What I was shocked to learn about "Social Justice" today from the pulpit

[GeauxLSU]

I like my church for a lot of reasons, one is, they almost universally leave the politics out.
We have a very diverse congregation. Today we had a ‘visiting’ (and retired) priest who has never been there before. He entered with a scowl on his face. I thought “Never judge a book by it’s cover, but that is odd”. After today’s scripture readings he took the pulpit to deliver the homily.
This is what I learned …

1. The Gospel of Luke is “all about social justice”.
2. Today’s Gospel reading of LK 7:11-17 is all about social justice. Christ did not raise the man for pity for the deceased or moved by the procession of friends and family but He raised the man because otherwise his mother (widow) wouldn’t have been allowed to own property since men were only allowed to own property and therefore he did it for ‘social justice’.
3. In the United States we are plagued with the sins of social injustices. Pay inequities, and minority prison populations. They are not ‘coincidences but intentional’.
4. You SHOULD give a homeless person money EVEN IF you know they will use it to buy alcohol because it will “give them some relief from the reality they are living in.” And finally and most surprisingly…
5. ISIS and all terrorism around the world is the result of … “social injustice”. It has nothing, apparently, at all, to do with a perverted ‘religion’ or the manifestation of actual evil on earth. I guess just bad luck for those targeted Christians who are getting slaughtered in unspeakable ways.
   He felt compelled to preach yet again at the conclusion of mass about the “social injustices” in this country (abortion didn’t make his list).
   It is the first time in my life (cradle Catholic) I almost walked out of mass.
   I’ve intentionally saved all the scriptural retorts to the above and any sarcasm (couldn’t help myself on #5, sorry) or highlighting of my disgust, as I wanted it to be a direct recount of what was communicated without any editorializing.
   I would be very interested in any comments by those who find the the content of the above sermon defensible.

 

[whatsmyname]

That’s pretty much in line with the social justice teaching I’ve heard.

I’m left with two choices: they’re wrong or my beliefs are really in conflict with church teaching. The more I hear about it, the more I start to think I must somehow figure out a way to align my thoughts and beliefs with what the church teaches.

 

[Scottgun]

Today we had a ‘visiting’ (and retired) priest who has never been there before

That’s really all I needed to hear to predict the rest. In most dioceses, there is a stable of Leftist dinosaurs that can’t be trusted with a parish, so they occasionally sub and it’s like someone spiked the holy water with topical LSD and it’s 1973 again. One benefit of the visit from one of the moldy oldies however is that you really appreciate your pastor when he returns.

 

[Corki]

That’s really all I needed to hear to predict the rest. In most dioceses, there is a stable of Leftist dinosaurs that can’t be trusted with a parish, so they occasionally sub and it’s like someone spiked the holy water with topical LSD and it’s 1973 again. One benefit of the visit from one of the moldy oldies however is that you really appreciate your pastor when he returns.

Our diocese is the same way. When we have an out-of-diocese visitor, it is usually a refreshing change and on-point. But the ones that are floating in the diocese or who have been given “special assignments” rather than pastoral posts are almost always way out there.

The worst was a guy from prison ministry who told us he was offended by our parish pro-life group (It was October and we had a display). He said that until we were willing to invite a death row convict to come and live in our homes we were not really pro-life. A few of the Knights walked out. (just from the homily, not the whole Mass)

so they occasionally sub and it’s like someone spiked the holy water with topical LSD and it’s 1973 again

.

I’ll have to remember that one.

 

[meltzerboy]

I like my church for a lot of reasons, one is, they almost universally leave the politics out.
We have a very diverse congregation. Today we had a ‘visiting’ (and retired) priest who has never been there before. He entered with a scowl on his face. I thought “Never judge a book by it’s cover, but that is odd”. After today’s scripture readings he took the pulpit to deliver the homily.
This is what I learned …

