PERSONAL VOCATION AND SOCIAL ACTION
PERSONAL VOCATION AND SOCIAL ACTION
by Sister Gloriamarie Amalfitano copyright 2007
I find my assigned topic to be an enormous one. There is just so much to be said about vocation and even more about social action and social justice. Additionally, social action is a subject about which I am particularly passionate and if I cross the line from presentation to diatribe, I trust Mike or Gwynn or anyone else will shout out "Shut up, Gloriamarie, you've crossed the line."
Personal vocation has fascinated me all my life. In my pre- Vatican 2 Roman Catholic days, vocation was a subject that came up on a daily basis in my parochial school. Had to recruit for the convent and the priesthood, I guess. When I became Episcopalian , the concept of personal vocation continued to fascinate me. One thing I did not find in TEC that is all over the place in RC is the help to determine just what is God's call to a person. Oh, if someone thinks they might have a call to the priesthood or the diaconate, TEC, is all over that. But there is just not much available for the rest of us. As a result of my own vocational search, I have spent the past several years developing a theology of vocation to which I will now subject you! All I can do in the time given me is scratch the surface and hopefully whet your appetite for more.
What is almost the 1st question an adult asks a child met for the 1st time? "What do you want to be when you grow up?" Once this notion gets into our heads, we think about it and make choices in terms of that question.
As Christians we believe (or so I hope) that our choices and commitments have a God-given transcendent quality. They are not just about ourselves, our families and communities, but also are about God. Our choices and commitments have a faith dimension. Decisions we make about our deepest longings proceed, whether we know it or not, from a developing sense of vocation, of God's individual call to each of us.
To what does God call us? The goal of vocation is transformation in God by God to as close an approximation of the Incarnate Lord as we humans are able to achieve in this life. The theological term for that, if any are interested is "theosis" , which is usually translated as 'personal deification'. Please understand this does not mean we become God, let me stress it refers to becoming like the human Jesus. We belong to God from the beginning and are designed to be completely His at the end.
How does this work out, then, in ordinary every day life? "Vocation" is a complex mystery with inter-related parts. The inter-related bits that form one's vocation are:
1) WHO the Lord calls us to be;
2) HOW the Lord calls us to become ourselves in Him;
3) WHAT He calls us to do for Himself and others.
Another way to express it is : self-identity; lifestyle and mission or ministry and every single one of us has all three.
WHO the Lord calls us to be: When God created each one of us, He made us a unique individual. He wants us to be fully ourselves, to fully realize within ourselves His vision of who each one of us most truly is. Of course, we may never know completely who we are, we are not God after all, but as we grow in faith, we receive increasing insight into who it is God created each of us to be.
HOW the Lord calls us to become ourselves in Him: There are many "hows" on our spiritual journey: discipleship; works of mercy; using the gifts of the Holy Spirit. These all can be grouped into a sort of an umbrella that is our lifestyle within which God calls us to personal deification, to be like the human Jesus, within the context of a certain way of life. Some lifestyles are mutually exclusive: one cannot be both married and single at the same time. But the apostolic lifestyle, following Jesus as Lord and Savior must co-exist with any calling.
WHAT He calls us to do for Himself and others: God brings all of us into this life to do something. accomplish a mission, to make a personal contribution to the Body of Christ. Several missions can co-exist within one person. Fr. Mike is a husband, father, priest, scholar. Ministries or careers might succeed each other. A lawyer might become a priest, a Red Cross volunteer might become a nurse or a doctor.
I like to think of vocation as three intersecting circles, labeled who, how and what.
Where the circles intersect: who we are; how we are becoming and what we are sent to do initiate with God and bounce back to Him. That any of us exist in the first place is not accidental. That our lifestyle is whatever is not an arbitrary thing. That we are involved in a certain work is not by chance. God chooses us to be unique persons, to become ourselves in a certain manner and to bear lasting fruit. We can't be our true self in the Lord until we become that person in the way God wills and until we do that which God desires. In other words, living our vocation is finding our truest identity, who we really are, who God created us to be.
And that, my friends, is merely the tip of the iceberg on the subject of vocation.
It is now my challenge to tie it to social action. I come by my passion for social action /social justice quite honestly. When I was in first grade, I wanted my best friend from school to come to my home to play on a weekend. My friend's mother refused her daughter permission because people in her family didn't associate with people like my family despite the fact that we were Roman Catholics attending the same parish church and we kids went to the same parochial school. The difference between our families is that mine is Italian. My best friend was forbidden to ever play with me again. It made no sense to me at the time and prejudice and discrimination make no sense to me today. That was the first time I noticed discrimination directed at me personally and it wasn;t the last. In fact there is nothing that angers me more quickly and more zealously than the deliberate victimization of a person or group of people by a person or group of people. And it goes on all around us in ways both obvious and very sneaky subtle.
