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Journey Into Shame: Implications for Justice Pedagogies
Full text linkBeing formed for justice can be a painful experience. Sometimes that pain takes the form of shame and contributes to the formation and exercise of conscience. But shame in other forms can be opposed to human flourishing and social justice. Psychologist James Fowler provides a spectrum of two forms of healthy shame and four forms of unhealthy shame, to which the author adds four other varieties, strategic shame and spiritual shame, at one end of the spectrum, and murderous shame and genocidal shame, at the other. Various experiences of shame are dramatically illustrated in Black Like Me, John Howard Griffin’s classic narrative of racism in the Deep South. It is crucial for social justice educators to be able to discern among these forms of shame in their own experience and when reported by students, so that healthy forms can be sympathetically honored and unhealthy forms critically examined
Daily Reflections (Meditations) on the Scriptures from the Roman Catholic Lectionary.
No full textIn the reading from II Samuel, David is out of his mind with grief over the deaths of King Saul and his son, David's bosom friend, Jonathan. How can these beloved warriors of Yahweh -- swifter than eagles, stronger than lions! -- have fallen?||In the second, very short reading from Mark, Jesus' relatives describe him as "out of his mind," presumably because Jesus had demonstrated the power to drive out demons, and that seemed to put him in league with evil. |But today is the memorial of Saint Francis de Sales, a Christian humanist and devout gentleman of the Catholic Reformation. If ever there was a saint who was "in his mind" _ both sane, balanced, moderate and holy _ it was Francis de Sales.|Francis was appointed bishop of Geneva in 1602, at the age of 35, and served with wide acclaim and admiration until his death in 1622. He was canonized in 1665 and named a Doctor of the Church (one of only 33 today) in 1877. He is the patron of authors, because of the literary talent to be discovered in the spiritual and theological classics, "Introduction to the Devout Life and Treatise on the Love of God." Appropriate to the gentle art of persuasion which he perfected in his preaching to those who had left the Catholic Church for Calvinism, Francis is also the patron of educators. |For more than a quarter of a century I have been married to one of the world's leading authorities on Saints Francis de Sales and Jeanne de Chantal and the tradition of spirituality they founded. Dr. Wendy M. Wright's many books, both scholarly and popular, are contemporary expressions of that Salesian tradition. Of the many insights and anecdotes she has shared with me over the years, here's just one.|When Francis was a young man he had a crisis of faith not unlike that of the young Martin Luther a century earlier. He was radically anxious about his own salvation. Luther's famous resolution was to realize that there was nothing he could do, or needed to do, but have utter, naked faith in God's grace.|Francis had a different insight. Unable to convince himself of his own salvation, he decided that nonetheless he could love both God and his neighbor unconditionally. Everything remembered and written about Francis indicates he did just that, as preacher to his brothers and sisters separated by religion, as spiritual director, as friend of the poor and sick, as author, as bishop, as founder, with St. Chantal, of the Order of the Visitation. |One of the great insights of this Doctor of the Church was that such a simple but radical path, such a "bond of perfection" (St. Paul's term for Christian friendship) was open to everyone and not just priests and religious or the spiritually gifted. Francis is often described as one of the founders of a genuine lay spirituality. I have seen that spirituality up close and personal, the only place it can bear full fruit. I have seen it in my home, and I wager you have seen it in yours, too _ even if you didn't name it "Salesian" but simply thought of it (you did think of it, right?) as Christlike. |What does it mean for a Christian to be in her right mind? To love unconditionally, no matter what grief that exposes one to, no matter how the less generously minded will perceive you. Or, as the patron of authors put it with graceful but challenging simplicity:|"The measure of love, is to love without measure.
