THE JUSTICE PERSPECTIVE
THE NEED FOR AN INTEGRATED SPIRITUALITY
The traditional spiritualities such as the Carmelite, Jesuit, Franciscan, Benedictine and others have been challenged to adjust to some of the fundamental changes introduced by the Second Vatican Council. The insights of this historic event unleashed the power of the social message of the gospel. The final document of Vatican II, The Church in the Modern World had this to say on that topic: “A new humanism is emerging in the world in which man and woman are primarily defined by their responsibility toward their brothers and sisters and toward history.”
Vatican II made it clear that there is no part of human life and history that is not affected by faith and the gospel. Grace touches all of life whether it is personal, in the home, the workplace, the political arena, the theatres, the stadiums or any and all social reality. All of God’s created handiwork is influenced by the saving presence of God’s grace. An isolated “natural order” is a fiction far removed from the divine dominion that encompasses all creation.
Basically, this call for a new humanism is a summons to adjust our religion, to refocus how and where we experience God, to direct our attention and to be open to this world. Many of us were raised to understand our central faith project as saving our souls. Our attention was focused on “the spiritual”, “the other worldly.” Events in this world simply formed the context for this fundamental personal endeavor. Carmelite spirituality, like all other traditional spiritualities, had been distorted over time to exaggerate the personal and private to the neglect of the wider picture of the social and historical, including the actual experience of our daily lives.
Pope Francis, in his beautiful and transforming Exhortation, The Joy of the Gospel, speaks of our need to change our ways so we can bring justice to the poor. His message is completely in tune with the gospel, the teachings of the Second Vatican Council and the long and magnificent tradition of the social teachings of the Church. Francis lays out a concrete program that is founded on a mature development of Vatican II’s message. The problem many people have with his call for involvement is rooted in a narrow and damaging understanding of spirituality.
Slowly, we have come to realize that Jesus did not preach a message of just saving one’s soul. He proclaimed the coming of the kingdom. His message includes saving one’s soul but also concern for this world, its history and the struggle for a just society. The gospel is about the kingdom of God (Lk 4:43); it is about loving God who reigns in our world. To the extent that He reigns within us, the life of society will be a setting for universal fraternity, justice, peace and dignity. Both Christi preaching and life, then, are meant to have an impact on society. We are seeking God’s kingdom: “Seek first God’s kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Mt 6:33) Jesus’ mission is to inaugurate the kingdom of his Father; he commands his disciples to proclaim the good news that “the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Mt 10:7) Pope Francis highlights this call to social involvement over and over in The Joy of the Gospel. Here is one example: “We cannot ignore the fact that in cities human trafficking, the narcotics trade, the abuse and exploitation of minors, the abandonment of the elderly and infirm, and the various forms of corruption and criminal activity take place … The unified and complete sense of human life that the gospel proposes is the best remedy for the ills of our cities … But to live out human life to the fullest and to meet every challenge as a leaven of gospel witness in every culture and in every city will make us better Christians and bear fruit in our cities.” 1
This is the Justice Perspective. It involves both a personal and a social transformation. It calls us to experience a spirituality that includes the just transformation of our society. This is the prophetic dimension of the gospel which has played a minimal role in the lives of many if not most Christians for centuries.
The Synod on Justice in 1971 captured this fundamental call to expand our horizons in this historic statement: “Action on behalf of justice and participation in the transformation of the world fully appear to us as constitutive dimension of preaching of the Gospel, or, in other words, of the church’s mission for the redemption of the human race and its liberation from every oppressive situation.”
In his response to the environmental crisis, Laudato Si, Pope Francis makes a strong point about concern for the poor. He states that we must always include a social approach in our response to the gravity of the ecological issues that confront us. We must constantly include action on behalf of the poor. Justice has a vital role in uniting our response to both the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor.
