. To counter individual sin, we summon a specific virtue.  If, for example, my individual sin is neglect of family members, I make a habit of generosity around the home during Lent. If the habit persists after Easter, it becomes my individual virtue.

 An institution is a social virtue. Specific virtues (social habits) are designed to counter social sin. The Compendium mentions solidarity as a social virtue about relationships that tend toward ethical-social improvement. Virtues are not feelings. Solidarity, the Compendium continues, is not a distant touch of compassion for the afflicted. It is a commitment to act with others for the sake of the common good. 

Social Justice is a social virtue. The term is often used generically to cover outreach efforts, government distribution programs and protesting. The term is also used to describe crusading individuals, some lobbyists and those with sincere intentions. However, in Catholicism social justice is a specific type of the general virtue of justice. It is a collective virtue; an individual cannot practice social justice. Its intent is the improvement of institutions or policies. Its unique act is organization; that is, people finding like-minded others and then applying tactics and strategies for the good of the commons. In mainstream Catholicism social justice usually happens during the weekday within normal settings. It is not normally an on-and-off weekend activity by outsiders to an institution, though those efforts can be needed.  Social justice is participation. It requires many hands, feet and minds. As it evolves, a sound social justice effort likewise increases participation.  Employees have a surge of morale because of their reform efforts. Professionals increase their dedication because through their association they instituted a reform.

Social justice (a collective habit) is a primary vaccine against social sin. It is the means for bettering the conditions of human life. Because each exercise of social justice is less than 100% effective, it requires booster shots. All institutions need a little social justice during Lent and a little more during Eastertide and then another dose in all the weeks after Pentecost.

Droel is the author of What Is Social Justice (National Center for the Laity, PO Box 291102, Chicago, IL 60629; $5)

 

The Working Catholic: Social Sin By Bill Droel

  

Lent is the time for particular attention to sinfulness. Yet this year as in years past an increasing number of Catholics and others forego participation in the sacrament of reconciliation (aka confession). Why?

The dominant explanation is that workaday Christians simply do not feel sinful. Our culture is saturated with psychological language about self-fulfillment, replacing the language of evil. Yesterday’s poor behavior is merely a step on the way to a better self. As particularly related to sinfulness, the insights of addition theory, including the notion of denial, contribute to an assumption that foibles or weaknesses are just part of coping with stress. Addiction theory—normally quite helpful—is often enough wrongly appropriated as victim theory. In that guise it says bad actions are not immoral and surely not worth taking into a confessional. Bishop Fulton Sheen (1895-1979) often preached on this tension between psychology and sin. This was also the theme of Karl Menninger’s book, Whatever Became of Sin (Hawthorn, 1973).

An overlooked cause for the decline in individual sacramental confession is the penitential rite that occurs during every Mass. That is, worshipers properly conclude that their routine sins are forgiven in a sacramental way during the liturgy. Their conclusion, by the way, can be reached implicitly because the liturgy itself carries its efficacy.

The decline in the individual-style (aka “in the box”) sacrament of reconciliation might give an opening to consider social sin. In recent months many opinion leaders have pointed to the structural or systemic nature of several problems. Many institutions are confronting and reforming policies or habits that perpetuate serious social wrongs—offices that tolerate harassment of women, legislatures that allow corruption as a normal part of “getting things done,” Church officialdom that covers up for deviant personnel, a police fellowship that tacitly approves of misbehavior, etc. However, simply calling out a social sin seems to present more questions than opportunities.

There are four conditions for sin:

§  There must be behavior. Thinking about adultery, for example, is a grave temptation but not yet a sin. The person must minimally contact the other (one or both of whom is married to another). Suggestive flirting (the behavior) is the first step into adultery.

§  The behavior must be objectively wrong. Although there’s a connection, guilt feelings are not the same as sin. Even in our libertine culture, some people confess matters that are not objectively sinful. Such scrupulosity includes those who confess the very same sinful incident a second time. Though guilt feelings may linger, a single confession bestows definitive forgiveness for a particular incident.

§  The objectively wrong behavior must be done knowingly. It is possible to honestly be ignorant of right and wrong; pre-school children, for example, or sometimes the mentally challenged. Rationalization, however, is a sin; as in “I didn’t know our company didn’t allow bribery.”

§  The objectively wrong behavior must be done willingly. It has to be an outcome of complete free will.

As we become aware of defective structures, the notion of social sin makes some sense. Racism, for example, is a social sin. But who is the sinner? What is the behavior? Oh yes, there are many culpable individuals who do sinfully racist things. For example, there is the person who joins a white supremacy group and promotes its message on the internet or during an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. This behavior is an individual sin, but it is also a product of our shameful history and is reinforced by anti-Black sentiment embedded in some local institutions. So who commits the social sin? Is it the supremacist group?

Further, once a social sin is named, how does confession and forgiveness occur? Is there, let’s say, structural grace? Several small civic and church groups now meet (usually in cyberspace) to discuss race relations. This can be an exercise in consciousness-raising, but what is the practical outcome? Did the group knowingly and willingly engage in any behavior (not guilt feelings) that it can confess as sinful? Can the group make any amends for structures of racism? For example, can the group integrate their neighborhood or a local school?

Despite its initial difficulties, let’s not yet give up on this idea of social sin. To be continued…

Droel edits INITIATIVES (PO Box 291102, Chicago, IL 60629), a newsletter about faith and work.