On Fire at the Frontiers: International Conference on the Commitment to Justice in Jesuit Higher Education
No full textIn 1999, all 28 Jesuit Universities in the U.S. were invited to prepare a self-study in anticipation of the 25th anniversary of the 32nd General Congregation of the Society of Jesus (1975) and its famous Decree 4, which made justice a central dimension of all Jesuit ministries, including higher education. What had been done and what had been learned in that quarter of a century? The first national conference was hosted by Santa Clara University , October 4-6 , 2000. It was at this major event that the Father-General of the Society, Fr. Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, SJ, delivered his landmark address, “The Service of Faith and the Promotion of Justice in American Jesuit Higher Education.” Subsequent conferences have been held at John Carroll University in 2005 and Fairfield University in 2009. The most recent conference was hosted by Creighton, August 1-4, 2013. It was attended by 325 representatives of all members of the Association of Jesuit Colleges & Universities. Each of the schools prepared an Institutional Examen on justice. (See the poster on Creighton’s Examen elsewhere in this exhibit)
Markoe-DePorres Social Justice Lecture Series
No full textThis lecture series was inaugurated in 1994 in honor of Fr. John Markoe, of the Society of Jesus, and the Omaha De Porres Club he founded on November 3, 1947, in what is now the Schleich Room on the 4th floor of Creighton Hall. Fr. Markoe, a member of the mathematics faculty, mentored that club through the 1950s and into the 1960s. The club was made up mainly of students from Creighton and other area colleges. Named after Saint Martin De Porres, the patron of social justice, the objective of the club was the realization of racial justice in Omaha. The Catholic Church celebrates the feast of Martin De Porres on November 3. What made the Omaha De Porres Club so remarkable was its use of nonviolent but militant tactics several years before similar boycotts, sit-ins, and marches garnered headlines in the South, especially under the leadership of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Before Dr. King and the civil rights movement achieved national and even international prominence, Fr. Markoe and the De Porres Club stirred consciences and challenged racist attitudes and segregationist practices in Omaha
A Poster about the Posters! An Institutional Examen on Justice
No full textIn 2011, each of the 28 Jesuit colleges and universities in the U.S. was asked to conduct an Institutional Examen on the commitment to justice in preparation for the “On Fire at the Frontiers” Conference, sponsored by the Association of Jesuit Colleges & Universities and hosted by Creighton University, August 1-4, 2013. This poster summarizes the report prepared by the Creighton Justice Committee
Markoe-DePorres Social Justice Lecture Series
No full textThis lecture series was inaugurated in 1994 in honor of Fr. John Markoe, of the Society of Jesus, and the Omaha De Porres Club he founded on November 3, 1947, in what is now the Schleich Room on the 4th floor of Creighton Hall. Fr. Markoe, a member of the mathematics faculty, mentored that club through the 1950s and into the 1960s. The club was made up mainly of students from Creighton and other area colleges. Named after Saint Martin De Porres, the patron of social justice, the objective of the club was the realization of racial justice in Omaha. The Catholic Church celebrates the feast of Martin De Porres on November 3. What made the Omaha De Porres Club so remarkable was its use of nonviolent but militant tactics several years before similar boycotts, sit-ins, and marches garnered headlines in the South, especially under the leadership of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Before Dr. King and the civil rights movement achieved national and even international prominence, Fr. Markoe and the De Porres Club stirred consciences and challenged racist attitudes and segregationist practices in Omaha
Commitment to Justice in Jesuit Higher Education (Catholic Social Learning: Educating the Faith That Does Justice)
No full textThe canon for Catholic social teaching spreads to six hundred pages, yet fewer than two pages are devoted to Catholic social learning or pedagogy. In this long-needed book, Roger Bergman begins to correct that gross imbalance. He asks: How do we educate (“lead out”) the faith that does justice? How is commitment to social justice provoked and sustained over a lifetime? To address these questions, Bergman weaves what he has learned from thirty years as a faith-that-does-justice educator with the best of current scholarship and historical authorities. He reflects on personal experience;, the experience of Church leaders, lay activists, and university students; and the few words the tradition itself has to say about a pedagogy for justice
Daily Reflections (Meditations) on the Scriptures from the Roman Catholic Lectionary.
