Social Justice Saints.
Love is a teacher.- Elder Zosima
Maybe it is just me, although my experience tells me it is not, but many Catholics attracted to tradition and prayer as contemplation, seem to regard social justice issues as “liberal” and unorthodox. Unless the various apostolates are undertaken by traditional religious, such as the Hawthorne Domnicans who care for the cancerous poor, or the Little Sisters of the Poor, who care for the elderly poor. Although it should come as no surprise that many of those vocations were conceived in social activist settings. Young women (and men) who worked amongst the poor, oftentimes side by side with liberal nuns and priests.
I noted with delight that New Oxford Review has posted a favorable piece on Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker Movement. It is a review by Thomas Storck of the new book: “The Catholic Worker Movement: Intellectual and Spiritual Origins” - by Mark and Louise Zwick, founders of casa Juan Diego, the Catholic Worker house in Houston, Texas.
The Zwick’s “detail the various persons whose lives and thought influenced the founders of the Catholic Worker. Included are: St. Francis of Assisi, St. Teresa of Avila, St. Thérèse of Lisieux, St. Catherine of Siena; several notable Catholic intellectuals: Dom Virgil Michel, Jacques and Raissa Maritain, Emmanuel Mounier; and two Russian Orthodox writers: the famous novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky and Nicholas Berdyaev. Other influences include medieval Irish and Benedictine monasticism and, of course, the social encyclicals of Popes Leo XIII and Pius XI. The Zwicks devote a chapter to each of these chief influences, quoting from both Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin’s own writings, as well as from secondary sources about the Catholic Worker movement.” - NOR
It is clear there is no taint of heresy, no embrace of communism, much less abandonment of Catholic teaching or spirituality in the fundamental principles of the Catholic Worker Movement. Even “Dorothy Day’s pacifism was not so much an ideological position as a radical and personal embrace of the Gospel. That is, the words of Jesus Christ about love of enemy and accepting the injustices that others may impose on one made such an impression on Dorothy Day’s heart that she was moved to a total rejection of war.” - NOR
Blessed are the peacemakers. - Matthew 5
For some reason many devout people equate sanctity exclusively with mysticism, or contemplative style prayer, forgetting the fact that some of the greatest saints in the history of the Church were extremely active individuals. And of course, their activity was animated by deep spirituality and prayer, as seen most recently in the example of Blessed Mother Teresa. In the past, saints such as Elizabeth of Hungary, Catherine of Genoa, John of God, and countless others, acted radically, lived amongst the poor and the outcasts, sharing their lives and ministering to them. The saints have always been counter-cultural, and oftentimes viewed with suspicion by fellow Christians and Church authorities.
I wonder how many Catholics have heard of people such as Jean Vanier, the founder of l’Arche, a ministry by people who live, family style, with the mentally handicapped. Vanier began his work in France, steeped in Catholicism, although today the movement is more inter-denominational. a fact which can be a source of consternation for traditional Catholics who feel every movement of charity, social justice and peace, must be under the auspices of the Roman Catholic Church. If it is not, or if there are dissidents involved in this or that apostolate, the more traditional usually pull back - they want nothing to do with the charity.
Which may beg the question, ‘how secure in our Catholic faith are we, if we refuse to volunteer, or contribute something to works of social justice simply because they are not Catholic or traditional enough?’ I would think those of us serious about living the Gospel, and secure in our Catholic faith, could easily blend in with a group of radical nuns who have a charity providing clothes and household items for the poor. Or work at a homeless shelter in a dissident parish. Works of charity do not demand that everyone involved believes the same thing, worships in the same way, or embrace the same politics - so long as nothing is being propagated in opposition to faith and morals.
Bear with one another.- Colossians
There is a group of religious, the Little Sisters and Little Brothers of Jesus, who follow the vocation of Bl. Charles de Foucauld. These religious live amongst the poor, often in dangerous areas of the world. Their apostolate is contemplative with Eucharistic Adoration at its core. They work at menial jobs, just like their neighbors. Their life is a radical witness to the Gospel amongst unbelievers.
I point to their example to better explain what I mean when I say traditional Catholics can surely work amongst dissident Catholics or non-Catholics, sharing their apostolates of charity, while offering a silent, loving witness to traditional Catholicism, in imitation of the Eucharistic Jesus. Silently striving through our sacrifices, prayers, and united good works, to heal divisions amongst believers.
A Missionary of Charity once told me, “It is not charity if we attach conditions.”
