Reflection
Jesus sent the Twelve to drive out the evil spirits that were in the world. As we know from our social teaching, the evil spirits today include all kinds of powers that move us away from what is just and good for all people. We are called to work to drive out racism, militarism, sexism, consumerism, and all the other forces in our world that are opposed to the spirit of God. Jesus told the Twelve to keep their lives simple so as to keep their ministry uncorrupted by possessions.
Education for Justice
Prayer
God, let us proclaim your justice to the world.
Action
What “evil spirits” have become more apparent as the presidential campaign evolves? How do they have control over us?
Suggested Reading
He summoned the twelve and began to send them out in pairs, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits; and He instructed them that they should take nothing for their journey, except a mere staff–no bread, no bag, no money in their belt but to wear sandals; and He added, “Do not put on two tunics.” And He said to them, “Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave town. “Any place that does not receive you or listen to you, as you go out from there, shake the dust off the soles of your feet for a testimony against them.” They went out and preached that men should repent. And they were casting out many demons and were anointing with oil many sick people and healing them.
Mark 6:7 – 13
Take the challenge of evil in the world seriously and that is increasingly rare in our comfortable Western world.
Pope Francis
Until the great mass of the people shall be filled with the sense of responsibility for each other’s welfare, social justice can never be attained.
Helen Keller
The challenge of social justice is to evoke a sense of community that we need to make our nation a better place, just as we make it a safer place.
Marian Wright Edelman
It may well be that we will have to repent in this generation. Not merely for the vitriolic words and the violent actions of the bad people, but for the appalling silence and indifference of the good people who sit around and say, “Wait on time.
Martin Luther King Jr.
In these days of difficulty, we Americans everywhere must and shall choose the path of social justice…, the path of faith, the path of hope, and the path of love toward our fellow man.”
Franklin D. Roosevelt
I want to live in a world where people become famous because of their work for peace and justice and care. I want the famous to be inspiring; their lives an example of what every human being has it in them to do — act from love!
Patch Adams
Words like ‘freedom’, ‘justice’ and ‘democracy’ are not common concepts; on the contrary, they are rare. People are not born knowing what these are. It takes enormous, and above all, individual effort to arrive at the respect for other people that these words imply.
James Baldwin
Rats and roaches live by competition under the laws of supply and demand; it is the privilege of human beings to live under the laws of justice and mercy.
Wendell Berry