It's Time for Justice
A discussion session for RCIA groups
Introduction
"Christ challenges us to see his presence in our neighbour, especially the neighbour who suffers or who lacks what is essential to human flourishing. In relieving our neighbour's suffering and meeting our neighbour's needs, we are also serving Christ."
The Bishops' Conference of England and Wales, The Common Good, 1996
These notes have been designed to provide material for a discussion session on the Church's tradition of fasting, wealth-sharing and practical compassion for people in need. The first week of Lent, around the time of the CAFOD Fast Day, is an ideal time to discuss action for social justice as an integral part of gospel living.
The Church has made the years of preparation for the millennium a special time of recommitment to the poor and the outcast. Their hope is that the new millennium will bring a world in which the rights and dignity of all are respected. The message of the poor, and the message of the Church, is "It's Time for Justice".
Reflection on the Liturgy
For some candidates, the beginning of Lent will be marked by the Rite of Election followed by the Scrutinies. These liturgies call for repentance, healing and renewal.
The stories of Jesus' temptation in the desert reflect the temptations all of us face to self-centred and greed. These are the attitudes at the root of the injustices that deprive the world's poorest people of the basic essentials of life. In contrast, the gospel calls for a conversion of heart and a lifestyle marked by openness and generosity towards others and a determination to create a just society in which the rights and dignity of each person are respected.
Reflections on the Scriptures - 1
"The parts are many but the body is one."
Read aloud in the group St. Paul's first letter to the Corinthians 12: 12-26. Ask each person present:
- Which phrase or image caught your imagination?
- Does the world today reflect Paul's image of the body made up of many parts: "And if one part is hurt, all the parts share its pain"?
- Is it just natural that some people have more than enough, while others go hungry? Or are there underlying structures that leave many people in the Third World without access to a livelihood, health care and education?
- If the world was to reflect the idea that we are one body made up of many parts, what do you think it would be like?
- What do you think could be done by us in this parish to help change the world - even in a very small way! - so that it would reflect gospel values more closely?
Reflections on the Scriptures - 2
"They shared their food gladly and generously."
Read aloud in the group Acts of the Apostles 2: 42-7. Ask each person present:
- Why do think so many people felt drawn to join the first Christian Community?
- What strikes you most about the way they lived their faith together?
- What "miracles and signs" worked by Christians today are most likely to make a deep impression on people?
- How could we as Christians today live the equivalent of owning everything in common, sharing what we have "according to what each one needed"?
Group Activity 1: Fasting and the Church
Following on from Jewish customs, fasting has been part of the Christian way from the early days of the Church. Not so long ago Catholics were distinguished by the fact that they did not eat meat on Fridays. Now the days for fasting and abstinence are Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. In 1966, abstaining from meat on Fridays ceased to be obligatory. Paul VI called instead for Catholics to choose their own form of fasting or "giving up" a treat or a luxury - and to make Friday a special day for prayer and acts of charity.
Discuss together what "fasting" means to each individual in the group. What is the point of fasting? What is it meant to achieve?
Ask each person present to read a few verses in turn of Isaiah 58: 1-12. Ask each person in turn:
- How does this reading fit in with your ideas of fasting?
- How might we take on "the sort of fast that pleases God", both individually and together as a community?
Read aloud in the group this text from St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430):
"Fasting punishes you, but it will not restore your neighbour. Your privations will be fruitful if you provide for the needs of another. Certainly, you have deprived your body, but to whom did you give that which you deprived yourself? What did you do with the things you denied your self? How many poor people could be nourished by the meal which you did not take today? Fast, then, in such a way that when another has eaten in your place, you may rejoice in the meal you have not taken. Then your offering will be received by God."
Ask each member of the group:
- How does this reading help us put Isaiah 58 into practice?
Group Activity 2: The Church and Social Justice
Give each person a pen and a piece of paper to draw a picture of himself or herself. Around their pictures, ask everyone to spend five minutes listing all the essentials of life as they see them: family, friends, house, food, clean water, car and so on. Ask each person to explain what is on their list. Discuss any similarities and differences. Then discuss the following questions:
- Which of these essentials would it be most difficult to live without?
- Does everyone in the world have access to what you consider to be the most important things?