Social action/ social justice, as I understand these terms are not really about marches on Washington, freedom riding or raising money for good causes. Social action/social justice is an attitude of the heart that says all human beings have the same needs, wants and desires. Some people, in satisfying their wants and desires, take so much from other people that leave the other people with not enough for their needs. Social action/social justice is a response to that behavior which says "Uh huh. No . Not any more".
Former Bishop Mark Dyer, at one time both my parish priest and seminary professor, said something in a sermon I have never been able to forget. Remembering it has caused me personal inconvenience and now I inflict it upon you. Mark said that where we invest our money and our time reveals what are the treasures of our heart. In other words, how we spend our time and our money demonstrate more clearly than our words what it is we most truly value. So the question is this: in what ways do we, in satisfying our wants and desires contribute to the situation wherein others don't have what they need?
A reading from the Gospel of Matthew
31 ‘When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. 32All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, 33and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. 34Then the king will say to those at his right hand, “Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; 35for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.” 37Then the righteous will answer him, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? 38And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? 39And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?” 40And the king will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family,* you did it to me.” 41Then he will say to those at his left hand, “You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; 42for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.” 44Then they also will answer, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?” 45Then he will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.” 46And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.’
The simplest action we can perform is probably the best and the greatest: greet all and treat all as Christ. This bit of Scripture tells us that anything we do or do not , for good or bad, to another person we also do to Jesus. We are to hold the other person as greater than ourselves. Notice how surprised are each group of people. "When, Lord?" both ask. Whatever they did or did not do, they were unaware of either their actions or omissions and this underscores for me that it is an attitude of the heart. They demonstrated by their actions or inactions what it is they most truly valued.
It is pretty darn clear from this passage that God not only expects each of us to be involved in social action but that He demands it of us and we have no choice in the matter if we call ourselves Christians. He isn't content when we limit our social action to giving money or voting for the politicians who will increase funding to services to the poor. Need to give money, need to vote for those politicians, no question about it. God also wants us to give of ourselves, our time, our efforts, our strengths, our gifts and even our weaknesses. He wants us personally involved. Note also that God expects us, once we have seen the need, to meet it. Plain and simple. It is not, according to this passage, up to us to decide who deserves or who is worthy of having a need met. Our business is to meet the need. The consequences of not meeting needs are pretty dire: eternal punishment. Our salvation depends upon seeing all and treating all as Christ..
I warned you at the beginning, I am passionate about this subject. I don't think I need to try and sell you on the idea of social action. We at All Souls know that it is right and good to do for others what they are unable at the moment to do for themselves. And that is another part of the definition of social action/social justice. Lending a helping hand in whatever way God makes available to each of us.
I have another reaction to this passage. I wonder if you do too? My reaction is " That's too much. One person can't do all that!" No, one person cannot. But each of us can do a little and if each of us did the little we could, collectively we would have accomplished a very great deal.
The trick of course, is figuring out what each of us can do. All too often social action/social justice is equated with really big stuff, like going to DC and lobbying Congress or running agencies. Not all of us have these gifts. In case anyone needs help figuring out what good works are, in your handouts you have Chapter 4 of the Rule of St. Benedict which you may read at your leisure.
What I am good at, by way of example, is sitting in my home all by myself in my precious solitude. Some things I do of a social action/social justice nature that maybe some wouldn't think of in this way are: prayer, knitting, using my computer to find out stuff and pass the info along to those who can use it. I also offer a Daily Meditation and more recently, guided book studies to do my bit for Christian formation, equipping adults to find their vocation, God's call to them. The point here is that God has shown me how the things I love the most are also what I have to offer to the world in social action/social justice.
God will show each of how to serve with our lives if we ask and listen attentively to those around us. We all have this gift in common: to demonstrate His presence in our lives. We may not be able to preach, prophesy, perform miracles or show great knowledge or wisdom, but we can show that God is in our lives. The most any one of us can do is toss our pebble into the pond and in tossing, let go and allow the Holy Spirit to take over.
Many times women have said to me "I'm just a housewife. That's all I've done for 20 years. That's all I know." How undervalued even by those who do it are the gifts, talents and strength needed to make a home . The feminist movement really dropped the ball on that one and I regard myself as a feminist. Housewives may be the most talented people in the USA. All of the things that a housewife knows how to do, someone else needs to learn. Especially in this day of the two-income family. Some of the skills that many a housewife has are; accountant; tutor; chef; nutritionist; medic; making budgets; artist; plumber; carpenter; electrician; law enforcement and who knows what all else? Oh, yes, the housewife has skills to offer the world.