No full textEach one of us find ourselves searching for ultimate satisfaction in our daily lives. This satisfaction may be in our jobs, a favorite type of food, or the completion of a task that we have labored very hard with. There are many forms of satisfaction that we seek, but the geatest form can be found in Christ.||In Phillipians 2:1-4, the Apostle Paul proceeds with exhortations to our Christian duties. He presses largely to like-mindedness and lowly mindedness, which is in comformity to the example of the Lord Jesus. The great gospel precept passed unto us is to "Love one another". This he represents by being like-minded, having the same Love, being of one accord, and of one mind. If there is consolation or satisfaction in Christ, the evidence is shown by us loving one another. The sweetness we have found in the doctrine of Christ, should sweeten our spirits.|If I am to be of service to my fellowman, I must have a humble spirit. It's not about me, but the Lord. In Psalms 131, Davis's aim is not at a high position, nor was he desirous of making a name for himself, but as God so ordered, was content to serve right where he was. The Love of God reigning in the heart, will subdue all in-ordinate self-love. We should have a humble trust in God.|The scripture of Luke 14:12-14, our Lord Jesus sets us an example of proper attitude when we are in company with our friends. He observed those that were aspiring to get the best seats at the table, may be degraded and forced to come down and give place to those more honorable. Jesus cautioned one of the leading Pharisees that when you host a lunch or dinner, don't focus the invite on friends or the wealthy that can repay the favor, but more so on the poor, crippled, the blind. Don't focus on whether those you invite can repay you, but rather that you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.|Remember, God wants us all to be of one mind, and one spirit, so that we might show Love one toward the other
Daily Reflections (Meditations) on the Scriptures from the Roman Catholic Lectionary.
No full textToday is the twentieth anniversary of the assassinations of six Jesuit priests, their housekeeper and her teenage daughter, at the University of Central America (UCA) in El Salvador, an institution of Christian inspiration that had made a preferential option for the poor, the vast majority of the country's citizens . But the martyrdoms of November 16, 1989, were hardly the first or only instances of persecution of the church and repression of movements for social change by the U.S.-supported armed forces of the Salvadoran government from the late 1970s into the early 1990s. The litany of dead and disappeared, including the saintly and prophetic Archbishop Oscar Romero, as well as four U.S. women missionaries, is heartbreakingly long, numbering in the tens of thousands.||An infamous slogan of the day was “Be a patriot! Kill a priest!” Women, including pregnant women, and children, including infants, were not spared. Unspeakable massacres at the Rio Sumpul and in the village of El Mazote seemed intended to wipe out the next generation of peasants – potential “subversives” – and to terrorize the current generation into submission.|"In those days there appeared in Israel men who were breakers of the law, and they seduced many people, ... abandoned the covenant, ... and sold themselves to wrongdoing ... Whoever was found with a scroll of the covenant ... was condemned to death by royal decree." Apparently persecution of the righteous by the ruling powers is nothing new, as the story of the Maccabees in the second century before Christ makes clear. "But many in Israel were determined and resolved in their hearts ... [and] preferred to die rather than ... to profane the holy covenant." And so was born the idea of religious martyrdom.| Faced with such inhumanity and idolatry, one cries out to God, with the Psalmist, "Indignation seizes me because of the wicked who forsake your law." One begs the Lord, "Redeem me from the oppression of men, that I may keep your precepts." When wicked men rule, as in the time of the Maccabees, or of Jesus, or of Romero and the UCA Jesuits, observing the commandments to love God and one's neighbor as oneself becomes subversive and makes the righteous targets for violence.|In such a broken world, when the risen Jesus passes near, for what do you beg? How do you respond to his question to the blind man of Jericho, "What do you want me to do for you?" I find myself praying for the courage to sustain compassion when so many suffering people around the world and over my back fence cry out for justice and solidarity.| I find myself praying for the courage to be faithful to the covenant when it might be risky to speak out. I find myself asking for mercy, since I know from long past experience that my courage will sometimes be found wanting.|I find myself begging for sight, to see the world as it really is, in all its beauty and all its misery, its love and its hate, and to see it through the eyes of Jesus. I pray that I will never grow too tired, or cynical, or comfortable, to experience indignation in the face of yet another atrocity.|From the Maccabees to Jesus, and from Jesus to the Salvadoran martyrs, we have examples before us of those who persevered and paid the price. Dare we pray to have that kind of subversive faith
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