1. The Gospel of Luke is “all about social justice”.
2. Today’s Gospel reading of LK 7:11-17 is all about social justice. Christ did not raise the man for pity for the deceased or moved by the procession of friends and family but He raised the man because otherwise his mother (widow) wouldn’t have been allowed to own property since men were only allowed to own property and therefore he did it for ‘social justice’.
3. In the United States we are plagued with the sins of social injustices. Pay inequities, and minority prison populations. They are not ‘coincidences but intentional’.
4. You SHOULD give a homeless person money EVEN IF you know they will use it to buy alcohol because it will “give them some relief from the reality they are living in.” And finally and most surprisingly…
5. ISIS and all terrorism around the world is the result of … “social injustice”. It has nothing, apparently, at all, to do with a perverted ‘religion’ or the manifestation of actual evil on earth. I guess just bad luck for those targeted Christians who are getting slaughtered in unspeakable ways.
   He felt compelled to preach yet again at the conclusion of mass about the “social injustices” in this country (abortion didn’t make his list).
   It is the first time in my life (cradle Catholic) I almost walked out of mass.
   I’ve intentionally saved all the scriptural retorts to the above and any sarcasm (couldn’t help myself on #5, sorry) or highlighting of my disgust, as I wanted it to be a direct recount of what was communicated without any editorializing.
   I would be very interested in any comments by those who find the the content of the above sermon defensible.

I’m in no position to comment on the profound or any other meaning of the Gospel of Luke. However, I agree with the priest on points 3 and 4 but not with 5.

 

[Scottgun]

I’m in no position to comment on the profound or any other meaning of the Gospel of Luke. However, I agree with the priest on points 3 and 4 but not with 5.

You should re-read 3 and 4 again. The problems in 3 are real and serious, but calling it all “intentional” is going too far. In 4 he’s essentially giving a dispensation to drunkenness.

As usual it’s smuggling in subtle lies among truth. You can almost smell the smoke: there’s no such thing as sin. It’s all just a big misunderstanding.

 

[MaryT777]

You should re-read 3 and 4 again. The problems in 3 are real and serious, but calling it all “intentional” is going too far. In 4 he’s essentially giving a dispensation to drunkenness.

As usual it’s smuggling in subtle lies among truth. You can almost smell the smoke: there’s no such thing as sin. It’s all just a big misunderstanding.

Spot on. Well stated.

Mary.

 

[JB_Brother_4446]

You should re-read 3 and 4 again. The problems in 3 are real and serious, but calling it all “intentional” is going too far. In 4 he’s essentially giving a dispensation to drunkenness.

As usual it’s smuggling in subtle lies among truth. You can almost smell the smoke: there’s no such thing as sin. It’s all just a big misunderstanding.

I actually found nothing wrong with what the priest preached.

 

[tseleehw]

Yes, those points you listed sound like leftist propaganda to me. Number 3 is a real problem, but calling it intentional is out of line. For #4, in this situation, I would offer to give food, drink, clothing, etc. Though sometimes I have known homeless people to not accept anything but money. If they won’t take it, you’ve tried your best, and move on. Number 5 is just making excuses for terrorism and sin.

Just start hoping that your usual priest will be back next week!

 

[Scottgun]

I actually found nothing wrong with what the priest preached.

Well, since I gave a brief description of what was wrong with it and you merely found nothing wrong with it as if we were talking about favorite flavors of ice cream, my point stands unscathed.

 

[1990Domer]

It’s threads like these that I am so glad we live near American Czestochowa Shrine.

 

[ctb95]

I hate it when people try to make everything about the Gospels a social justice message and I certainly don’t agree with everything that the priest said, especially #4. But, he does does make some valid points. I even have to agree with his point on ISIS, based on what little you told us. It seems logical to me that years of warfare and occupation by the West just might cause people to push back very violently. I’m not saying it’s right; I’m just saying that it makes sense.

 

[xNoOnex]

1.) No real comment on this.

2.) While our parish priest didn’t call it an act of social justice, he did call it an act of compassion and love, for the same reasons; women could not inherit property or wealth. So I’m not sure why this is a bad thing.

3.) Institutionalized racism exists in this country, like it or not. And while I would argue that prisons have more to do with class than race, the fact that many prisons in this country are for-profit enterprises should make people at least question whether or not our justice system is actually just.

4.) I don’t think the priest is wrong here. For one, you don’t know what he’s going to do with the money and are making assumptions that may or may not be true. Of course, you could offer to take him to McDonald’s and buy him food, and he might reject… But that doesn’t mean he rejects the offer because he plans to buy wine with your money. Maybe that’s a step to far for his integrity and self-worth, since you don’t trust him enough. And even if he does buy booze, you gave him money out of love.

5.) When the IRA committed acts of violence, they weren’t twirling their mustaches and launching maniacally over body counts. They were attacking what they believed to be an oppressive regime. I don’t imagine its all that different for Islamic terror cells.

