Per Christum

Servant of God Dorothy Day

I just ran across a wonderful reflection from an Evangelical woman, Michelle, whom I am getting to know here on WordPress. At Consider Jesus, she writes:

We get this itch every few months. We desire to move away from the city and enjoy the great outdoors. When we visit my inlaws’ place - a dream to us - we imagine what it would be like to own something so perfect. We make the plans, start the search, crunch the numbers, build the dream…then…we go to church.

Do you know what our pastor had the gall to speak about today? The secret of contentment … We are at the end of the book of Philippians where Paul states,

“Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.”

I wanted to affirm my agreement by saying “amen!” but could not choke out the word. Here we go again, thinking through our responsibility of being one of those who have plenty.

I have seen other countries, I have done some traveling, I know how other people live with much less. When we first came home from England we could not believe the overabundance of America. We made all kinds of pledges to one another - we don’t need a VCR, there’s no need for a walk-in closet full of clothes, we can make due without eating out two times a week, one car is plenty for a family to own, that’s too much square footage for three people. We had learned to live with less and had enjoyed our time overseas. But, even with all our ‘pledges’, it didn’t take long before we had bought the VCR and began looking for a home with a pool. When is enough, enough?

I was delighted with and as Evangelicals say, “convicted” by her words. As Catholics we do not subscribe to the prosperity Gospel (just be good and give away money and God will make you rich). Rather, we believe that our lives are blessed in order that we learn generosity. The Works of Mercy are our cornerstone for understanding the Christian life. Consumerism is the opposite spirit of the Works of Mercy.

Tomorrow night, Holy Thursday, we will hear the ancient words of our Lord at the washing of the feet: I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another. (John 13:34) There is no greater poverty nor love than the cross which is not only his gift to us but his example.

I myself as a vowed religious struggle with consumeristic tendencies. I go back on forth over whether to have a cell phone or a small personal TV. It is not easy to keep before me the realities of the Third World that I have witnessed first hand. It is easy to lose all perspective in the land of Walmart. But, it is the Gospel struggle, I believe, to make of one’s life a service to others, to make of one’s actions a sacrifice of praise.

Two major Catholic figures who continually challenge me are St. Francis and Dorothy Day. If you haven’t heard of her, that’s okay. She is kind of a Catholic thing, and well worth a wikipedia read:

Anyway, the point of both Francis and Dorothy is that they made the connection between simplicity and generosity. Their simplicity was not just saying “no” to creature comforts, but was rooted in saying “yes” to the poor. And, neither of them had some abstract notion of “the poor.” Rather, they actually fed the hungry, clothed the naked, etc. They did it personally. Dorothy Day set up her Houses of Hospitality around the country as meeting places where the middle class could reach out, meet, and serve the poor. To do direct action is powerfully converting. To feel in one’s very person the feeding of Christ in the “distressing disguise of the poor,” as Mother Theresa always said, changes a person. To serve the poor is to often witness uncannily and miraculously the multiplication of the loaves and fishes. To kiss the leper is to become mystically and concretely one with Christ.

One of my favorite Saints is Pope St. Leo the Great who, BTW, saved Rome from the Huns. He said: “There can be no shortage of material for generosity when it is Christ who feeds and Christ who is fed.”

Corporal works of mercy

1. Feed the hungry
2. Give drink to the thirsty
3. Clothe the naked
4. Shelter the homeless
5. Visit the imprisoned
6. Visit the sick
7. Bury the dead

Or, as Dorothy Day used to say often…”Love is the measure.”

Thanks to Michelle for inspiring my meditations for Holy Week this year.