In figuring out what each of us are called to do, please refer back to the three circles of vocation. Who. How. What. Who are you? What are your hobbies, interests? What do you do for a living? What are the aspects of your lifestyle? The answers to these questions help us identify our gifts and talents which the Lord wants us to use in His service, to benefit other people in social action/social justice. Have you medical training? Volunteer at a free medical clinic. We all know of lawyers who do pro bono work. Any wealthy landlords out there who can afford the tax write-off? Rent at less than what the market will bear and price your rentals to make them affordable for the elderly and Section 8 rental assistance recipients so they can have affordable, decent, safe homes.
Do you love to cook? They need you at the soup kitchens of San Diego. Is that too public for you? Do you know that there are people in San Diego who go around anonymously giving food to the homeless? Or people who cook up a huge pot of soup and take it along with bread and butter, ladle, paper bowls, napkins, plastic spoons and just leave the vat of soup on a bench where the homeless help themselves and a couple of hours later, one can come back and collect one's stuff which has probably been washed.
Are you an artist? Volunteer to teach an art class in a school where, due to budget cuts, there is no longer an art program. Or if that is too pubic for you, there are all sorts of organizations out there who need computer graphics done. One could do it in one's own home, email the work in and save that organization the expense of paying someone. I need help with computer graphics!. In fact, if you are willing to volunteer your services, i can put you to work immediately!!
Do you knit, crochet, quilt, sew? If you do one of these, there are endless opportunities for you. From the Prayer Shawl Ministry, Christmas Arts, our hospitals, hospices, orphans in Russia, afghans for refugees displaced by what we have done in the Middle East... just google on charity knitting for instance and many opportunities come up. If you don't google, call me and i'll do it for you.
Do you take walks? If so, take with you a trashbag and a picker upper gizmo and pick up the trash and the donations of other people's dogs. Have you seen the movie "Pay it Forward"? That movie is all about social action/social justice. I could go on like this for years, I daresay.
There are so many itty bitty things we can do without leaving our homes. One of the simplest that everyone with a computer can do is to daily visit thehungersite.com, click where it says and food will be donated by the website's sponsors. Additionally there are other links to other important sites where a single click will ensure assistance with breast cancer research, protection of children, saving the rainforest, increasing literacy and animal rescue. In fact that is 6 itty bitty things a person can do every day and make a difference. On another handout, there are a bunch of URLs for people to explore.
As the passage in Matthew tells us: greet and treat all as Christ and meet the need. For someone else and the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ, do what you can with who you are in the time you have for someone else.
And this too is merely the tip of the iceberg. Any questions?
SOME URLS TO EXPLORE
Phone Numbers Provided for Local Opportunities
THE HUNGER SITE
http://www.thehungersite.com
The Hunger Site was founded to focus the power of the Internet on a specific humanitarian need; the eradication of world hunger. Since its launch in June 1999, the site has established itself as a leader in online activism, helping to feed the world's hungry and food insecure. On average, over 220,000 individuals from around the world visit the site each day to click the yellow "Help Feed The Hungry" button. To date, more that 200 million visitors have given more than 300 million cups of staple food. Its grassroots popularity has been recognized with Web awards in the activism category — the 2000 Cool Site of the Year Award and the People's Voice winner at the 2000 Webby Awards.
Please be sure to click on "Free Ways to Help" in the menu to the left
ONE: THE CAMPAIGN TO MAKE POVERTY HISTORY
http://www.one.org/
The ONE Campaign is an effort by Americans to rally Americans – one by one – to fight the emergency of global AIDS and extreme poverty. ONE is students and ministers, punk rockers and NASCAR moms, Americans of all beliefs and every walk of life, united to help make poverty history.
The ONE Campaign derives its name from the belief that allocating an additional one percent of the U.S. budget toward providing basic needs like health, education, clean water and food would transform the futures and hopes of an entire generation in the world's poorest countries. We also call for debt cancellation, trade reform and anti–corruption measures in a comprehensive package to help Africa and the poorest nations beat AIDS and extreme poverty.
EPISCOPAL COMMUNITY SERVICES
http://www.ecscalifornia.org/
PO Box 33168 San Diego, CA | 92163 |
(619) 228-2800
Episcopal Community Services believes all people are created by God with value and dignity. We actively reach out to those who are most alienated from their community and strive to witness in a word and deed to the power of God to heal, transform, and make all things new.
RADIO READING SERVICE
www.radioreadingservice.com
619-594-8170
The KPBS Radio Reading Service broadcasts the reading of newspapers, books and magazines to the blind, physically impaired and those who have difficulty reading small print.