Nothing justifies their actions, but we don’t live in a comic book. People often believe that their evil is justified, because they feel they are fighting a greater evil. It’s easy to dismiss how they feel, because our children aren’t dying in drone strikes… But for a moment, think back how you felt in 9/11. War and violence tend to be a vicious cycle but it isn’t going to end until we admit that we have a hand in it.

I don’t want to sound uncharitable, but between reactions to this and reactions to some of the things Pope Francis says, I sometimes can’t feel that people have more affiliation with their political party than their faith. The compliance of American Catholics to a lot of social injustices, contrary to what the Church actually teaches are why I left my religion for ten years. And its the papacy of Pope Francis, who is speaking more boldly on the importance of justice and compassion, that made me return to the religion that I loved.

 

[JB_Brother_4446]

1.) No real comment on this.

2.) While our parish priest didn’t call it an act of social justice, he did call it an act of compassion and love, for the same reasons; women could not inherit property or wealth. So I’m not sure why this is a bad thing.

3.) Institutionalized racism exists in this country, like it or not. And while I would argue that prisons have more to do with class than race, the fact that many prisons in this country are for-profit enterprises should make people at least question whether or not our justice system is actually just.

4.) I don’t think the priest is wrong here. For one, you don’t know what he’s going to do with the money and are making assumptions that may or may not be true. Of course, you could offer to take him to McDonald’s and buy him food, and he might reject… But that doesn’t mean he rejects the offer because he plans to buy wine with your money. Maybe that’s a step to far for his integrity and self-worth, since you don’t trust him enough. And even if he does buy booze, you gave him money out of love.

5.) When the IRA committed acts of violence, they weren’t twirling their mustaches and launching maniacally over body counts. They were attacking what they believed to be an oppressive regime. I don’t imagine its all that different for Islamic terror cells.

Nothing justifies their actions, but we don’t live in a comic book. People often believe that their evil is justified, because they feel they are fighting a greater evil. It’s easy to dismiss how they feel, because our children aren’t dying in drone strikes… But for a moment, think back how you felt in 9/11. War and violence tend to be a vicious cycle but it isn’t going to end until we admit that we have a hand in it.

I don’t want to sound uncharitable, but between reactions to this and reactions to some of the things Pope Francis says, I sometimes can’t feel that people have more affiliation with their political party than their faith. The compliance of American Catholics to a lot of social injustices, contrary to what the Church actually teaches are why I left my religion for ten years. And its the papacy of Pope Francis, who is speaking more boldly on the importance of justice and compassion, that made me return to the religion that I loved.

True.

 

[Dorothy]

It’s threads like these that I am so glad we live near American Czestochowa Shrine.

 

[Neofight]

That’s pretty much in line with the social justice teaching I’ve heard.

I’m left with two choices: they’re wrong or my beliefs are really in conflict with church teaching. The more I hear about it, the more I start to think I must somehow figure out a way to align my thoughts and beliefs with what the church teaches.

Yes. We must…However, it seems like few here see it…and its not just Luke, or just the gospel, social justice is the theme of salvation history.

Its a shame people don’t get it. Those who see it as a political statement are ignoring it, or not getting it. Either way, invincible ignorance seems to be their saving grace.

 

[St_Francis]

Is it social justice when big corporations are granted tax breaks to move overseas, costing Americans their jobs? Is it social justice when hundreds of thousands of Americans are denied the means of self-defense against criminals in their midst? Is it social justice when unborn babies are deliberately killed? Is it social justice when Americans are turned down for jobs because they don’t speak Spanish and that’s what is spoken in the workplace? Is it social justice when a hospital closes because of the debt resulting from unpaid ER use? Is it social justice when people can’t start a business due to regulations making the cost too high? Is it social justice when ER employees die from anti-biotic–resistant TB caught from an illegal immigrant? Is it social justice when ISIS beheads Chritian and Yazidi men and sell their wives and daughters as sex slaves because ISIS is angry with the US? Is it social justice when a person has to go deeply into debt just to get a low-level job?

And is it social justice to help others not out of compassion and love for others but only for the sake of social justice?

