PRAYING WITH ACTIVISTS Monthly spiritual reflections for Christians working for a just and peaceful world

Transcription

1 PRAYING WITH ACTIVISTS Monthly spiritual reflections for Christians working for a just and peaceful world

2 PRAYING WITH THE ACTIVISTS a monthly spiritual reflection for Christians working for a just and peaceful world. shines light on the social justice themes in the Gospel.

3 WHAT TO EXPECT IN THIS MONTH S SPIRITUAL REFLECTION Prayer focus: Today, we pray with all the activists in South Africa and in the world who are victims of state violence and those who have lost their loved ones as the result of the state violence. In particular, we pray for justice and healing for the families who lost their loved ones during Marikana massacre. We remember all the human rights defenders in Swaziland and other parts of the world who are in prison and in exile. The Gospel passage with a social justice theme: The parable of the talents, Matthew 25: Ju Thought for the day: : There are economic systems that must make war in order to survive. An economic system centered on the god of money also needs to plunder nature, plunder nature, in order to maintain the frenetic pace of consumption inherent in it. Pope Francis, to representatives of social movements. This economy kills, Pope Francis in a video message to the Milan Expo 2015, February 2015 Reflection prepared by: Fr. Stan Muyebe The leading text: Then those protecting the unjust system instructed the police: Throw this useless servant into the darkness outside, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth. Matthew 25: 30 (The bold text is an addition to the original text)

4 This economy kills Some of the economic and political systems rely on state violence in order to survive. In his video message to the Milan Expo in February 2015, Pope Francis warned: this economy kills. The unfettered capitalism and the inequality that it creates kills. In South Africa, through the Marikana massacre, we have come to realize that this mining economy can kill. If the mining economy is not radically transformed, this economy will kill again. The income and wealth inequalities in our country are drifting our country apart and are creating conditions that fuel social unrest and state violence. As we pray for those fighting the state violence and the inequality that fuel social unrest, we are reminded that, through the parable of the talents, Jesus indirectly spoke out against the unjust system of his time that survived through violence. During the time of Jesus, the Roman colonialism and the unjust tax system survived by unleashing its violence on those who challenged it. Jesus was persecuted through the machinery of this state violence. The parable of the talents in some way tells of a story of passive resistance to an unjust economic system. It has a sad ending: the unjust economic system reacts with violence to those that challenge it. The unjust economy kills. The poor and the poorer peoples are accused of violence, yet without equal opportunities the different forms of aggression and conflict will find a fertile terrain for growth and eventually explode. Pope Francis, the Joy of the Gospel. No. 59

5 The system exploits the poor Pope Francis has insisted that economic globalisation has brought about wealth and progress in the world. It has, at the same time, created new forms of poverty and inequality that fuel violence and massive migration. During the time of Jesus, they did not have economic globalisation and unfettered capitalism. They had other forms and structures of economic exploitation. The parable of the talents indirectly refers one of such structures. It refers to the patronage system, something similar to the modern corporation. The patriarch or the head of the rich households had a lot of power, wealth and privilege. They accumulated wealth through profiteering off the poor. The patriarchs were often away on business trips. While they were away, they would give money to their servants to undertake some business activities that would double the investment. We for example read in the parable that the one who was given five units and made five more and the one who was given two units made two more (v.20-22). The amount given to them was doubled. In the parable, we hear that the patriarchs gave 8 talents to his servants. He must have been a very rich person. One talent was equivalent to 6000 denarii. One denarius was an average subsistence wage for a day s labour. Some people suggest that one talent would be equal to 2.5 million US dollars. The servants were expected to double the money that was entrusted to them. The only way that they could manage to double the vast amount of money within such a short period of time (within a journey s time) was through businesses that would exploit the poor. Some people also suggest that the servants were expected to double the amount given by the patriarchs and then keep the rest of the profit for themselves. This practice then drove the agents to undertake a business that exploited the poor so that they could make huge profits for themselves after giving a hundred percent interest to the rich person. Patriarch system was a system of economic exploitation and wealth accumulation that created massive suffering among the poor.

