The Heart of the Matter: Answering the Call
Over the next several weeks, I will reflect on Joseph Cardinal Cardijn’s philosophy/theology of praxis in relation to the Sermon on the Mount. For Cardijn, his theology was grounded in the Sermon on the Mount. From that understanding, he saw avenues to put theology into practice. For Cardijn, that was in YCW and YCS. For Cardijn, his lifelong dedication to social activism and working toward improving the working class was paramount.
The key to understanding what Cardijn did we find in his understanding of the teachings of Jesus and found the place in society during his time that needed change the most. So too, with others who adopted his methods of See-Judge-Act. We see how the method weaved into Albert Nolan’s Prophetic work and conviction that theology must come from the grassroots level and not an academic solely, think of his radical church magazine called “Challenge: and Louis Putz’s work in Movements of families, publishing, and education for senior seniors. We especially see his work weaving a seamless garment at Vatican II.
“Christ tells his apostles to be in the world to bring about transformation. This means serving the world for higher motives than self-interest, applause, and recognition. The life of total dedication to the spiritual and material welfare of one’s neighbor, whether within the family circle, in the neighborhood, in economic or political struggles, or on the professional plane, can be sheer martyrdom. Christ served his nation not by giving in to their materialistic messianic aspirations but by showing them the true way to salvation, the hard way.” ~ Louis J Putz CSC The Modern Apostle 1957 page 133
The heart of that statement is what Joseph Cardijn created as a movement in society. That movement focused on students and workers. The situation in time both students and workers produced the JOC movement. The movement enriched the See-Judge-Act method, which is, for us today, the formula to engage the world in Action for the greater good.
Think of the Sermon on the Mount. The Cardijn movements that have expanded globally from their beginnings with workers and students today have become the foundation of living the Sermon on the Mount. We all have a visual of Jesus delivering the Sermon on the Mount. As intriguing as that image may be, what we see in the event is an inflammatory call to Action by Jesus to the Jewish people. A call to Action that was a challenge to the empire they were all subject to and were reminded daily of what it meant to live in the Roman Empire.
The Sermon on the Mount was Jesus calling people to himself to form a new social order, the kingdom of God here and now. A kingdom that demonstrates a new vision of what righteousness, peace, and love of self and neighbor means in our daily lives was a call to Action.
See-Judge-Act is our framework for understanding the Sermon on the Mount and how to apply the teachings to our world today. It is about economics and politics, social justice and charity; remember, Jesus was political, just not partisan; after all, the Sermon on the Mount was a political statement of the day.
“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate, and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” ~ MT 7:13-14
That quote is from the Sermon on the Mount, and if we apply the See-Judge-Act method as Cardijn and others have done, we see one gate that leads to life and one that leads to death. We judge and discern by Jesus’ statement that you shall love God and love your neighbor as yourself. Reflecting on this, we discover this is challenging to do today. Just as strikingly difficult as it was for the people sitting on the hillside listening to Jesus say those words and knowing the Romans would view this as a threat.
Now think of today, do the “empires” we find we live in find those exact words a threat, or do we find ourselves living in those “empires” creating workarounds to living those words? Do we have to ask ourselves if we are afraid of those words in real-life situations, then how impossible will it be to live the meaning of bringing about the greater good? To Living the Sermon on the Mount?
Now some action items:
Think of examples of how Jesus lived the Sermon on the Mount, how Cardijn and others in the JOC movement live the Sermon on the Mount, and using the See-Judge-Act methods, can we map our life experiences to the same?
Consider why we need not separate Jesus’ teaching on the Sermon on the Mount from whom He was as a person in the world surrounded by the Roman Empire. Think about why Jesus was present in the world. When you use the “judge/discern” aspect of the method, think about how is following the teachings of Jesus different from following the teacher.
What Action steps are necessary for us to follow the Sermon on the Mount in the modern world and see the results as “good news”? And why is that?
Related Scripture for reflection as you think about the questions, and our current situation in life, whatever that may be for each of us. Read Philippians 2:1-11 & 3:7-11. Then read 1 Peter 2:21-25 & finally 1 John 2:3-6
Now for fun!
Go back and reread the Sermon on the Mount. And when you see the word “blessed” is used, especially in the Beatitudes sections, substitute the word “blessed” with the word “congratulations to.….” The word “congratulations” comes closer to the original meaning of what Jesus was saying; actually it, the Romans completely understood what the meaning of the word was all about. Historical theologians find it interesting how the word evolved to “blessed.” More on that in the following weeks. I think we will see it has more meaning in what we do in our work than we ever thought.
Richard Pütz
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