VOLUNTEER SAN DIEGO
http://volunteersandiego.org/
4699 Murphy Canyon Road
858-636-4131
Volunteer San Diego offers a wide range of programs that help meet real community needs, while providing every member of our community with the opportunity to make a difference.
MAMA'S KITCHEN
http://www.mamaskitchen.org
1875 Second Avenue
(619) 233-6262
Our Mission
At Mama’s Kitchen we believe that every person is entitled to the basic necessity of life, nutritious food. As a volunteer-driven, not-for-profit organization, we prepare and deliver food to men, women and children who are affected by AIDS or other critical illnesses.
What We Do
While the world waits for a cure, Mama’s Kitchen, a non-profit charitable organization, delivers food and support to San Diegans affected by AIDS or other critical illnesses. We care for every man, woman and child – straight and gay, every color and every race.
The Tomorrow Project
http://tomorrowproject.org/
1777 5th Avenue
619-230-1151
UNITED WAY OF SAN DIEGO COUNTY
http://www.uwsd.org/
4699 Murphy Canyon Road
858.492.2000
The Simple Living Network
Transform Your Life By Learning To Do More With Less
www.simpleliving.net/
Since 1996 The Simple Living Network has been providing resources, tools, examples and contacts for conscious, simple, healthy and restorative living. One of the fundamental principles is living simply so that others might simply live.
MOTHERS WITHOUT BORDERS
www.motherswithoutborders.org/
It is our mission to offer hope to the orphaned and vulnerable children of our world by nurturing and caring from them as if they were our own. It is our mission to support programs that ensure that orphaned and vulnerable children are provided with safe shelter, nutritious food, clean water, education, health care, vocational training, opportunities to contribute to their community and access to caring adults.
HEIFER INTERNATIONAL
http://www.heifer.org/
330 Main St., Suite 203 A
Seal Beach, CA 90740
Toll Free Phone: 877-663-1683
Email: sw@heifer.org
The Rule of St. Benedict Chapter 4: What Are the Instruments of Good Works
1. In the first place, to love the Lord God with the whole heart, the whole soul, the whole strength.
2. Then, one's neighbor as oneself.
3. Then not to murder.
4. Not to commit adultery.
5. Not to steal.
6. Not to covet.
7. Not to bear false witness.
8. To honor all (1 Peter 2:17).
9. And not to do to another what one would not have done to oneself.
10. To deny oneself in order to follow Christ.
11. To chastise the body.
12. Not to become attached to pleasures.
13. To love fasting.
14. To relieve the poor.
15. To clothe the naked.
16. To visit the sick.
17. To bury the dead.
18. To help in trouble.
19. To console the sorrowing.
20. To become a stranger to the world's ways.
21. To prefer nothing to the love of Christ.
22. Not to give way to anger.
23. Not to nurse a grudge.
24. Not to entertain deceit in one's heart.
25. Not to give a false peace.
26. Not to forsake charity.
27. Not to swear, for fear of perjuring oneself.
28. To utter truth from heart and mouth.
29. Not to return evil for evil.
30. To do no wrong to anyone, and to bear patiently wrongs done to oneself.
31. To love one's enemies.
32. Not to curse those who curse us, but rather to bless them.
33. To bear persecution for justice's sake.
34. Not to be proud.
35. Not addicted to wine.
36. Not a great eater.
37. Not drowsy.
38. Not lazy.
39. Not a grumbler.
40. Not a detractor.
41. To put one's hope in God.
42. To attribute to God, and not to self, whatever good one sees in oneself.
43. But to recognize always that the evil is one's own doing, and to impute it to oneself.
44. To fear the Day of Judgment.
45. To be in dread of hell.
46. To desire eternal life with all the passion of the spirit.
47. To keep death daily before one's eyes.
48. To keep constant guard over the actions of one's life.
49. To know for certain that God sees one everywhere.
50. When evil thoughts come into one's heart, to dash them against Christ immediately.
51. And to manifest them to one's spiritual mother.
52. To guard one's tongue against evil and depraved speech.
53. Not to love much talking.
54. Not to speak useless words or words that move to laughter.
55. Not to love much or boisterous laughter.
56. To listen willingly to holy reading.
57. To devote oneself frequently to prayer.
58. Daily in one's prayers, with tears and sighs, to confess one's past sins to God, and to amend them for the future.
59. Not to fulfill the desires of the flesh; to hate one's own will.
60. To obey in all things the commands of the Abbess, even though she herself (which God forbid) should act otherwise, mindful of the Lord's precept, "Do what they say, but not what they do."
