Margaret Anna Fridays - Personal, Prompt, and Practical Action

It's been a while since Margaret Anna Fridays have appeared on the blog.  Reviving the tradition, most Fridays, I’m going to share a quote from the founder of my groovy sisters, Margaret Anna Cusack, known in religion as Mother Francis Clare. Here is today's installment:

The trouble is that poverty in the aggregate touches no one’s heart; it is no one’s business; the consideration of the matter is put off as too much of an outside question to need personal, prompt, and practical action.-The Question of Today: Anti-Poverty and Progress, Labor and Capital, M.F. Cusack, 1887

Margaret Anna Fridays

I am getting back into the groove of Margaret Anna Fridays, even if blogging has been light as I try to balance school, community, and family commitments. This blog feature is a favorite where I share some words of wisdom from the founder of my religious community, Margaret Anna Cusack, known in religion as Mother Francis Clare. She was a prolific writer, with more than 200,000 copies of her works in circulation by 1870. This week's installment is from her seminal (and controversial) 1887 book, The Question of Today: Anti-Poverty and Progress. She asks many challenging questions in this work, including:

We are, then, put face to face with the great fact of Poverty, we are put face to face with the certain consequences of the continuance of such a condition of things, and if we have one spark of humanity we are put face to face with the question, What can we do personally and individually to lessen poverty, if we cannot abolish it?

Margaret Anna Fridays

It's Friday, and it has been a while since I have run an installment of Margaret Anna Fridays, where I share some words of wisdom from the founder of my religious community, Margaret Anna Cusack, known in religion as Mother Francis Clare. She was a prolific writer, with more than 200,000 copies of her works in circulation by 1870. This week's installment is from her seminal (and controversial) 1887 book, The Question of Today: Anti-Poverty and Progress. She asks an insightful question, and one which our current Pope seems to be asking us daily:

Which are we to have, the real Christianity taught by Christ Himself, with all its sacrifices, or modern Christianity, which makes the way of life easy for the rich and cruelly hard for the poor? - MF Cusack

Margaret Anna Friday

Most Fridays I will share a quote from the from the founder of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace, Margaret Anna Cusack (known in religion as Mother Francis Clare, published as M.F. Cusack).  Today's installment:

We are, then, put face to face with the great fact of Poverty, we are put face to face with the certain consequences of the continuance of such a condition of things, and if we have one spark of humanity we are put face to face with the question, What can we do personally and individually to lessen poverty, if we cannot abolish it?~The Question of Today, Anti-Poverty & Progress

Margaret Anna Friday

I'm reviving an oldie but good feature on the blog, Margaret Anna Fridays.  Most Fridays I will share a quote from the founder of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace, Margaret Anna Cuasck (known in religion as Mother Francis Clare, published as M.F. Cusack).  This week's installment:

... in some way or another, in some real, actual manner, we must minister to God's poor if we expect God's blessing.  All we need is a little inclination.  It is impossible for even the most wealthy not to come at times in contact with poverty, and thus to have the opportunity of personal ministration to the poor.
~Jesus and Jerusalem, or the Way Home

The Power of a Name

While I am indeed a Catholic Sister, anyone who knows me well knows that I have an interesting relationship with the hierarchy of the Church.  I may quote Pope's from time to time from their social encyclicals to try to move people to action on behalf of people who are poor or marginalized or to mobilize for peace, but that's generally about it.

When folks have asked me my opinion about our new Pope Francis, I have joked that my Dad's name is Francis (Papa Francisco).  I have posted the photo of the then Cardinal Archbishop on the bus in Argentina on the blog and on Facebook as a hopeful sign that he is down to earth.  I've listened to some concerns and stories of his conservative stand on social issues and some impressive stories of solidarity with people on the margins.  For the most part, my reaction has been one of "wait and see" in a spirit of hopefulness rather than suspicion.

Then, this morning, I watched this video of the Pope explaining in his own casual and storytelling way what happened when he realized he was going to be elected by his brother Cardinals.  You can sense his trepidation and his humanness.  You can also, I believe, experience the presence of God in that moment through his story, in the support of a friend, a gentle reminder, a seed of inspiration.

True confession time .... I actually cried after watching this video.  Me, moved to tears by a Pope telling a story.  If you don't know me, you might not find that unbelievable given that I am a Catholic Sister after all.  If you do know me, you realize how weird that is.  Yet it is true.  Moved to tears by a simple man telling a a story to a few thousand reporters about how he got his name.

