Swords Into Ploughs

They will stop using their weapons for war. They will hammer their swords into ploughs and their spears into sickles for harvesting. All fighting between nations will end. They will never again train for war. – Isaiah 2:4

Christ The Beggar at the front door

Servants of God Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin

We believe in loving our brothers regardless of race, colour or creed and we believe in showing this love by working for better conditions immediately and the ultimate owning by the workers of their means of production.

– Dorothy Day

 

I want a change, a radical change, from an acquisitive society to a functional society, from a society of go-getters to a society of go-givers. What we give to the poor for Christ’s sake, is what we carry with us when we die.

– Peter Maurin

Easy Essay: Yes! I am a Radical

Down to the Roots

I was once thrown out
of a Knights of Columbus meeting
because, as the K. of C. official said,
I was radical.
I was introduced as a radical
before the college students
of a Franciscan college,
And the Franciscan Father added
“I am as radical
as Peter Maurin.”
Speaking in a girls’ college
near St. Cloud, Minnesota,
I was told by Bishop Busch,
“Conservatives
are up in a tree
and you are trying
to go down to the roots.”

Poor Conservatives

After another meeting
I was told by a sociologist
“I still think
that you are a radical.”
And I told the sociologist
“We have to pity
those poor conservatives
who don’t know
what to conserve;
who find themselves
living in a changing world
while they do not know
how to keep it from changing
or how to change it
to suit themselves.”

Radically Wrong

Monsignor Fulton Sheen says:
“Modern society is based on greed.”
Father McGowan says:
“Modern society
is based on systematic selfishness.”
Professor John Dewey says:
“Modern society
is based on rugged individualism.”
When conservatives
try to conserve a society
based on greed,
systematic selfishness
and rugged individualism
they try to conserve something
that is radically wrong,
for it is built
on a wrong basis.
And when conservatives
try to conserve
what is radically wrong
they are also
radically wrong.

A New Society

To be radically right
is to go to the roots
by fostering a society
based on creed,
systematic unselfishness
and gentle personalism.
To foster a society
based on creed
instead of greed,
on systematic unselfishness
instead of systematic selfishness,
on gent1e personalism
instead of rugged individualism,
is to create a new society
within the shell of the old.
Modern society
is in a state of chaos.
And what is chaos
if not lack of order?
Sociology
is not a science,
it is an art,
the art of creating order
out of chaos.
All founders of orders
made it their personal business
to try to solve the problems
of their own day.
If religious orders
made it their business
to try to solve the problems
of our own day
by creating order
out of chaos,
the Catholic Church
would be the dominant
social dynamic force
in our day and age.

– Peter Maurin

A Reminder for Christians

Recently I have seen several people who claim to be Christian;

Yet they say bad things to immigrants, such as
“Those low lives need to all be arrested & shipped back to where they are from! I don’t want them in MY country.”
and they treat these people as if they are subhuman.

I have also recently seen several people who claim to be Christian, pray to win the lottery or become rich, or to simply get money.

I have also seen several people who claim to be Christian, say & do horrible things to the poor, the homeless,
“They choose to make dumb decisions, therefore they do not deserve to have a home, healthcare, or a living wage.”
And to criminals,
“Let them fry! Let them get raped in prison!”
again treating these people in a subhuman way, in a non-Christian way.

I would like to remind these people of these verses in the bible:

Leviticus 19:33-34
“When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the Lord your God.”

Matthew 25:34-46
“Then the Lord will say to those on his right,
‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.
For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat,
I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink,
I was a stranger and you invited me in,
I needed clothes and you clothed me,
I was sick and you looked after me,
I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
Then the righteous will answer him,
‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
“The Lord will reply,
‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
Then he will say to those on his left,
‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat,
I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink,
I was a stranger and you did not invite me in,
I needed clothes and you did not clothe me,
I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
They also will answer,
‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
He will reply,
‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

Matthew 19:21-24
Jesus answered, “…go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”

Proverbs 19:17
“Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will reward them for what they have done.”

Proverbs 28:27
“Those who give to the poor will lack nothing, but those who close their eyes to them receive many curses.” Proverbs 22:9 “The generous will themselves be blessed, for they share their food with the poor.” Proverbs 14:31 “Whoever oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honours God.”

Proverbs 14:20-21
“The poor are shunned even by their neighbours, but the rich has many friends. Whoever despises his neighbour is a sinner, and whoever shows kindness to the poor is blessed.”

Deuteronomy 15:7-8
“If there is a poor person among you, in any of your towns in your land which the LORD your God has given you, they are your brother, and you shall not harden your heart or shut your hand against your poor brother, Instead, you are to open your hand to them and freely lend them whatever they need.”

1 John 3:17-18
“If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech, but with actions and in truth.”

Deuteronomy 24:14
“Do not take advantage of a hired worker who is poor and needy, whether that worker is one of your countrymen or a foreigner residing in one of your towns.”

Matthew 6:24
“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”

Luke 16:13
“No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”

So remember, Christ called us to love everyone as ourself, & to see him in everyone. We are to love the foreigner, for was not Christ & the Holy Family one time foreigners in Egypt? We are to love the poor, for was not Christ financially poor while wandering Judea? We are to love the hungry & thirsty, for was he not those as he travelled? We are to love those wandering with no place to sleep & invite them into our home, for did Christ not seek shelter while he preached? Did he not need clothing during that time? And was not Christ arrested, charged with a crime, had a trial, was found guilty, & sentenced to punishment, & death? Christ was a prisoner.

We are to love the prisoner & visit them, to love the homeless & give them shelter, to feed the hungry & thirsty, & to love the foreigner as ourselves & treat them like how we would someone who was native born. We also cannot love God & money, we cannot love wealth, we must give all we have to the poor in order to follow Jesus. Truly he told us that unless we do these things, we cannot enter the Kingdom of heaven.

If you wish to follow Christ, perhaps you should become as he was, become poor, a foreigner, & a prisoner. I have been to a different country, which spoke a language I did not know, I have been poor, & I have been a prisoner. It has taught me to be humble, & share with & love, all.

Now go forth & love your neighbour, whether they be poor, a foreigner, or a prisoner, love them as strongly as you do Christ, & do anything for them that you would do for Christ.

Also stores and people should not throw out food which does not sell, or which they do not want to eat, for:

Leviticus 23:22
“‘When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and for the foreigner residing among you. I am the LORD your God.'”

– Jack Danya Kemplin