61. Not to wish to be called holy before one is holy; but first to be holy, that one may be truly so called.
by Sister Gloriamarie Amalfitano copyright 2007
I find my assigned topic to be an enormous one. There is just so much to be said about vocation and even more about social action and social justice. Additionally, social action is a subject about which I am particularly passionate and if I cross the line from presentation to diatribe, I trust Mike or Gwynn or anyone else will shout out "Shut up, Gloriamarie, you've crossed the line."
Personal vocation has fascinated me all my life. In my pre- Vatican 2 Roman Catholic days, vocation was a subject that came up on a daily basis in my parochial school. Had to recruit for the convent and the priesthood, I guess. When I became Episcopalian , the concept of personal vocation continued to fascinate me. One thing I did not find in TEC that is all over the place in RC is the help to determine just what is God's call to a person. Oh, if someone thinks they might have a call to the priesthood or the diaconate, TEC, is all over that. But there is just not much available for the rest of us. As a result of my own vocational search, I have spent the past several years developing a theology of vocation to which I will now subject you! All I can do in the time given me is scratch the surface and hopefully whet your appetite for more.
What is almost the 1st question an adult asks a child met for the 1st time? "What do you want to be when you grow up?" Once this notion gets into our heads, we think about it and make choices in terms of that question.
As Christians we believe (or so I hope) that our choices and commitments have a God-given transcendent quality. They are not just about ourselves, our families and communities, but also are about God. Our choices and commitments have a faith dimension. Decisions we make about our deepest longings proceed, whether we know it or not, from a developing sense of vocation, of God's individual call to each of us.
To what does God call us? The goal of vocation is transformation in God by God to as close an approximation of the Incarnate Lord as we humans are able to achieve in this life. The theological term for that, if any are interested is "theosis" , which is usually translated as 'personal deification'. Please understand this does not mean we become God, let me stress it refers to becoming like the human Jesus. We belong to God from the beginning and are designed to be completely His at the end.
How does this work out, then, in ordinary every day life? "Vocation" is a complex mystery with inter-related parts. The inter-related bits that form one's vocation are:
1) WHO the Lord calls us to be;
2) HOW the Lord calls us to become ourselves in Him;
3) WHAT He calls us to do for Himself and others.
Another way to express it is : self-identity; lifestyle and mission or ministry and every single one of us has all three.
WHO the Lord calls us to be: When God created each one of us, He made us a unique individual. He wants us to be fully ourselves, to fully realize within ourselves His vision of who each one of us most truly is. Of course, we may never know completely who we are, we are not God after all, but as we grow in faith, we receive increasing insight into who it is God created each of us to be.
HOW the Lord calls us to become ourselves in Him: There are many "hows" on our spiritual journey: discipleship; works of mercy; using the gifts of the Holy Spirit. These all can be grouped into a sort of an umbrella that is our lifestyle within which God calls us to personal deification, to be like the human Jesus, within the context of a certain way of life. Some lifestyles are mutually exclusive: one cannot be both married and single at the same time. But the apostolic lifestyle, following Jesus as Lord and Savior must co-exist with any calling.
WHAT He calls us to do for Himself and others: God brings all of us into this life to do something. accomplish a mission, to make a personal contribution to the Body of Christ. Several missions can co-exist within one person. Fr. Mike is a husband, father, priest, scholar. Ministries or careers might succeed each other. A lawyer might become a priest, a Red Cross volunteer might become a nurse or a doctor.
I like to think of vocation as three intersecting circles, labeled who, how and what.
Where the circles intersect: who we are; how we are becoming and what we are sent to do initiate with God and bounce back to Him. That any of us exist in the first place is not accidental. That our lifestyle is whatever is not an arbitrary thing. That we are involved in a certain work is not by chance. God chooses us to be unique persons, to become ourselves in a certain manner and to bear lasting fruit. We can't be our true self in the Lord until we become that person in the way God wills and until we do that which God desires. In other words, living our vocation is finding our truest identity, who we really are, who God created us to be.
And that, my friends, is merely the tip of the iceberg on the subject of vocation.
It is now my challenge to tie it to social action. I come by my passion for social action /social justice quite honestly. When I was in first grade, I wanted my best friend from school to come to my home to play on a weekend. My friend's mother refused her daughter permission because people in her family didn't associate with people like my family despite the fact that we were Roman Catholics attending the same parish church and we kids went to the same parochial school. The difference between our families is that mine is Italian. My best friend was forbidden to ever play with me again. It made no sense to me at the time and prejudice and discrimination make no sense to me today. That was the first time I noticed discrimination directed at me personally and it wasn;t the last. In fact there is nothing that angers me more quickly and more zealously than the deliberate victimization of a person or group of people by a person or group of people. And it goes on all around us in ways both obvious and very sneaky subtle.
