Father Francis Stevenson of Corpus Christi parish in Tahoe City posted his 16-minute homily on Feb. 4 for the Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time.
He addresses the problem with social justice in the Catholic Church.
The text of the excerpt is transcribed below:
“Social justice is kind of a back door for ideas that are not in keeping with Christianity or the Catholic Church. For example, abortion. Contraception.”
You’ve got to be kidding me.
Social Justice has been an integral part of the message of Christ for two thousand years. It’s not a back door to anything except for Samaritans who would care for the injured along the road.
Did you listen to more than the 15-second clip?
No, all that was provided and encouraged was the 15 second clip. DId I miss something? Maybe 15 second clips isn’t a good idea? In any case, I’m sceptical that a homily is delivered in the middle of snow. Where is the altar or the people?
Link to full homily is in the first paragraph, highlighted “16-minute homily”.
From the gospel according to Bernie:
And the next day he raised taxes to give to his constituency and said to the host: Take care of the illegal immigrant for free; and whatsoever thou shalt spend over and above, I, at my return, will show thee what a privileged white man thou art!
bedwere: Whut? First of all, Bernie is Jewish, not a faith with the gospel at hand. Secondly, I don’t think he said anything like the words you want to put into his mouth. I;m not even a Bernie supporter, so I have no idea where you are coming from. Please tell the truth!
YFC– The modern,1960s-type of “Social Justice” of our Church, came from secular sociological ideals– not from a religious viewpoint! Before the Council, our Church did many good works, worldwide, for Christ– with Christ and His teachings at the center! Not Godless secular ideals! Many social reformers have been anti-Christian agnostics/atheists– as well as socialists, and communists! Many have championed immoral causes, like birth control and abortion– thinking erroneously, that they were relieving social ills, and creating a better world! I have never accepted Vatican II secular ideas of “Social Justice.” Instead, I go with traditional Church teachings, carried out by fine Church leaders such as Pope Leo XIII, and St. Mother Teresa. And watch out for notorious “liberation theology,” as well as leftist, communist sympathizer, Dorothy Day! Not true Catholics!
YFC, when Catholics used to feed the hungry, tend the sick, educate poor children, reform sinners (such as prostitutes and criminals), and help refugees (etc.) according to the Corporal Works of Mercy– they always did one more very important thing– shockingly missing in today’s post-Conciliar “Social Justice” endeavors!— they preached the Gospel! They taught the Catholic Faith, along with doing their good works! And carried out their good endeavors, with prayer and strong dedication to Our Lord, the true Source of all reform and improvement to society! Many of these reformers became Saints!
Before y’all get bent out of shape about the Catholic meaning of social justice, start with a 130 year old papal encyclical. Then talk to me about a back door. http://www.vatican.va/content/leo-xiii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_l-xiii_enc_15051891_rerum-novarum.html
My Fellow Catholic, Did you listen to more than the 15-second clip?
I believe in Catholic justice teaching, both social and otherwise. I think Fr. Stevenson does too. So, again,
Did you listen to more than the 15-second clip?
CCD encourages the 15 second clip. Presumably, they made an editorial decision that suggests it is the best part of the homily. Which, again, is not a homily if delivered in the middle of a snow covered road and no congregation or church in site. If there is some better portion of the homily, why didn’t they post THAT instead?
YFC, it’s not a homily because the parish deacon was preaching last weekend. You could more understandably comment on what he said if you listen to what he said. No fifteen second clip can “do justice” to a ten minute talk, regardless of what portion of the talk it’s taken from. The point of his talk is the same whether he spoke it in the pulpit, in the snow, on the beach, in a college “safe space” or anywhere else. There just happens to be snow at Lake Tahoe this time of year. The purpose of the 15-second clip is, I think, to give you a glimpse of a homily (or talk, in this case), in case you’d like to listen to the entire homily.
To YFC and the rest of the Left, social justice means whatever they say it means it has ZERO do with any Catholic teachings.
Leo XIII, like several Popes, condemned socialism, which many contemporary “social justice” advocates promote. He criticized the very ideal of economic equality as a social ideal: “Therefore, let it be laid down in the first place that in civil society, the lowest cannot be made equal with the highest. Socialists, of course, agitate the contrary, but all struggling against nature is in vain. There are truly very great and very many natural differences among men. Neither the talents nor the skill nor the health nor the capacities of all are the same, and unequal fortune follows of itself upon necessary inequality in respect to these endowments.” “Social justice” is a 19th century term. As one author notes, “The first known usage of the term is by an Italian priest, Luigi Taparelli D’Azeglio, who wrote a book about the need for recovering the ancient virtue of what had been called ‘general justice’ in Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas, but in a new contemporary form. He gave it the term ‘social justice.’ The term was given prominence by Antonio Rosmini-Serbati in La Costitutione Secondo la Giustizia Sociale in 1848.”
