Magnificat: A Charter for Justice

INTRODUCTION

Father Gerard Hughes, SJ explains through a story an underlying gospel principle about what captures our heart. In this reflection, as we move towards a broader view of the call to a prophetic quest for justice, what is our heart of being brother factor?
 

A former military chaplain was appointed to a parish in England. He came, he saw, and he had everything reorganised within a week. The parish included a very lively Third World group. They met regularly, studied, brought visiting lecturers to the parish, ran a Fair Trade stall, and every month they had a special collection for some Third World project. The new parish priest decided unilaterally that there would no longer be a monthly collection for the Third World: in his estimation, once a year would be sufficient.

The Third World group members were furious. They met together, seethed with anger, deplored this rampant clericalism, and decided to draft a letter of complaint to the bishop. While they were still at the drafting stage, Father made a fatal mistake. There was a men's club attached to the parish. Father changed the beer in the club without consulting the beer drinkers. There was uproar. The men rose, united as never before, and confronted the new parish priest, threatening to withdraw their money and their presence from the Church unless he restored the beer. Father relented. I never heard the end of this story, but I hope the parish priest relented, and restored the monthly collection for the Third World group, who then thanked the beer group for their intervention and invited them to become members!

What is my beer factor? What is it that really moves me into action, as distinct from the things that I claim move me into action? (From God in All Things, Hodder & Stoughton, 2003, pgs. 11-12)
 

OPENING PRAYER
 

God, the Creator of all life, help us to realize that: If children live with criticism, they learn to condemn. If children live with hostility, they learn to fight . . . If children live with equity, they learn to be just. If children live with security, they learn to have faith. If children live with approval, they learn to love themselves. If children live with acceptance and friendship, they learn to find love in the world. May we be a source of equity, security, approval, acceptance and friendship for our students today, in order that they may learn justice, have faith in themselves, and find love in their world. Amen!
 

PRAYERFUL REFLECTION:            A Meditation on the Magnificat
 

My soul trembles in the presence of the loving Creator
And my spirit prepares itself to walk hand in hand
With the God who saves
Because I have been accepted by God as a helpmate.

Yes, forever in the life of the humankind
People will sing of this loving encounter;
Through remembering this movement, the faithful will know
All things are possible in God.

The hungry children will be fed of your ennobling life.
In places where there are needs,
people will give to others from their abundance.

God, you will empower all of us to sisterhood and brotherhood,
and expose to us our insensitivities to hurting women
and children around the world.

God, gentle one, you will reach out in tenderness
to caress the heads of all battered people,
with powerful arms you will embrace them.

God, you have shown us the freeing power of an inner answer.
To one who asks in genuine yearning,
"What shall I do in this moment, Yahweh?"
 

"Listen to my cry for help in the voices
of the young people enslaved by elders.
Remember, these are the loved little children
that came to Jesus.
Recall the promise made in that simple
Live-filled stable room so long ago."

My longing to be a healing
and reconciling person
to your most abandoned people
is affirmed within the daily comings
and goings of my life.

Come, O God, celebrate with your people,
Mindful of your love of dancing, of music,
Of garlands of flowers and incense
With any instruments that we can
Beat in your praise.

We celebrate in psalm and canticle
And in our hearts.
    Marantha
            Marantha
                    Marantha
 

LITANY OF JUSTICE

Leader: Let us name what is evil in our world, and in the same of Jesus proclaim its defeat. In a world where the rich are protected from understanding the lives of the poor, let us believe in the words of Jesus:

All: I have come to bring the good news to the poor.

Leader: In a world where the demands of international debt are more important than the health of children, let us believe in the words of Jesus:

All: Suffer the little children to come to me.

Leader: In a world where unjust laws and practices privilege white people over others, let us believe the words of Jesus ...

All: He/she who hears my word and keeps it is my brother, my sister.

Leader: In a world where women are silenced and exploited let us believe the words of Jesus ...

All: Come to me all who labour and are heavy burdened, and I will give you rest.

Leader: In a world where the lives of ordinary workers are violated by the military, let us believe the words of Jesus ...

All: What profit is there for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?

Leader: In a world where the earth and its forests are plundered and destroyed let us believe the words of Jesus ...

All: I will be with you always, even until the end of the world.

Leader:     God of vision, we long to see your face and are afraid to see it; we long to break the grip of suffering, and we cannot cast it out. Uncover our faces and expose us to your glory, that we may comprehend the poor in their suffering and insight, and the world may be transformed in you. Amen.
            Adapted from Janet Morley, Bread of Tomorrow


Prayer (together)
The children of our world are hungry, not just for bread, but also for affection, esteem and love. They sometimes die because they do not have a reason to live, they lack hope. I would like, O Lord, to give strength back to wearied hands and steadiness to knees that tremble in fear. I would like to tell the broken-hearted to take courage and be brave. I would like to do all this in your name, O Lord, and to share with all the hope that is ours. Amen!


CONVERSATION:
 

"Our conversations ... signal something new
that is beginning among us,
those conversations need to carry on and involve all of us."
The Heart of Being Brother, 2002
 

Consider these questions related to Christian Brother mission:

◊    In the light of justice ... do I hear a call to live differently?
        ... to engage with the poor and marginalized at our doorsteps*

◊    Do I desire to realize a justice that moves me to live life in its fullness?
        ... to engage in radical relationships of equality with all God=s creation.*

◊    What is my perspective in bringing life to others?
        ... to accept as gift the growth that comes through facing the pain and loss in a troubled and suffering planet.*

◊    How is my liberation linked with the other?
        ... to formulate strategies foe healing and reconciliation in community living and ministry.*

◊    Do I hear a call to re-centre myself and, in the process, to become more other-centred?
        ... to promote networking across the Congregation on issues of justice and right relationships.*

                    *All quotes are from The Heart of Being Brother, 2002 Chapter.

 

Br. Nick Morris (Rome)