Social action/ social justice, as I understand these terms are not really about marches on Washington, freedom riding or raising money for good causes. Social action/social justice is an attitude of the heart that says all human beings have the same needs, wants and desires. Some people, in satisfying their wants and desires, take so much from other people that leave the other people with not enough for their needs. Social action/social justice is a response to that behavior which says "Uh huh. No . Not any more".
Former Bishop Mark Dyer, at one time both my parish priest and seminary professor, said something in a sermon I have never been able to forget. Remembering it has caused me personal inconvenience and now I inflict it upon you. Mark said that where we invest our money and our time reveals what are the treasures of our heart. In other words, how we spend our time and our money demonstrate more clearly than our words what it is we most truly value. So the question is this: in what ways do we, in satisfying our wants and desires contribute to the situation wherein others don't have what they need?
A reading from the Gospel of Matthew
31 ‘When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. 32All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, 33and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. 34Then the king will say to those at his right hand, “Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; 35for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.” 37Then the righteous will answer him, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? 38And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? 39And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?” 40And the king will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family,* you did it to me.” 41Then he will say to those at his left hand, “You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; 42for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.” 44Then they also will answer, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?” 45Then he will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.” 46And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.’
The simplest action we can perform is probably the best and the greatest: greet all and treat all as Christ. This bit of Scripture tells us that anything we do or do not , for good or bad, to another person we also do to Jesus. We are to hold the other person as greater than ourselves. Notice how surprised are each group of people. "When, Lord?" both ask. Whatever they did or did not do, they were unaware of either their actions or omissions and this underscores for me that it is an attitude of the heart. They demonstrated by their actions or inactions what it is they most truly valued.
It is pretty darn clear from this passage that God not only expects each of us to be involved in social action but that He demands it of us and we have no choice in the matter if we call ourselves Christians. He isn't content when we limit our social action to giving money or voting for the politicians who will increase funding to services to the poor. Need to give money, need to vote for those politicians, no question about it. God also wants us to give of ourselves, our time, our efforts, our strengths, our gifts and even our weaknesses. He wants us personally involved. Note also that God expects us, once we have seen the need, to meet it. Plain and simple. It is not, according to this passage, up to us to decide who deserves or who is worthy of having a need met. Our business is to meet the need. The consequences of not meeting needs are pretty dire: eternal punishment. Our salvation depends upon seeing all and treating all as Christ..
I warned you at the beginning, I am passionate about this subject. I don't think I need to try and sell you on the idea of social action. We at All Souls know that it is right and good to do for others what they are unable at the moment to do for themselves. And that is another part of the definition of social action/social justice. Lending a helping hand in whatever way God makes available to each of us.
I have another reaction to this passage. I wonder if you do too? My reaction is " That's too much. One person can't do all that!" No, one person cannot. But each of us can do a little and if each of us did the little we could, collectively we would have accomplished a very great deal.
The trick of course, is figuring out what each of us can do. All too often social action/social justice is equated with really big stuff, like going to DC and lobbying Congress or running agencies. Not all of us have these gifts. In case anyone needs help figuring out what good works are, in your handouts you have Chapter 4 of the Rule of St. Benedict which you may read at your leisure.
What I am good at, by way of example, is sitting in my home all by myself in my precious solitude. Some things I do of a social action/social justice nature that maybe some wouldn't think of in this way are: prayer, knitting, using my computer to find out stuff and pass the info along to those who can use it. I also offer a Daily Meditation and more recently, guided book studies to do my bit for Christian formation, equipping adults to find their vocation, God's call to them. The point here is that God has shown me how the things I love the most are also what I have to offer to the world in social action/social justice.
God will show each of how to serve with our lives if we ask and listen attentively to those around us. We all have this gift in common: to demonstrate His presence in our lives. We may not be able to preach, prophesy, perform miracles or show great knowledge or wisdom, but we can show that God is in our lives. The most any one of us can do is toss our pebble into the pond and in tossing, let go and allow the Holy Spirit to take over.
Many times women have said to me "I'm just a housewife. That's all I've done for 20 years. That's all I know." How undervalued even by those who do it are the gifts, talents and strength needed to make a home . The feminist movement really dropped the ball on that one and I regard myself as a feminist. Housewives may be the most talented people in the USA. All of the things that a housewife knows how to do, someone else needs to learn. Especially in this day of the two-income family. Some of the skills that many a housewife has are; accountant; tutor; chef; nutritionist; medic; making budgets; artist; plumber; carpenter; electrician; law enforcement and who knows what all else? Oh, yes, the housewife has skills to offer the world.
