Post by The Catholic Worker on Dec 26, 2004 1:50:53 GMT -5
I thought this would be both in the spirit of the year and our ideals. Two quotes, one written by a fellow Catholic Worker and another by Thomas Merton...
"I took some time this morning to quietly read the Gospel (Mark, Luke, and John) accounts of Jesus' birth. I can't help but see pleas for social justice written all over them. Here we have Jesus, conceived to an unwed, teenage mother and laid in a manger after his birth because no inn would take him and his family in, even though Mary was pregnant. His "father," Joseph, was a carpenter, a member of the working class. The world he was born into was one in which the Jews were living under the rule of an oppressive imperial power, Rome. Even though he lived in the Promised Land, Jesus was, in a sense, born into exile and Roman occupation. The first people outside of his family to know of Jesus' birth were shepherds, relativly poor and simple people. It was to them that, according to the legend, angels and the glory of the Lord appeared to announce the coming of Messiah (though I leave the validity of Jesus' claim to that title for others to ponder). Not long after his birth, Jesus and his family were forced to flee from the regional ruler, Herod, into Egypt because Herod had heard of the birth of a "King of the Jews" and was afraid of losing his power.
The unwed teenage mother, the child born out of wedlock, the victim of imperial occupation, the poor and working class, the homeless, the lowly and simple, the political refuge, the one living in exile, the scandelous- the Holy Family (Jesus, Joseph, and Mary), as they are called, were all of these things. Later, Jesus would go on to become a political prisoner and, ultimatly, a victim of capital punishment. Many of his early followers would suffer the same fate. Can we see divinity in these things? Can I? I know that, more often than not, I fail to, like the people on the road to Damascus who walked with Jesus but failed to recognize him.
I think think this is an excellent time, whether or not we are Christians, to reflect on the social aspects of the Nativity and the events surrounding it. I hope that, in doing so, I'll come to a better understanding of my own shortcomings here."
- xanandax
"Into this world, this demented inn, in which there is absolutely no room for him at all, Christ has come uninvited. But because he cannot be at home in it, because he is out of place in it, and yet he must be in it, his place is with those others who do not belong, who are rejected by power, because they are regarded as weak, those who are discredited, who are denied the status of persons, tortured, exterminated. With those for whom there is no room, Christ is present in this world."
- Thomas Merton
Merry Christmas.
"I took some time this morning to quietly read the Gospel (Mark, Luke, and John) accounts of Jesus' birth. I can't help but see pleas for social justice written all over them. Here we have Jesus, conceived to an unwed, teenage mother and laid in a manger after his birth because no inn would take him and his family in, even though Mary was pregnant. His "father," Joseph, was a carpenter, a member of the working class. The world he was born into was one in which the Jews were living under the rule of an oppressive imperial power, Rome. Even though he lived in the Promised Land, Jesus was, in a sense, born into exile and Roman occupation. The first people outside of his family to know of Jesus' birth were shepherds, relativly poor and simple people. It was to them that, according to the legend, angels and the glory of the Lord appeared to announce the coming of Messiah (though I leave the validity of Jesus' claim to that title for others to ponder). Not long after his birth, Jesus and his family were forced to flee from the regional ruler, Herod, into Egypt because Herod had heard of the birth of a "King of the Jews" and was afraid of losing his power.
The unwed teenage mother, the child born out of wedlock, the victim of imperial occupation, the poor and working class, the homeless, the lowly and simple, the political refuge, the one living in exile, the scandelous- the Holy Family (Jesus, Joseph, and Mary), as they are called, were all of these things. Later, Jesus would go on to become a political prisoner and, ultimatly, a victim of capital punishment. Many of his early followers would suffer the same fate. Can we see divinity in these things? Can I? I know that, more often than not, I fail to, like the people on the road to Damascus who walked with Jesus but failed to recognize him.
I think think this is an excellent time, whether or not we are Christians, to reflect on the social aspects of the Nativity and the events surrounding it. I hope that, in doing so, I'll come to a better understanding of my own shortcomings here."
- xanandax
"Into this world, this demented inn, in which there is absolutely no room for him at all, Christ has come uninvited. But because he cannot be at home in it, because he is out of place in it, and yet he must be in it, his place is with those others who do not belong, who are rejected by power, because they are regarded as weak, those who are discredited, who are denied the status of persons, tortured, exterminated. With those for whom there is no room, Christ is present in this world."
- Thomas Merton
Merry Christmas.