The roots of Catholic Social Teaching reach right back through the history of the Church to the New Testament and the Hebrew Scriptures. Pope Paul VI (1963-1978) and Pope John Paul II (1978- ) have built on this long tradition to apply them to the challenges and choices we face today. Read aloud in the group the following quotations from their writings and homilies:
"Today the hungry peoples of the world are making a dramatic appeal to the peoples blessed with abundance. The Church shudders at this cry of anguish and calls each one to give a loving and compassionate response to their cry for help."
Paul VI, Populorum Progressio, para. 3, 1967
"Countless millions are starving, countless families are destitute, countless men and women are steeped in ignorance; countless people need schools, hospitals and homes. In these circumstances we cannot tolerate wasteful public and private expenditure; we condemn lavish displays of wealth by individuals and nations; we condemn the debilitating arms race."
Paul VI, Populorum Progressio, para. 53, 1967
"The poor... are your brothers and sisters in Christ. You must not be content to leave them just the crumbs from the feast. You must take of your substance, and not just of your abundance, in order to help them. And you must treat them like guests at the family table. The parable of the rich man and Lazarus must always be present in our memory. Christ demands an openness that is more than benign attention, more than token actions that leave the poor as destitute as before. We cannot stand idly by, enjoying our riches and freedom, if the Lazarus of the twentieth century stands at our doors."
John Paul II, homily in New York, 1979
"If we recall that Jesus came to 'preach the good news to the poor' (Matthew 11:5, Luke 7:22), how can we fail to lay greater emphasis on the Church's preferential option for the poor and the outcast? A commitment to justice and peace in a world such as ours, marked by so many conflicts and intolerable social and economic inequalities, is a necessary condition for the preparation and celebration of the Jubilee. In the spirit of the book of Leviticus, Christians will have to raise their voice on behalf of all the poor of the world, proposing the Jubilee as an appropriate time to give thought, among other things, to reducing substantially, if not cancelling outright, the international debt which seriously threatens the future of many nations."
John Paul II, Tertio Millennio Adveniente, para. 51, 1994
Now ask each member of the group:
- What do you understand by the "preferential option for the poor"?
- What can be done to make the "preferential option for the poor" a reality at the individual and parish level?
CAFOD and the Church
"CAFOD is an expression of solidarity, of love, of our yearning for justice for the poor" (Cardinal Basil Hume). It is the official overseas development and relief agency of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, supporting over 1000 projects in 75 countries.
The values that inspire CAFOD's work are drawn from scripture, the Church's social teaching, and the experiences and hopes of the poor. Read this extract from CAFOD's statement of values aloud in the group:
"Confronted by so much poverty and suffering, our fundamental response is compassion.
We stand alongside suffering communities in solidarity, sharing our resources with them, uniting with them in prayer, defending their rights, and challenging the systems which bear down on them. We foster partnership between poor communities overseas and Catholics in England and Wales, based not on dependency but on mutual trust.
We draw on the hope so often present in the lives of the poor, believing that in spite of all the setbacks a change for the better is still possible."
Ask each member of the group:
- Why does the Catholic Church have an overseas development and relief agency?
- Are CAFOD's values a faithful reflection of the values of the gospel?
Further Action
How can we bring the message of the gospel to life? Here are some ideas from CAFOD - some are very simple, others demand more time and commitment. Call CAFOD on 0171 733 7900 for further details.
The CAFOD Lent and Harvest Fast Days. Going without a meal, a drink or cigarettes and sharing the money saved with the poor is a simple and practical way of expressing compassion.
The CAFOD 24 Hour Fast can help group-building, and is a way of demonstrating our solidarity with poor communities for whom going without is not a choice but a way of life.
The CAFOD Fair Deal for the Poor Campaign raises public awareness of the worldwide interdependence of rich and poor through its network of local volunteers. It is calling for companies to draw up codes of conduct that protect the rights of their employees and for governments to forgive the debts that are strangling the poorest countries.
The New Covenant with the Poor is a commitment being made by dioceses and parishes to give more, to do more, and to pray more for the poor, answering the call of Pope John Paul II in Tertio Millennio Adveniente to make the preparation for the millennium a time for reconciliation, liberation and justice.