6 An activist challenges the colonial economic system In the parable of the talents, one of the servants decides to engage in some form of civil disobedience as a way to challenge the patriarchy system. This servant represents the thousands of people in South Africa and around the world who challenge unfettered capitalism and the wealth inequalities that it creates. We are told that the servant went off and dug a hole in the ground and buried his master s money (v. 18). He has removed the money from circulation so that it does not contribute to the exploitation of the poor. We read that the other two servants have decided to do what the system expects of them. The one who received five talents went and traded with them, and made another five. Likewise, the one who received two made another two (v.16-17). The parable tells us that the system rewards them for their complicity. When it is time to give back the money to the system, the system tells each of them: Well done, my good and faithful servant. Since you were faithful in small matters, I will give you great responsibilities. Come, share your master s joy (v23). On the day, the third agent however creates a drama. He has prepared a speech. When it is his turn to submit the money to the system, he reads out his revolutionary speech. In his speech, he denounces the system as being exploitative. Master, I knew you were a demanding person, harvesting where you did not plant and gathering where you did not scatter (v. 24). In the country of Jesus, the colonial economy was structured around the unjust tax system. Caesar was the principal patriarch in the Roman empire. As a patriarch he established an economy that harvested tax from the poor where it did not plant. It gathered where it did not scatter. It is this system that Jesus indirectly seeks to challenge through the parable.

7 And then the system reacts with violence this economy kills. Note how the system reacts to the speech of the activist who has challenged it. The system allows him to finish his speech. It does not disrupt him. Then, it reacts with anger and violence. We are told that the rich man told others to throw this useless servant into the darkness outside, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth (v. 29). The unjust system protects itself from the poor through violence. It is afraid of the power of the poor. It is this fear that drives it to state violence. As a deterrent, the system decides to show others what would happen if they dare challenge it. The activist is arrested and taken to prison where he is subjected to torture. Hence, while in the prison, there is wailing and grinding of teeth. Then those protecting the unjust system instructed the riot police: And throw this useless servant into the darkness outside, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth. Matthew 25: 30

8 QUESTIONS THAT SUMMON US TO PRAYER Pope Francis has told the world: This economy kills. In our context of unfettered capitalism, the commandment thou shall not kill applies to our economy. In South Africa, through the Marikana Massacre, we have come to realize that this mining economy can kill. It will kill again if there is no radical transformation in the way the mineral wealth is distributed. Through the social justice theme in the parable of the talents, what do you feel God is saying to us as a nation? After reading about the social justice themes in the parable, what prayer would you like to say for our country? SOME OF THE BOOKS THAT WERE USED TO PREPARE THE REFLECTION Longnecker, R. ed. The challenge of Jesus parables, Michigan: Eerdmans.2000 Herzog, W. Parables as subversive speech: Jesus as pedagogue of the oppressed, Louisville: Westminister/John Knox, 1994 Malina B, and Rohrabaugh R, Social science commentary of the synoptic gospels, Minneapolis: Fortress, 1992 Oakman, D. Jesus and the economic question of his day, Lewiston: Edwin Mellen, 1986 Shillington, V, ed. Jesus and his parables: Interpreting the parables of Jesus today, 1997 Mc Bride, D. The parables of Jesus, Chawton: Redemptorist publications, R. Horsley, Jesus and the politics of Roman empire, South Carolina: University of South Carolina press, 2014 Scripture selections are taken from New American Bible, Revised Edition (NABRE).

9 PRAYING WITH THE ACTIVISTS is a spirituality resource for Christians working for a just and peaceful world. One finds such Christians in various platforms: in the social movements, in the organized civil society, in the justice and peace groups, in the trade unions, and even among the politicians and some business leaders. As a spirituality resource, praying with the activists shines light on the social justice themes in the Gospel. The aim of the praying with the activists is to help the activists feel invited and welcomed into God s presence to: listen to the Gospel as God s personal message, linking their stories of struggles and activism to God s story; see their work and struggles as activists as partaking in God s work; encounter the Risen Christ and allow their activism to be transformed by Christ

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