In 2003, The Jesuits in Australia entered into a process of discernment. This process was to determine the new priorities for the Australian Province. The discernment process had an imperative in the reduced number of Jesuits, the increased role of the laity as companions and colleagues, and the every expanding mission.
To inaugurate this process the Jesuits convened a "gathering" at Riverview to which it invited the General of the day, Fr. Peter Hans Kolvenbach SJ. During the Gathering the General preached at Mass. I set out some points which he made:
Over these recent months, you have all been invited to discern in common the promptings of the Spirit as you plan the future directions of the Province.
It is significant that the Province has decided not to issue a “Mission Statement”, but rather a “Call to Mission”. As Jesuits our “Mission Statement” is always and everywhere the person and work, mind and heart of Jesus Christ as revealed to us in the scriptures. It is found in the truth of the Church’s teachings and traditions. And it is also given to us in our particular patrimony of the Spiritual Exercises, the Constitutions, and in the documents of recent General Congregations.
A “Call to Mission”, however, is of a different order. With the opening verses of today’s Gospel as its prelude, it calls all of us to particularise the more general call of our baptisms:
In the name of Jesus
in the spirit of Ignatius
companions
for a faith that does justice.
Empowered by the Spirit, Jesus did all things in the name of the Father. So too, we are sent out in the name of the Son to carry on that mission through his church. And the church looks to us to fulfil our mission within the Society of Jesus, so we stamped by a way of proceeding wherein we do not wish “for health rather than sickness, for riches rather than poverty, for honor rather than ignominy, for a long life rather than a short life, and in all other matters should desire and choose solely those things which may better lead us to the end for which we were created.” In the spirit of Ignatius you are missioned to Australia and Oceania to be men of the local church, and available for the universal good.
As a result, a Jesuit never works alone. In these days, especially, we see the Spirit’s action in the companions drawn to be our colleagues in this mission. Some of them now lead our works. These companions may be Christ’s lay faithful or members of other religious families, but together we form one body of service for the church, as we profess the one faith which demands of us to act justly.
As you put into effect the decisions you have taken in this strategic review, it is both consoling and challenging to recall that Jesus did not get a good hearing in Nazareth. His townsfolk, the narrowness of their hearts and their expectations challenged by the breadth of his mission, ended up by trying to lynch him. The radical good news of the Gospel, precisely because it is especially good news for the poor, will always challenge those who benefit from keeping some people poor and marginalised. If our message and our ministry meets with no opposition and is heard simply with approval, we might ask ourself whether it is truly faithful to the gospel.
Both St John and Master Ignatius knew first hand the cost of discipleship. They realised that there was no Resurrection without embracing the Cross. May we who are inspired by their witness be worthy of their example. May both of them pray for us - who are contemplatives and activists. And “may God who has has begun this good work in us, bring it to completion.”
"... for a faith that does justice."
In pronouncing these words, Fr. Kolvenbach wasn't uttering something new in Jesuit thought. His predecessor spoke eloquently on this topic.
"We cannot separate action for justice from the proclamation of the Word of God."
Such statements have given rise to the notion of the "preferential option for the poor".
The ‘option for the poor’ is one way of talking about the Gospel call to follow Jesus’ example by placing the poor and the marginalised at the centre of things and judging reality by their experience. It is a call to disentangle ourselves from unjust structures, processes and institutions in our society, and to work instead to transform them. To make an option for the poor is to make a conscious choice to:
- be in solidarity with the poor; and
- work for structural change to transform the causes of poverty and marginalisation.
“When we speak of an option for the poor we usually have in mind a choice freely made by people who are not already poor. Becoming aware that they are relatively wealthy or privileged, they decide freely to relinquish their privileges (to some degree at least) and to become identified with the underprivileged. (An option for the poor can also be made by those who are already poor or disadvantaged; in their case it means a choice to be in solidarity with other underprivileged people rather than trying to take advantage of them and join the rich and powerful.)” 1 It is an option in the sense of a choice, and a commitment, rather than something that is ‘optional’ for Christians.
It is a profoundly religious choice, but it has political implications because it calls us to disengage from serving the interests of the powerful, and instead to serve those who are relatively powerless.
To give preference in our love to the poorest and most vulnerable is not to reject those who are not poor or marginalised, but is rather an invitation to all – rich and poor alike - to enter into right relationships. To make this clearer, the terms "preferential option for the poor‟ and "love of preference for the poor‟ are often used.
To give preference in our love to those who are poor or marginalised is not to idealize these people or groups, or to romanticise poverty. Poverty and exclusion are concrete evils to be overcome. Our voluntary simplicity and solidarity should be transformative, and should acknowledge that people who are poor or marginalised are people, and are not immune from the ordinary shortcomings and struggles of humanity.
1 Dorr, D., “Poor, Preferential Option for”, in Dwyer, J., (ed), New Dictionary of Catholic Social Thought, Liturgical Press, Collegeville, 1994, p 755.
Faith Doing Justice is a project of the Australian Jesuits. © Sandie Cornish, Australian Jesuits, April 2009.
http://www.faithdoingjustice.com.au/docs/WhatIsTheOptionForThePoor.pdf