 

"Immediately with the thought of the poor, I thought of Francis of Assisi. I thought of wars, while the vote counting continued. Until the end of all the votes.  And Francis, the man of peace. That was how the name came into my heart, Francis of Assisi. And for me, the man of poverty, the man of peace, the man who loves and guards creation. At this time we have a relationship with creation that is not very good, right?  And the man who gives us this spirit of peace, the poor man. How would I like a church that is poor and for the poor." Pope Francis, March 16, 2013

New Vision Magazine Out ... With an Article by Yours Truly!

Remember when you were looking at colleges and you would get glossy magazines in the mail with pictures of beaming students and articles about college life?  In case you were wondering, there's a religious life version as well.  It's called Vision and contains glossy pictures, articles, and ads about the smorgarsborg that is religious life today.  You want options, you've got options! Just flip through this magazine and you will see representations of the wide variety of ways of following Jesus in contemporary religious life, from cloistered monasteries to working directly with people who are poor.

Speaking of, yours truly has an article in this year's Vision.  It's a feature in their Being Catholic series: "Why Catholics Care About People Living in Poverty."

It was great to have the opportunity to write for Vision, given that the magazine played a role in my own discernment.  Back in the day, after I'd had the talk with my pastor that led me to explore the possibilities, he handed me my very first copy of Vision.  I flipped through. I marvelled at the variety.  I turned corners of pages with ads or descriptions of communities that I thought looked interesting.  And I did a little excercise which helped me to discover my personal charism, which in turn helped lead me to the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace.

So, if you fall into the category of person who has wondered if maybe quite possibly you might have a vocation to this wonderful thing we call religious life, check out the latest issue! You can order a free print copy or just read it online.  You never know what or who you might discover!

Margaret Anna Fridays

Most Fridays, I’m going to share a quote from the founder of my groovy sisters, Margaret Anna Cusack, known in religion as Mother Francis Clare.

They took up the cry that I was interfering in politics! God help me, all the politics I cared for was to feed the hungry. But so that I could be silenced when I said there was distress was all they cared for ... It seems to me, however, it was not a question of politics; it was a question of humanity.

on poverty

I've been thinking a lot about poverty lately. No, not the vow of poverty (although I do think of course think of that too as I try to live it) but the gut wrenching, life threatening kind of poverty we're seeing played out in Haiti and in the streets of our very cities.

One of the hats that I wear at my place of ministry--the Intercommunity Peace & Justice Center--is as editor of our quarterly justice journal. Our Winter Issue is on the theme of Poverty and Economic Justice. There are really some profound voices in this issue, including an article by Janice Connelly, a woman who has experienced homelessness in my own city of Seattle. She also wrote a poem which is printed in the issue which I'd like to share:

Ground Zero
I’ve learned Life is too short—
to disrespect another human’s dignity.

In recognizing this, I became able.
Able to respond to the hardships I,
and many of us face day in and day out.

I learned to utilize the many resources that
the wonderful city of Seattle has to offer.

I found strength and courage I didn’t know I possessed.
I received help and direction, and a way out of my
own way.

I want to thank all my sisters for every little thing good that is now.
— Janice L. Connelly

I thought of all this today as I was reading the paper with my morning cup of coffee and read an article about ingenuity in the midst of the destruction in Haiti - this particular article was about entrepreneurs charging cell phones. I suspect that there are many such stories, most untold, of human beings finding ways to live "for every little thing good that is now," even in the midst of poverty, pain and sorrow. We normally hear about the dramatic or devastating stories. The every day bits that really tell our stories as human beings are not usually fodder for news stories.

the vision

In today's first reading from Isaiah, we hear:

Trust in the LORD forever!
For the LORD is an eternal Rock.
He humbles those in high places,
and the lofty city he brings down;
He tumbles it to the ground,
levels it with the dust.
It is trampled underfoot by the needy,
by the footsteps of the poor.

Funny how the way our world works and looks is so far from this vision in Isaiah. Or not funny, but sad really. I suppose it must have been out of whack centuries back when these words were written as well.

In our lived reality, it is the needy who are underfoot, stepped on by OUR footsteps. I've been doing a lot of research on poverty for a project at work. I've been amazed at the resiliency of grassroots movements of poor people like the Shack/Slum Dwellers International. I've been encouraged by the responsible actions of folks like the Bill & Melinda Gates foundation. But I've also been discouraged by the tremendous disparities in our world, which are only growing. We in the developed world worry about our financial crisis, but in reality it is forcing millions into poverty across the globe while we merely need to cut back on our Christmas lists. Not to say that we don't have poverty in our country as well ... we certainly do.

In any case, this morning I pray for the coming of the vision promised in Isaiah. That we may have the wisdom, strength and guidance to dream of a world where all are fed and able to live their lives fully in joy and freedom.