I watched the whole video. It was shocking to hear a priest say things like this. I know priests hate it when lay people tell them to read the Catechism but if you are interested it is here: https://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p3s1c2a3.htm
Also you can wiki social justice and find that it did not start in the 1960s with liberation theology. Really?
I think what he was trying to do was criticize social justice without referencing God which is valid.
We all have encyclopedias and catechisms and history lessons that we carry in our pockets. Use them.
Trigger warning: at 9:50 mark there is a picture of a small baby murdered by abortion
OK for all the folks who said I should go listen to his entire 1 minute homily to the snow, and forget the 15 second homily that CCD encouraged us to listen to, I did. Ironic that he is glad to not have preaching duties that weekend, because as he says it, he always feels like he has to get things perfect, yet he rambles at the snow and puts it on youtube. Ummm, think about that folks. However:
In his rambling 16 minute diatribe against people doing good things, he confuses a whole bunch of issues. He equates social justice with handing things out for free. Um, no that’s not social justice. It’s a good thing, but it’s not social justice. Social justice is simply the movement to make sure that whatever opportunities society offers to one, it offers to all. A movement to treat everyone else the way we would hope to be treated. That protections of law should apply to all, and the sanctions of law, when necessary, ought to be applied equally to all people. Saint Mother Theresa gave away a lot of things for free. She wasn’t engaging in either social justice nor was she a Communist. She was just doing the right thing. This priest equates giving things away for free – what we have called “charity” since about the middle of the 19th century – with Commnism. And he, like almost everyone else, confuses that 19th century notion of charity with the biblical notion of love/charity: an unconditional commitment to the other person no matter what it takes even if means giving up ones life for the other as Jesus himself modeled. The priest is wrong for saying that Social Justice is Communism and its about giving things away for free, and confusing giving things away for free i(which for all his twisted logic he has a hard time admitting is actually a good thing in some cases), and it is also not social justice.
The only back door I see here is the back door that allows people to escape from the Gospel command to love one another. The call for universal justice isn’t that backdoor. It’s actually the opposite – an open door that invites us all to become more Christ like.
Dear Saint Joseph the Just, pray for us.
YFC, Social Justice is not making sure that all people in a society are offered the same opportunities. Social justice principles teach that all humans at any stage of life have the right to life and dignity and those things which they need for human decency. There is more to it including the individuals responsibilities to others. http://www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/what-we-believe/catholic-social-teaching/seven-themes-of-catholic-social-teaching.cfm
The biblical notion of love/charity is not an unconditional commitment to another person. It is about an unconditional commitment to God.
I don’t disagree with your first point, and I don’t think what you wrote is in disagreement with my own poor definition of social justice. But I do think that the bibilical notion of love is what you say it is alone. “See how they love one another” was a common refrain spoken about early Christians. And not without reason.
I did take your words and use them in my sentence. Perhaps that was disrespectful. I am sorry if it was. Perhaps I misunderstood you.
Love of one’s neighbor is part of the unconditional commitment to God, as are good works, virtue, prayer, faith, hope charity, self-denial, humility. seeking God’s will.
I do not know of anything in Scripture or Tradition that calls for an unconditional commitment to another person, except for the person of Jesus Christ.. Possibly the Sacrament of Matrimony, but if that person you are married to wants you to sin, you have to tell them no. Perhaps that was not what you meant.
John 13:34 :I give you a new commandment: Love one another just as I have loved you.” That seems pretty clear to me!
Anonymous at 4:54 PM, I didn’t take anything you said as being disrespectful. You didn’t attack me personally, and you didn’t take my words out of context, so I’m fine with the interaction. But I just happen to think you have missed a lot of what Jesus himself taught us, both with his words and with his actions. Thanks for considering this radical call to discipleship.
So this is possible what I misunderstood. When you said “an unconditional commitment to the other person” you meant every person, where I interpreted it as being to one particular person.
Now that I see where I went wrong, I would agree with you, but I think it is a confusing way to say it. It is possible to love everyone. It is possible to be willing to die for anyone. It is possible to pray and sacrifice for everyone. It is possible to choose a profession like medical care where you are laying down your life to care for anyone.
I think I was understanding “commitment” differently. In matrimony when you commit to one person, you are forsaking all others.
Thank you for your patience with me and for the conversation
Anonymous, I want to thank you for being a perfect model of civil discussion. Our world could use many more like yours.
I appreciate you taking the time to have a discussion. God bless you.
When the Legion of Mary first began, in Ireland– one of their first endeavors, with their dedication to Our Lady, and praying the Rosary– was to clean up a great, big prostitution problem, in their city!
My husband’s comment to me after watching this sermon on YouTube: “Honey, we can cancel our donation to Bishop Soto’s Annual Catholic Appeal!”