In figuring out what each of us are called to do, please refer back to the three circles of vocation. Who. How. What. Who are you? What are your hobbies, interests? What do you do for a living? What are the aspects of your lifestyle? The answers to these questions help us identify our gifts and talents which the Lord wants us to use in His service, to benefit other people in social action/social justice. Have you medical training? Volunteer at a free medical clinic. We all know of lawyers who do pro bono work. Any wealthy landlords out there who can afford the tax write-off? Rent at less than what the market will bear and price your rentals to make them affordable for the elderly and Section 8 rental assistance recipients so they can have affordable, decent, safe homes.
Do you love to cook? They need you at the soup kitchens of San Diego. Is that too public for you? Do you know that there are people in San Diego who go around anonymously giving food to the homeless? Or people who cook up a huge pot of soup and take it along with bread and butter, ladle, paper bowls, napkins, plastic spoons and just leave the vat of soup on a bench where the homeless help themselves and a couple of hours later, one can come back and collect one's stuff which has probably been washed.
Are you an artist? Volunteer to teach an art class in a school where, due to budget cuts, there is no longer an art program. Or if that is too pubic for you, there are all sorts of organizations out there who need computer graphics done. One could do it in one's own home, email the work in and save that organization the expense of paying someone. I need help with computer graphics!. In fact, if you are willing to volunteer your services, i can put you to work immediately!!
Do you knit, crochet, quilt, sew? If you do one of these, there are endless opportunities for you. From the Prayer Shawl Ministry, Christmas Arts, our hospitals, hospices, orphans in Russia, afghans for refugees displaced by what we have done in the Middle East... just google on charity knitting for instance and many opportunities come up. If you don't google, call me and i'll do it for you.
Do you take walks? If so, take with you a trashbag and a picker upper gizmo and pick up the trash and the donations of other people's dogs. Have you seen the movie "Pay it Forward"? That movie is all about social action/social justice. I could go on like this for years, I daresay.
There are so many itty bitty things we can do without leaving our homes. One of the simplest that everyone with a computer can do is to daily visit thehungersite.com, click where it says and food will be donated by the website's sponsors. Additionally there are other links to other important sites where a single click will ensure assistance with breast cancer research, protection of children, saving the rainforest, increasing literacy and animal rescue. In fact that is 6 itty bitty things a person can do every day and make a difference. On another handout, there are a bunch of URLs for people to explore.
As the passage in Matthew tells us: greet and treat all as Christ and meet the need. For someone else and the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ, do what you can with who you are in the time you have for someone else.
And this too is merely the tip of the iceberg. Any questions?
SOME URLS TO EXPLORE
Phone Numbers Provided for Local Opportunities
THE HUNGER SITE
http://www.thehungersite.com
The Hunger Site was founded to focus the power of the Internet on a specific humanitarian need; the eradication of world hunger. Since its launch in June 1999, the site has established itself as a leader in online activism, helping to feed the world's hungry and food insecure. On average, over 220,000 individuals from around the world visit the site each day to click the yellow "Help Feed The Hungry" button. To date, more that 200 million visitors have given more than 300 million cups of staple food. Its grassroots popularity has been recognized with Web awards in the activism category — the 2000 Cool Site of the Year Award and the People's Voice winner at the 2000 Webby Awards.
Please be sure to click on "Free Ways to Help" in the menu to the left
ONE: THE CAMPAIGN TO MAKE POVERTY HISTORY
http://www.one.org/
The ONE Campaign is an effort by Americans to rally Americans – one by one – to fight the emergency of global AIDS and extreme poverty. ONE is students and ministers, punk rockers and NASCAR moms, Americans of all beliefs and every walk of life, united to help make poverty history.
The ONE Campaign derives its name from the belief that allocating an additional one percent of the U.S. budget toward providing basic needs like health, education, clean water and food would transform the futures and hopes of an entire generation in the world's poorest countries. We also call for debt cancellation, trade reform and anti–corruption measures in a comprehensive package to help Africa and the poorest nations beat AIDS and extreme poverty.
EPISCOPAL COMMUNITY SERVICES
http://www.ecscalifornia.org/
PO Box 33168 San Diego, CA | 92163 |
(619) 228-2800
Episcopal Community Services believes all people are created by God with value and dignity. We actively reach out to those who are most alienated from their community and strive to witness in a word and deed to the power of God to heal, transform, and make all things new.
RADIO READING SERVICE
www.radioreadingservice.com
619-594-8170
The KPBS Radio Reading Service broadcasts the reading of newspapers, books and magazines to the blind, physically impaired and those who have difficulty reading small print.