 

[xNoOnex]

Is it social justice when big corporations are granted tax breaks to move overseas, costing Americans their jobs? Is it social justice when hundreds of thousands of Americans are denied the means of self-defense against criminals in their midst? Is it social justice when unborn babies are deliberately killed? Is it social justice when Americans are turned down for jobs because they don’t speak Spanish and that’s what is spoken in the workplace? Is it social justice when a hospital closes because of the debt resulting from unpaid ER use? Is it social justice when people can’t start a business due to regulations making the cost too high? Is it social justice when ER employees die from anti-biotic–resistant TB caught from an illegal immigrant? Is it social justice when ISIS beheads Chritian and Yazidi men and sell their wives and daughters as sex slaves because ISIS is angry with the US? Is it social justice when a person has to go deeply into debt just to get a low-level job?

And is it social justice to help others not out of compassion and love for others but only for the sake of social justice?

Are you American first, or Catholic first? What is more important? Your Catholic religion, or your politically conservative beliefs? I am not asking any of this to be uncharitable, or condescending, but the Catholic Church has always called for social justice.

The only difference now is you have a Pope who is calling louder, and some clergy are responding in term.

Many of the things you’re speaking are injustices, certainly, but here’s the thing… There’s two sides to every argument. Things are seldom black and white as much as they are black and black.

Would we have illegals here in the first place, if their nations could provide for them, and their economies weren’t often ruined because of first world exploitations? Would ISIS even exist, if not for Western manipulation of Middle Eastern politics? Would those hospitals that closed because people couldn’t pay their ER bills, if healthcare was actually affordable or even provided by the state?

Maybe when you look at the world, you see good and evil. But I just see a fallen world, with no clear heroes and villains, but a world that I believe we can make better with love and compassion. But in order to do that, we need to break down the barriers around our own hearts, and far to often those barriers are political ideologies.

 

[JB_Brother_4446]

I see a world with a hero and a villain. Jesus and Satan.

 

[RPRPsych]

I like my church for a lot of reasons, one is, they almost universally leave the politics out.
We have a very diverse congregation. Today we had a ‘visiting’ (and retired) priest who has never been there before. He entered with a scowl on his face. I thought “Never judge a book by it’s cover, but that is odd”. After today’s scripture readings he took the pulpit to deliver the homily.
This is what I learned …

1. The Gospel of Luke is “all about social justice”.

What was he reading, the Gospel of Cool Hand Luke? The Gospel of Luke contains immense riches on Our Lady, the Holy Spirit, prayer, and forgiveness, besides being an accurate account of the Life of Christ.

1. Today’s Gospel reading of LK 7:11-17 is all about social justice. Christ did not raise the man for pity for the deceased or moved by the procession of friends and family but He raised the man because otherwise his mother (widow) wouldn’t have been allowed to own property since men were only allowed to own property and therefore he did it for ‘social justice’.

While it’s true that widows didn’t generally own property, this is eisegesis of the worst kind.

1. In the United States we are plagued with the sins of social injustices. Pay inequities, and minority prison populations. They are not ‘coincidences but intentional’.

While those are unjust, they are not the only injustices even in the US or the rest of the world.

1. You SHOULD give a homeless person money EVEN IF you know they will use it to buy alcohol because it will “give them some relief from the reality they are living in.” And finally and most surprisingly…

Nonsense. I think it was St. Augustine who said “Do not give to the sinner as a sinner, but as a man”, meaning that we should help a sinner, but not encourage his sins. (For example, if a heroin addict is starving and homeless, we can feed him and give him shelter, but not give him money which he will probably use to shoot up again. )

1. ISIS and all terrorism around the world is the result of … “social injustice”. It has nothing, apparently, at all, to do with a perverted ‘religion’ or the manifestation of actual evil on earth. I guess just bad luck for those targeted Christians who are getting slaughtered in unspeakable ways.

What is he smoking?

He felt compelled to preach yet again at the conclusion of mass about the “social injustices” in this country (abortion didn’t make his list).
It is the first time in my life (cradle Catholic) I almost walked out of mass.
I’ve intentionally saved all the scriptural retorts to the above and any sarcasm (couldn’t help myself on #5, sorry) or highlighting of my disgust, as I wanted it to be a direct recount of what was communicated without any editorializing.
I would be very interested in any comments by those who find the the content of the above sermon defensible.

Don’t worry, it’s not defensible. It’s just an example of “Liberation Theology Lite”. Compare the above sermon with any given by St. JP II, Benedict XVI or Francis, all of whom know how to link earthly concerns to the Gospel. We should pray for this priest, that “the scales may fall from his eyes.”