VOLUNTEER SAN DIEGO
http://volunteersandiego.org/
4699 Murphy Canyon Road
858-636-4131
Volunteer San Diego offers a wide range of programs that help meet real community needs, while providing every member of our community with the opportunity to make a difference.
MAMA'S KITCHEN
http://www.mamaskitchen.org
1875 Second Avenue
(619) 233-6262
Our Mission
At Mama’s Kitchen we believe that every person is entitled to the basic necessity of life, nutritious food. As a volunteer-driven, not-for-profit organization, we prepare and deliver food to men, women and children who are affected by AIDS or other critical illnesses.
What We Do
While the world waits for a cure, Mama’s Kitchen, a non-profit charitable organization, delivers food and support to San Diegans affected by AIDS or other critical illnesses. We care for every man, woman and child – straight and gay, every color and every race.
The Tomorrow Project
http://tomorrowproject.org/
1777 5th Avenue
619-230-1151
UNITED WAY OF SAN DIEGO COUNTY
http://www.uwsd.org/
4699 Murphy Canyon Road
858.492.2000
The Simple Living Network
Transform Your Life By Learning To Do More With Less
www.simpleliving.net/
Since 1996 The Simple Living Network has been providing resources, tools, examples and contacts for conscious, simple, healthy and restorative living. One of the fundamental principles is living simply so that others might simply live.
MOTHERS WITHOUT BORDERS
www.motherswithoutborders.org/
It is our mission to offer hope to the orphaned and vulnerable children of our world by nurturing and caring from them as if they were our own. It is our mission to support programs that ensure that orphaned and vulnerable children are provided with safe shelter, nutritious food, clean water, education, health care, vocational training, opportunities to contribute to their community and access to caring adults.
HEIFER INTERNATIONAL
http://www.heifer.org/
330 Main St., Suite 203 A
Seal Beach, CA 90740
Toll Free Phone: 877-663-1683
Email: sw@heifer.org
The Rule of St. Benedict Chapter 4: What Are the Instruments of Good Works
1. In the first place, to love the Lord God with the whole heart, the whole soul, the whole strength.
2. Then, one's neighbor as oneself.
3. Then not to murder.
4. Not to commit adultery.
5. Not to steal.
6. Not to covet.
7. Not to bear false witness.
8. To honor all (1 Peter 2:17).
9. And not to do to another what one would not have done to oneself.
10. To deny oneself in order to follow Christ.
11. To chastise the body.
12. Not to become attached to pleasures.
13. To love fasting.
14. To relieve the poor.
15. To clothe the naked.
16. To visit the sick.
17. To bury the dead.
18. To help in trouble.
19. To console the sorrowing.
20. To become a stranger to the world's ways.
21. To prefer nothing to the love of Christ.
22. Not to give way to anger.
23. Not to nurse a grudge.
24. Not to entertain deceit in one's heart.
25. Not to give a false peace.
26. Not to forsake charity.
27. Not to swear, for fear of perjuring oneself.
28. To utter truth from heart and mouth.
29. Not to return evil for evil.
30. To do no wrong to anyone, and to bear patiently wrongs done to oneself.
31. To love one's enemies.
32. Not to curse those who curse us, but rather to bless them.
33. To bear persecution for justice's sake.
34. Not to be proud.
35. Not addicted to wine.
36. Not a great eater.
37. Not drowsy.
38. Not lazy.
39. Not a grumbler.
40. Not a detractor.
41. To put one's hope in God.
42. To attribute to God, and not to self, whatever good one sees in oneself.
43. But to recognize always that the evil is one's own doing, and to impute it to oneself.
44. To fear the Day of Judgment.
45. To be in dread of hell.
46. To desire eternal life with all the passion of the spirit.
47. To keep death daily before one's eyes.
48. To keep constant guard over the actions of one's life.
49. To know for certain that God sees one everywhere.
50. When evil thoughts come into one's heart, to dash them against Christ immediately.
51. And to manifest them to one's spiritual mother.
52. To guard one's tongue against evil and depraved speech.
53. Not to love much talking.
54. Not to speak useless words or words that move to laughter.
55. Not to love much or boisterous laughter.
56. To listen willingly to holy reading.
57. To devote oneself frequently to prayer.
58. Daily in one's prayers, with tears and sighs, to confess one's past sins to God, and to amend them for the future.
59. Not to fulfill the desires of the flesh; to hate one's own will.
60. To obey in all things the commands of the Abbess, even though she herself (which God forbid) should act otherwise, mindful of the Lord's precept, "Do what they say, but not what they do."
61. Not to wish to be called holy before one is holy; but first to be holy, that one may be truly so called.
posted by Gloriamarie Amalfitano @ 1:42 PM
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